Close to one million children in Kenya are staring at death as the impact of drought continues to ravage the region, the United Nations Children's Fund has said.
In their latest advisory, Unicef said unless urgent action is taken to support the affected children, the double impact of severe malnutrition and the risk of water-borne diseases will lead to their death in devastating numbers.
Almost two-thirds of those affected are children under the age of five.
According to Unicef, the high levels of severe acute malnutrition in children combined with deadly outbreaks of cholera or diarrhoea are a recipe for child mortality.
The UN agency said the number of drought-hit people in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia without reliable access to safe water has risen from 9.5 million to 16.2 million between February and July.
“When water isn’t available or is unsafe, the risks to children multiply exponentially,” Unicef executive director Catherine Russell said.
“In Kenya, 23 counties have seen significant price hikes topped by Mandera at 400 per cent and Garissa by 260 per cent compared to January 2021.”
Data released by the Ministry of Health in July showed that more than 942,500 children aged between six months and five years urgently need treatment for acute malnutrition.
More than 229,000 (24 per cent) of them are suffering from the most severe form of malnutrition.
Unicef said such children are up to 11 times more at risk of dying from water-borne diseases than well-nourished children.
It said in Kenya, 90 per cent of open water sources such as ponds and open wells in drought-affected areas are either depleted or dried up, posing a serious risk of disease outbreak.
“Imagine having to choose between buying bread or water for a hungry, thirsty child who is already sick, or between watching your child suffer from extreme thirst or letting them drink contaminated water that can cause killer diseases,” Russell said.
Kenya is currently in the throngs of an unprecedented drought, particularly in the ASAL counties following four consecutive seasons of poor rains.
Last week, the National Drought Management Authority said at least 4.35 million people will need food aid by October if the drought crisis continues unabated.
On August 8, Special Programmes CS Margaret Kobia said the number of Kenyans needing food aid is likely to rise from 4.1 million people to 4.35 million by the end of the year.
“The weather outlook indicates that there will be generally depressed rainfall across all the arid and semi-arid counties during the October-December 2022 rainfall season,” Kobia said.
In the NDMA estimation, the drought situation has deteriorated in 20 of the 23 ASAL counties.
These are Isiolo, Mandera, Samburu, Turkana, Wajir, Laikipia, Marsabit, Embu, Garissa, Kajiado, Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Kwale and Kilifi counties.
The authority attributed the situation to the poor performance of the 2021 long rains, coupled with the previous three failed consecutive seasons.
Edited by Kiilu Damaris
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