![[Kenya] A helicopter delivers food to villagers isolated by floods in Garissa.
[Date picture taken: 06/Dec/2006]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/200612110.jpg.webp?itok=rPgdcWkw "A helicopter delivers food to villagers isolated by floods in Garissa")
Nathifa Janaa cradled her feverish son in the shade of an acacia tree, looking to the skies that for the last six weeks
have brought driving rain and floods to the village of Kumahumato in remote northeastern Kenya.
"I have no food left in the house to feed my family. If my neighbours have nothing to offer then there is just water to drink," said Janaa, rubbing three-year-old Mohammed's malnourished stomach as she awaited the arrival of emergency food rations.
The United Nations World Food Programme began a massive air operation on 2 December to deliver desperately needed food and other humanitarian aid to villages isolated by the floods, which aid workers are describing as the worst for years.
Northeastern Kenya's low-lying, semi-arid terrain is an inhospitable environment for the region's pastoralist farmers. successive droughts over the last five years have decimated livestock herds, leaving villagers reliant on handouts from the international community.
The villagers in Kumahumato last received food aid in early August. Flooding then prevented the next scheduled delivery.
"You should not be mistaken by the green you see today," said Aden Musa, 25, as he helped carry a sack of pulses out of the helicopter. "Normally this is a dust-bowl," he added, pointing to the lush carpet of weeds growing out of the waterlogged sandy soil.
Villagers said they were at a loss as to how to cope with the vicious lurch from drought to floods. Some climate experts predict that sub-Saharan Africa will experience increasingly extreme weather conditions as the continent bears the brunt of global warming.
Lost wealth
Watching over the unloading, village elder Abdi Dubat, 57, reminisced about his lost wealth and pride. His once 500-strong herd of cattle, sheep and camels funded his 10 marriages, children's education, even a pilgrimage to Mecca, before consecutive droughts wiped out his herd.
"The women would see my wealth and shout 'Come and marry me Abdi Dubat'. Now they just run away," he said laughing at himself.
With virtually no grazing throughout the year, the few remaining cattle have not produced milk for months. Several mothers said their children were frequently sick because of poor nutrition.
More rain is needed to recover from the drought, villages say. But many are asking the aid agencies to provide seedlings as they give up livestock and turn to crops.
Omar Haret attempted to plant maize three times this year - twice his crop succumbed to the searing heat. His third crop was washed away by the floodwaters. But he remains defiant. "I am not proud to rely on outside help. I still have the energy to farm and I am still capable."
Emergency rations
Last month's torrential rain has affected more than a million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, as rising water levels destroyed crops and left hundreds of thousands without homes.
The region's poor infrastructure offered little resistance to the rains. Despite receding water levels, roads remain impassable, marooning villages and forcing the aid agencies to airlift humanitarian assistance.
"The emergency is to reach people by helicopter who haven't received food distributions for two months," said Stephanie Savariaud of the WFP.
"The food we can deliver by helicopter is far less than what we would usually give for a month but it is at least a little relief until we are able to deliver by truck," she added. So far, the two WFP-chartered helicopters operating from Garissa have delivered 100 tonnes of food.
During lulls in the rains, some roads dry out and trucks can move with full rations. WFP has delivered more than 4,270 tonnes of food by truck to more than 270,000 people affected by the floods since 10 November.
The UN says it expects to provide emergency food aid and other assistance to 2.7 million people in Kenya - an increase of 300,000 from the number planned before the floods - in a multi-million dollar special operation over the next three months.
rl/mw
have brought driving rain and floods to the village of Kumahumato in remote northeastern Kenya.
"I have no food left in the house to feed my family. If my neighbours have nothing to offer then there is just water to drink," said Janaa, rubbing three-year-old Mohammed's malnourished stomach as she awaited the arrival of emergency food rations.
The United Nations World Food Programme began a massive air operation on 2 December to deliver desperately needed food and other humanitarian aid to villages isolated by the floods, which aid workers are describing as the worst for years.
Northeastern Kenya's low-lying, semi-arid terrain is an inhospitable environment for the region's pastoralist farmers. successive droughts over the last five years have decimated livestock herds, leaving villagers reliant on handouts from the international community.
The villagers in Kumahumato last received food aid in early August. Flooding then prevented the next scheduled delivery.
"You should not be mistaken by the green you see today," said Aden Musa, 25, as he helped carry a sack of pulses out of the helicopter. "Normally this is a dust-bowl," he added, pointing to the lush carpet of weeds growing out of the waterlogged sandy soil.
Villagers said they were at a loss as to how to cope with the vicious lurch from drought to floods. Some climate experts predict that sub-Saharan Africa will experience increasingly extreme weather conditions as the continent bears the brunt of global warming.
Lost wealth
Watching over the unloading, village elder Abdi Dubat, 57, reminisced about his lost wealth and pride. His once 500-strong herd of cattle, sheep and camels funded his 10 marriages, children's education, even a pilgrimage to Mecca, before consecutive droughts wiped out his herd.
"The women would see my wealth and shout 'Come and marry me Abdi Dubat'. Now they just run away," he said laughing at himself.
With virtually no grazing throughout the year, the few remaining cattle have not produced milk for months. Several mothers said their children were frequently sick because of poor nutrition.
More rain is needed to recover from the drought, villages say. But many are asking the aid agencies to provide seedlings as they give up livestock and turn to crops.
Omar Haret attempted to plant maize three times this year - twice his crop succumbed to the searing heat. His third crop was washed away by the floodwaters. But he remains defiant. "I am not proud to rely on outside help. I still have the energy to farm and I am still capable."
Emergency rations
Last month's torrential rain has affected more than a million people in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, as rising water levels destroyed crops and left hundreds of thousands without homes.
The region's poor infrastructure offered little resistance to the rains. Despite receding water levels, roads remain impassable, marooning villages and forcing the aid agencies to airlift humanitarian assistance.
"The emergency is to reach people by helicopter who haven't received food distributions for two months," said Stephanie Savariaud of the WFP.
"The food we can deliver by helicopter is far less than what we would usually give for a month but it is at least a little relief until we are able to deliver by truck," she added. So far, the two WFP-chartered helicopters operating from Garissa have delivered 100 tonnes of food.
During lulls in the rains, some roads dry out and trucks can move with full rations. WFP has delivered more than 4,270 tonnes of food by truck to more than 270,000 people affected by the floods since 10 November.
The UN says it expects to provide emergency food aid and other assistance to 2.7 million people in Kenya - an increase of 300,000 from the number planned before the floods - in a multi-million dollar special operation over the next three months.
rl/mw
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article
