Churches appeal for aid for Turkana pastoralists

Livestock have been dying by the thousands as a result of drought in parts of northwestern Kenya, greatly reducing the ability of about 100,000 people to feed themselves, a group of religious organisations reported this week as it launched an appeal for just under US $1.13 million to assist the affected populations. Action by Churches Together (ACT) said a rapid assessment team had estimated that over 10,000 head of cattle, and more than 15,000 smaller livestock had either died or been abandoned by their owners in parts of remote Turkana District, which borders on Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia. ACT said more than 70 percent of the people in two of the district’s divisions, Oropoi and Kakuma, had been affected, especially people who were exclusively pastoralists. "Reduced livestock productivity and the weakening pastoralists' purchasing power have combined to accentuate the increasing food insecurity, particularly among the pure pastoralist families," ACT noted. "The long dry season has already set in and will worsen the nutrition of the pastoralists’ households, since improvement of pasture - and thus milk yields - can be expected only with the arrival of rains in April of next year," it added. In neighbouring Mandera, ACT said, access to water was scarce throughout the central and western parts of the district. "There is an acute shortage to meet the demands of both humans and livestock and water tankering is urgently required to save lives." In added that in West Pokot District, another area inhabited mainly by pastoral and semi-pastoral communities, famine was again hanging precariously over the heads of the people. Some 70 percent of the crops planted had completely wilted, some streams had dried up, and children under 5 years had begun to show signs of malnutrition. ACT is a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies worldwide. It issued the appeal on behalf of the Lutheran World Federation/Department of World Service, Norwegian Church Aid, Church World Service and the Anglican Church of Kenya, together with their partners, the National Council Churches of Kenya, Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya, Catholic Diocese of Lodwar in Turkana and Rural Community Integrated Development Agency. It is not just areas in northwestern Kenya that have been affected by drought. This year’s long rains were poor in much of eastern and southern Kenya, in addition to parts of the north. A dry spell from late April to May came at a critical stage in crop development, and scattered showers in early June came too late for recovery, resulting in near-total crop failures in many parts of Coast and Eastern provinces. On 10 August, United Nations agencies and the Kenyan government appealed for $96.9 million to buy food and other relief supplies for an estimated 2.3 million people facing acute food shortages across the country, saying some 166,000 mt of food was needed until January 2005. Estimates of the number of people in need of assistance were based on assessments by the Kenya Food Security Group, which consists of government ministries, UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and donors.