In northeastern Kenya, drought-hit villagers have been forced to drag dead livestock to distant fields for burning, trying to keep the stench and scavenging hyenas away from their homes.
Mandera County, bordering Ethiopia and Somalia, has not seen rain since May and is approaching a full-blown water emergency.
“I have lost all my cows and goats, and burned them here,” said Bishar Maalim Mohammed, 60, a resident of Tawakal village.
In his village, where most families rely on pastoralism, the only remaining bull can no longer stand. The animal has lain in the same spot for nearly a week, severely dehydrated, as his owner watches helplessly.
Nearby in Banissa, a man-made watering hole that once held 60,000 cubic metres of water is now dry, leaving children to play across the barren expanse. Herds of goats, cattle, and camels must now travel up to 30 kilometres to reach the nearest watering point in Lulis village, where water is being rationed.
“In two weeks this water will be finished… we are in a very bad state,” said Aden Hussein, 40, a local resident.
More than two million people across 23 counties in Kenya face worsening food insecurity after the October–December short rains failed, with rainfall falling two-thirds below average. The National Drought Management Authority has placed nine counties on alert, while Mandera County remains in the “alarm” phase, just one step from a full emergency.
The Famine Early Warning Systems Network recently said 20–25 million people across Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia require humanitarian food aid, more than half because of drought.
“Our children are the next ones who are going to die,” Maalim Mohammed said.
‘No Milk at All’
Banissa’s main hospital is seeing a surge of severely malnourished children, some arriving from neighbouring Ethiopia, overwhelming the paediatric ward. AFP observed eight children suffering extreme malnutrition, including a 32-month-old girl weighing just 4.5 kilograms and another child readmitted after returning to a household with no food.
“Children are not getting an adequate diet because of this drought… they depend on camel and goat milk, but there is now no milk at all,” said hospital nutritionist Khalid Ahmed Wethow.
The hospital, serving around 200,000 people, has only eight tins of therapeutic milk left, expected to run out this week. Supplies depend on donations from organisations such as the World Food Programme, but with aid cuts from Western countries over the past year, no deliveries have been received in six months.
The Kenyan government and aid groups including the Red Cross have increased water trucking, food distribution, and cash assistance, but they say they cannot meet the growing demand.
‘Tried to Escape’
In desperation, Bishar Mohamed (no relation to the first villager) traveled over 150 kilometres with 170 goats in search of pasture. About 100 animals died along the way, with the remainder succumbing after he returned home to Hawara village.
“We have tried to escape in search of better places and failed,” he said, standing among piles of goat carcasses. “I have been moving by foot… my head is severely in pain… we are thirsty.”
In Jabi Bar village, school enrolment has dropped by more than half, according to headteacher Ali Haji Shabure. “Only 99 children are in school; most have left with their parents,” he said.
The next rains — if they come — are not expected before April.
Bishara Maalim, a mother of ten in Hawara, holds only one hope: “May God save them.”