More 250,000 Garissa residents facing starvation

At least 250,000 Garissa County residents are facing hunger and starvation as drought continues to wreak havoc in many parts of the county, with over a million livestock in desperate need of water and pasture supplementation.

The drought is a result of the county’s failure to receive the expected short rain in March and April of this year.

Residents are now pleading with the government to intervene and help them out of their predicament, as they go days without water for both human and animal consumption and only have fuel water trucks provided by the county government on occasion.

According to the Garissa County Steering Committee, which conducted a drought situation survey across the county, over 350,000 livestock and 800,000 goats have begun to lose body weight.

Boaz Cherutich, the committee chair and a county commissioner in the area, advised pastrolists to start selling their herd now to avoid losses in the coming weeks.

Cherutich also stated that children under the age of five are at risk of malnutrition due to a lack of adequate food, but the health ministry is providing emergency assistance in this regard.

He also stated that the government, through CDF and ministry of education funds, will provide bursaries to students from affected areas who have yet to join form one next month in order to ensure a complete transition.