WFP reaches families affected by floods in Kenya
Complementing the Government’s emergency food response to feed 54,000 people
Story by Martin Karimi
Halima Guyole is overjoyed. She hasn’t had a decent meal in days. But tonight, her family of eight are guaranteed of a meal.
“We will sleep on full stomachs tonight,” she says. “You [WFP] are a godsend!”
These are the sentiments greeting the UN World Food Programme’s boats ferrying food to Kulesa, one of the many makeshift villages hosting displaced families in the low-lying Tana River County, in south-eastern Kenya.
This is one of flood-affected regions where WFP is distributing food, complementing the national and county governments’ emergency floods response.
With funding from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund, WFP is reaching an estimated 54,000 people who have not yet received assistance from the Government in Garissa, Mandera, Tana River and Turkana counties. The Government says that at least 760,000 people in over 30 counties are affected by flooding. About 310,000 people are displaced and more than 240 have lost their lives.
Lost livelihoods
Halima, 54, comes from Vubwe village. She farms along the River Tana, growing maize, beans, watermelon and green grams.
“We live close to the river so that we can protect our crop from animals such as monkeys,” she says. “The house where we were staying is now destroyed. All my crop is under water. I have lost everything.”
Halima and many other displaced families are resorting to destructive ways of putting food on the table.
“We have no choice but to burn charcoal for sale,” she says. “I have a two-year grandchild in my care and I cannot afford to give him three meals a day — I give him a cup of porridge in the morning and another cup at night — that is it.”
Poor amenities
The camps for the internally displaced dotting the Tana Delta plains are made of twigs, plastic paper or at best tarpaulin from the Kenya Red Cross. Many do not have amenities such as toilets or clean water. Families with young children and elderly are suffering the most.
Noor Roble, 65, is living under a tarpaulin with his wife and eight children. Flood waters swept through their crops and Noor lost about half of his herd.
For livestock keepers like Noor, the main livestock market is Garsen, about 30 kilometres away. But with roads and bridges destroyed, they cannot access the markets easily. To get to the market, one has to cross the swollen river at two points using a dhow, and then take a 30-minute boat ride at another section to eventually reach the main road — where they then catch a motorbike taxi to town.
“The journey to the market and back costs about 600 shillings [US$6] and takes a whole day,” says Abdi Golo, the village leader. “It costs more if you are transporting a goat to the market. Many here simply cannot afford it.”
Throw-away prices
Noor cannot afford the cost of taking his remaining goats to the market. He has to borrow money for transport — and this is happening more often as the situation grows more dire.
“When I go to the market, I have no power to negotiate for a better price,” he says. “Whatever the buyer offers is what I take, because I cannot risk failing to make a sale. I cannot return home with the goat — I have to sell it to repay the transport debt and buy food.”
Even before the floods and the COVID-19 pandemic, families living here were already struggling with food scarcity and poverty. Some villages have been completely cut off from the rest of towns and markets for the past two months further straining food availability.
“This year, the flooding is worse. We lost animals, crops, and household items. I only saved my children — you cannot think about saving goats or utensils when your child is in danger. We are extremely happy to receive assistance today,” says Noor.
Noor will have to get the food to his makeshift home — somehow — which is about 30-minutes’ walk. This is the nearest landing bay that WFP’s boats could offload from.
“My wife and I will carry the food home — even if on our backs. We must find a way to get it home.”
Long road to recovery
Five of Noor’s eight children are of school going age, but they are at home now since the Government closed schools to stem the spread of coronavirus. Noor pays school fees from selling livestock — or trading off a bag of maize with the school in lieu of cash.
He says that if schools re-opened today, he would not have a way of paying school fees. He has lost his house and the income earning assets — his goats — are getting depleted.
“We have not received any help since the flooding started back in April. Life is very harsh here — the old and young children are suffering a lot,” says Abdi Golo.
The floods have destroyed the crop that would have been ready for harvest in June. Now, these communities have to find seed and wait for the water to recede so that they can plant afresh. It will be another three months before they can harvest — and that is if the October rains or excess water from dams upstream don’t cause more flooding.
Nothing stops WFP from delivering
In the wake of the widespread flooding, WFP has mobilized funds to reach families with enough food to last for up to six weeks.
In addition to the food, WFP is making available all-terrain six-wheel drive trucks and motorized boats to deliver food and other supplies to remote villages where roads and bridges were swept away and therefore cannot be reached by normal trucks.
Kulesa village is not the easiest places to reach.
Last November during the short rains, the village was again cut off by flood waters. WFP delivered government food to families here by helicopter. Another rainy season and more flooding has followed — washing away roads and bridges.
This time, WFP has opted to use boats. The boats crews have to navigate 30 km of swollen flood waters infested with crocodiles and hippopotamus to reach Kulesa. One crew was attacked by a swarm of bees along the overgrown riverine on the way to delivering the life-saving food supplies.
But the joy expressed by these families when they receive food is worth every effort to surmount the numerous challenges that the Tana Delta poses.
