Kenya was once considered one of Sub-Saharan Africa’s success stories: the country possessed a relatively stable government, a good economy, a thriving tourist industry due to a beautiful landscape and abundant wildlife. But violent protests all over the Country hurt the country’s reputation, and then—even worse—drought and famine struck the country this year.
The government response has been lackluster, the international community has been distracted by the economic crisis, and suddenly Kenya seems no longer to be the light of East Africa, but a warning to the world about the perils of ignoring climate change, government corruption, and the global food and water shortages.
On The Ground
Children are starving, cattle are dropping dead, crops are withered, lakes are empty, and still the rains haven’t come. Kenya is on the verge of a catastrophe of Biblical proportions.
Estimates put the number of hungry around 3.8 million—one in ten Kenyans, so far. However the Minister of Environment said that the number is more likely over 10 million. It is the worst drought since 2000.
Food yields for the nation have dropped by over a quarter, while food prices have gone up a staggering 130 percent. This at a time when UN World Food Program (WFP) has announced that food aid has hit a 20 year low and it needs billions more to feed the world’s hungry.
No longer able to feed their families, subsistence farmers are dropping their tools, demolishing their homes, and heading towards towns and cities to settle in already overcrowded slums.
Since Kenya is largely dependent on hydroelectric power, the lack of rainfall has significantly decreased power across the nation, leaving many in cities, literally, in the dark. Rationing has been instituted by Kenya’s major power company, cutting power three days of the week.
While the wealthy in Kenya have to deal with power shortages, the slums face much worse. Lack of water has forced millions in slums to wait for trucks to come with potable water every few days. Jobs, which were few and far between in the beginning, are rapidly disappearing.
The worst famine areas, though, are the pastoral lands of Northern Kenya and the coastal lands, with indigenous groups such as Masaai and the Turkana especially suffering. Communities who have built their livelihoods on livestock are witnessing entire herds drop dead from heat, dehydration, and starvation.
Where is the Government?
Kenyans are accustomed to drought; in fact, the pastoral life is based on recurrent droughts. But this is different: less predictable rainy seasons, more frequent drought conditions, and a steady decline in rainfall over two decades has led many to cite climate change as the probable cause. Whether or not climate change is the direct culprit—unlike melting in the Arctic, something that is next to impossible to prove—it certainly has exacerbated the situation.
Fingers are also being pointed to environmental mismanagement.
Wetlands International has stated that commercial overexploitation of water in Kenya has made the crisis worse than it should have been. For example 100 tons of flowers are transported from Kenya by Dutch farmers every day—these are non-native flowers that are being grown on Kenya’s dwindling water supply. Even in the midst of this crisis, the flowers have not missed a day for delivery to western consumers.
Despite the issues of climate change and overconsumption of resources, many Kenyans say their government should have handled the crisis more aggressively and more rapidly. They blame officials, busy squabbling over power, for mismanagement of agriculture, the environment, the budget, and simply looking the other way as the drought spiraled.
The government has not only lost the trust of the Kenyan people but of the larger international community.
Portents
Kenya is not alone: Somalia is also suffering from the combined crises of drought, famine, and water shortages. Officials say the country has not seen such hunger since 1991.
Yet, it is Kenya which has international observers taken aback. If Kenya—once thriving from tourism and agriculture—can be reduced to such a state what does that mean for other seemingly stable nations in the region, or in the world?
The fear is that Kenya represents the state of things to come in the face of climate change, overpopulation, political corruption, food shortages, and unsustainable resource use.
It is high time for the Government of Kenya to redeem its image.
