How Drought Is Forcing Parents To Withdraw Children From School

Parents have been forced to withdraw their children from school due to a ravaging drought that also threatens nearly one million livestock from about 29 areas.

Already, the authorities in Meru County, Kenya where nearly 600, 000 residents are threatened by the drought, are making contingency plans to mitigate the challenge, the Nation reports.

“This drought is worsening by the day and is affecting livestock besides residents and their children, who have been forced to drop out of school and we are assisting them cope with the situation,” Prof Kobia said.

Part of the measures is government’s bankrolled relief food to keep domestic animals alive.

The Eagle finding shows that agriculture, of which livestock farming is a critical part, is a major industry in Kenya accounting for 29 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but this potential stands threatened by the drought.

Yesterday, there were reports of Governor Kawira Mwangaza and outgoing Public Service Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia dispatching 2,240 bags of animal feed supplements for distribution to dairy farmers in Igembe Central, Igembe North and Buuri sub-counties, where the ravaging drought has wiped out vegetation, leaving animals starving.

The Nation of Kenya also cites the County Commissioner Fred Dunga, as saying that the national government was collaborating with the county administration to ensure food relief benefits the needy across the county.

Prof Kobia said President William Ruto had directed officials in the concerned ministries to ensure that Kenyans living in the 29 counties affected by drought were helped.

“This drought is worsening by the day and is affecting livestock besides residents and their children, who have been forced to drop out of school and we are assisting them cope with the situation,” Prof Kobia said.

Local suppliers

“The government is also exploring ways of involving local suppliers in the provision of relief food so that it does not need to come from Nairobi.”

But the CS said the government wanted a permanent solution for the drought by setting up irrigation projects across the country so that farmers don’t have to rely on rain-fed agriculture.

Rains have failed for nearly four years now even as the onset of the short rains this year has delayed.

Governor Mwangaza pledged to ensure only deserving people benefited from the food aid. “We have an elaborate plan that will ensure this food is not found anywhere in shops being sold. Only those who deserve it will get the assistance,” she said.

She explained that the first consignment of food aid was distributed in schools in line with the county disaster committee’s decision. The food aid also included maize and rice for residents in informal settlements.

“For this consignment, we have considered people living in slums and other needy families in the hard hit areas,” the governor said.

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Her administration, she said, will support irrigation projects across the county to ensure farmers don’t have to rely on rain to produce food, the Nation report added.