On World Food Day 2008 we highlight the situation of some of the world’s 923 million undernourished people. Most live off the land in rural areas, depending on agriculture for survival. Global warming, drought, rising oil prices and converting land for biofuel production are pushing food prices and the number of hungry people ever higher.
A food crisis in Kenya
Food and water shortages have triggered conflict in northern Kenya and across its borders with Ethiopia, Sudan and Uganda. To date, armed clashes over water and pastures have resulted in he deaths of up to 19 livestock herders and the displacement of hundreds more.
A recent report puts the number of Kenyans without enough food at 5 million. An estimated 1.38 million people in rural areas alone will not have enough to eat in the next six months.
Drought and severe water shortages threaten people’s livelihoods and could turn northern Kenya’s precarious food situation into an unmitigated disaster. Where water is in short supply, hygiene and sanitation have become unaffordable luxuries. Diseases such as diarrhea, typhoid and tuberculosis are now contributing to the worsening conditions.
“Until the food crisis is addressed more sustainably, conflicts will continue among drought affected communities,” says Edward Mwebaze Sembidde, Merlin’s Program Coordinator in the Turkana region. In the past three months, Turkana has seen rising conflict over food, water and land.
What is Merlin doing?
Merlin is working in more than 150 locations to reach nomadic ranchers and provide primary health care, including immunization, prenatal and postnatal care, as well as preventive care and treatment for common diseases. Trained village volunteers are carrying out nutritional screenings of children under five and are referring malnourished children to health facilities for food and medical treatment if necessary.
Since March 2008, Merlin’s nutritional support program seen a rising number of new admissions. Of the 12,142 people screened for malnutrition between July 2007 and August 2008, 32 percent were malnourished – 8 percent of them severely.
"Efforts to address this situation are urgent. Not only is water needed for humans, it’s equally needed for livestock – the backbone of the Turkana society,” says Edward Mwebaze Sembidde, Merlin’s Program Coordinator.
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