Mennonite
Central
Committee

MCC helps Kenyans save livestock during drought

February 24, 2006
Tim Shenk

A drought in much of eastern Africa is having a devastating effect on nomadic people who raise animals for a living.

MCC is currently sending 12 truckloads of animal feed to members of one such group, the Gabra people of northern Kenya's Marsabit district.

The Gabra people

The Gabra people raise cattle, goats and other livestock as their primary source of food and income. When seasonal rains failed to materialize in 2005, the Gabra's herds began to die for lack of water and pasture.

MCC is providing about $60,000 Cdn., or $52,000 U.S., to a local Anglican organization to purchase 120 tons of animal feed in Nairobi, Kenya, and distribute it in Marsabit district. About 5,000 families will receive feed for their livestock.

Losing Animals

David Adolph-LaRoche, a development coordinator for the Anglican Church of Kenya, reports that the Gabra people are rapidly losing their animals.

"On a given day hundreds of carcasses can be found," Adolph-LaRoche writes in a project report. "Elders say that they have never seen such a severe drought."

Adolph-LaRoche reports that young children, old people and new mothers among the Gabra community are beginning to show signs of malnutrition because milk and meat are unavailable.

"Over and over we hear 'never mind about the maize (food assistance) for people — give us food for our animals so that as they survive we too can survive,'" he writes.

Drought Response

The United Nations estimates that the current drought in eastern Africa threatens the food supplies of 11 million people. MCC is planning additional responses to this crisis.

 

MCC in Kenya