Reuters AlertNet Full site
Homepage | Newsdesk | NGO Latest | Crisis briefings | Country profiles | MediaWatch | Jobs | Alerting | Login

FROM THE FIELD

Kenya food crisis: urgent funding needed in Turkana
04 Aug 2009 15:52:07 GMT
 Source: Merlin - UK
218926 logo

Background

•  Food and hunger

•  African hunger

•  E. African hunger

•  Children

MORE >>
“We urgently need more funding here in Turkana. If we don’t get it, I may have to apply for a transfer. I don’t want to watch children die.” Regina, Nutritionist, Lodwar Hospital

Failed rains and failing funds will cost lives
Three years of failed rains have led to a sharp decline in food and a dramatic increase in prices â€" maize is 33% more expensive today than it was 12 months ago. The drought has also destroyed the livelihoods of Turkana’s pastoralists â€" without vital rainfall to replenish pasture and water source, most of the livestock Turkanas depend on have died. The cattle that remain are now too thin to fetch a decent price at market and too weak to produce the milk families rely on.

Reliant on aid to survive
The lack of food and income means Turkana’s pastoralists simply cannot feed themselves: 50 per cent of people here are now reliant on food aid. No one is suffering more than Turkana’s children.

To give vulnerable communities a fighting chance to ride out the hunger gap, Merlin’s nutrition programmes are vital. But we only have funding for four more months.
“If funding isn’t made available in Turkana soon,
there’s a real chance that people will die:
our mobile teams reach some of the most isolated parts of Turkana. Without us, families will have no access to health care or vital nutrition at a time when drought and the food crisis are making it harder than ever for parents to keep their children alive.”
Merlin’s Country Director Wube Woldermariam

Malnutrition rates at an all-time high

A nutrition survey in May 2009 revealed that 22.5% of children in Turkana are acutely malnourished, far above the 15% rate considered critical by the World Health Organisation.

5,148 malnourished under-five year olds and 1,744 pregnant and lactating women are currently enrolled in our nutrition programme, with more cases arriving by the day. They receive either plumpy nut, a high-calorie, peanut paste, or a regular supply of a nutritious porridge mix.

The most severe cases are malnourished children with medical complications such as TB, who our teams refer to our Stabilisation Centre at Lodwar Hospital. 
Without Merlin, these children will be forced to survive on whatever food their families can find. Many have told our health workers that they are existing on a diet of mokoma, a desert fruit.

Marginalisation must be overcome to give people the chance to survive
Together with other charities working in Turkana, Merlin is fighting to ensure funding is made available to help this marginalised community. Wube commented: “This is one of the most challenging and vulnerable regions in Kenya. Our mobile health teams have worked so hard to ensure families have access to vital health care and nutritional support. Last year they provided treatment to 45,000 people, mostly children and women. The patients enrolled on our programmes are now reliant on them. We are doing everything we can to support this community. But we desperately need more funds.”

 

Kenya: on the frontline of the global financial crisis

Few would have thought that one of the most apparently successsful countries in Africa would be so devastated by the global recession. But the UN’s recent warning of a $4.8 billion gap in funding to tackle humanitarian crises highlighted Kenya as one of three countries worst affected.

You can help save lives: Please donate now

See a video of Rebecca, a Merlin nurse who provides life-saving health care in Turkana




[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Email this article       Send comments

Topics

•  Children

•  Food and hunger

MORE >>

Emergencies

•  E. African hunger

•  African hunger

MORE >>

Members

•  Merlin - UK

MORE >>

NGO latest

•  Kenya food crisis: urgent funding needed in Turkana
Merlin - UK

•  The American Red Cross calls for more schools to teach Geneva Conventions
Red Cross - USA

•  Merlin welcomes fresh expertise to Board of Trustees
Merlin - UK

•  Malawi: Food Security for Farmers Key to Feeding Families
ADRA - International

•  Sudan: an increasingly fragile peace
Oxfam GB - UK

MORE >>

Latest news

•  U.S. ready to help address Africa's food problems

•  U.S. ready to help address Africa's food problems

•  INTERVIEW-U.S. says African farming has role in green push

•  U.S. chides Kenya for inaction on post-poll chaos

•  India tells UNICEF to stop nutrition relief aid

MORE >>

[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]

Background information

Briefings
E. African hunger - [Who works where]
African hunger - [Who works where]

Topics
Children Food and hunger
Facts & figures
Kenya

Related articles

Breaking stories
 U.S. ready to help address Africa's food problems (1 minute ago)

U.S. ready to help address Africa's food problems (1 minute ago)

AlertNet insight
 Wounds fester a year after Kenya election violence (1 minute ago)

Aid agency news feed
 Kenya food crisis: urgent funding needed in Turkana (1 minute ago)

Blogs
 Meeting Southern Sudan's former 'child soldiers' (1 minute ago)

Maps
 Dadaab Refugee Camps – Overview, Garissa, N.Eastern, Kenya (1 minute ago)


Del.icio.us Del.icio.us  |   Digg Digg  |   NewsVine NewsVine  |   Reddit Reddit   
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-08-04T115653Z_01_STN02_RTRIDSP_2_BULGARIA_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/STN02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-08-04T090716Z_01_ISL02_RTRIDSP_2_PAKISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/ISL02.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-08-03T155617Z_01_TBW05_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/TBW05.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-08-03T155351Z_01_TBW04_RTRIDSP_2_AFGHANISTAN_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/TBW04.htm
Thumb for /thefacts/imagerepository/RTRPICT/2009-08-01T163313Z_01_AFR03_RTRIDSP_2_KENYA-PLANE_mainimage.jpg|/thenews/pictures/AFR03.htm

Children cool off in a waterfall near the town of Karlovo, some 150 km (93 miles) east of Sofia August 4, 2009. Temperatures in Bulgaria have topped 35 degrees Celsius (95 ...


More pictures | Galleries
Disclaimers |  Copyright |  Privacy |  Contact Us |  Feedback |  About Us |  RSS XML

Last updated:Tue Aug 4 14:53:02 2009