"As soon as we drove to really remote parts of Mandera County, I started seeing signs that something was wrong. The team drove past several dry riverbeds. The camels were thin. Then, we saw the communal graveyards where dead livestock had been dumped and burned. I spoke to a local chief in Mandera, Adan Molu Kike. He was a quiet, unassuming elderly man who went out of his way to explain to me how devastating the recent drought is."
"Water was the biggest challenge. With several rivers dry, water had to be brought in every week from aid agencies. Some communities got water once a week. Others saw the water bowsers arrive twice a week. There is usually a timetable. If you miss a delivery, that means no water until the next delivery. The water brown in colour also has to be shared with livestock. I see pastoralist Mohamed Hussein dragging two containers of water he has just collected from the water bowser delivery truck."
Mandera County in Kenya is experiencing severe drought characterized by dry riverbeds, thin camels, and communal graveyards where dead livestock are dumped and burned. Livestock began dying in July and losses continue, dramatically reducing herd sizes. Water shortages force reliance on weekly or twice-weekly aid deliveries by water bowsers, operating on strict timetables; missed deliveries leave communities without water until the next scheduled delivery. Delivered water is often brown and must be shared between people and animals. Humanitarian actors such as the Kenya Red Cross Society are involved in water distribution amid widespread crop and livestock losses.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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