Hunger deepens in Kenya's arid northwest

LODWAR, Kenya: In a dry riverbed in Kenya's arid northwest, pastoralists dig ever deeper pits in an effort to find water, as the region suffers its worst drought in 40 years, which has wiped out livestock and crops, deepening a hunger crisis.

The annual rains have failed in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia for the last four years and forced 1.5 million people to flee their homes in search of food and water elsewhere.

The impact of hunger is etched on the faces of children filling the stabilisation room for serious health problems at Lodwar County and Referral Hospital in northwest Kenya.

Agnes Ekereru said she has three grandchildren that have been affected by hunger and are sitting on a bed with her four-year-old grandson Ekai Ebei. My livestock died because of the drought. Nearly two million children in the Horn of Africa need urgent treatment for severe acute malnutrition, according to UNICEF estimates.

The war in Ukraine and the coronaviruses epidemic have pushed up the price of cooking oil, bread and wheat flour to record highs in local markets, as well as a rise in the price of flour, according to UNICEF.

Scientists at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say the drought has been caused by climate change and the La Ni a weather pattern in the Pacific Ocean.