PHOTO GALLERY
The consequences of Kenya’s drought, which is affecting 3.5 million people, are plain to see in the faces of the children at a therapeutic feeding centre at Wajir District Hospital.
Severely malnourished three-year-old Moussa Abdi Hassan sits alongside another child.
Copyright: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
Nurses said Moussa was admitted to the feeding centre, run by the British NGO Merlin, suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting.
He comes from the village of Hadado, about 70 kilometres west of Wajir town.
In the village, cattle carcasses are piling up around boreholes in scenes which are becoming increasingly common in the arid northeast of Kenya.
Copyright: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
Severely malnourished two-year-old Ubah Adow and his mother Ijabu Adow in Kenya’s Garissa Hospital, the only referral hospital for the entire northeast province.
Doctors say Ubah is suffering from an unknown illness.
There are 57 children in the 50-bed therapeutic feeding unit at the hospital and the numbers are expected to rise as the drought worsens.
Copyright: WFP 2006/ Peter Smerdon
Goats crowd round for a drink at a borehole at the village of Shatabak in Garissa.
Hundreds of thousands of livestock have died since the failure of the October to December short rains last year.
Kenya has had drought since 1999, with a brief respite in 2003.
Copyright: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
As nomadic herders lose their livestock they move closer to towns and main roads.
WFP is moving food aid distributions to reach the herders in Garissa.
All they can do is hope that the long rains arrive on schedule in April and are abundant enough to make a difference.
Copyright: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
The half-empty WFP warehouse in Garissa only has sufficient food stocks for 37,000 people.
Some 100,000 drought-affected people need emergency WFP food aid in this area each month.
Copyright: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
A family of nomadic herders eat outside their hut hours after collecting their rations at a distribution point.
Salat Osman, who has lost most of his livestock to the drought, said that without food aid many people would die.
When asked what he would do if the food aid ran out, Salat said all he could do would be pray
to Allah for help.
Copyright: WFP 2006/Peter Smerdon
