UWT Blog On The Relief Efforts In Kenya 2012

Pastoral areas in North East Kenya have experienced 3 successive failed rainy seasons. Though short rains arrived towards the end of 2011, relieving some of the pressure on rural farmers, around 4 million people still face massive food insecurities.

Throughout this crisis, Ummah Welfare Trust has consistently distributed dry food rations across rural Somalia and Kenya; providing a cushion to thousands of families who find themselves in a worsening situation. In the midst of its largest relief project ever, UWT is currently distributing emergency food packs in the regions of Modagash and Garissa, North East Kenya.

UWT fieldworker, Muhammad Taaha, initially part of the efforts in Somalia, is now in Kenya overseeing UWT’s relief projects. Follow him and his blog as he traverses rural Kenya, providing a vivid account of the life on the ground and UWT’s response.

Facts

Famine Strikes The Horn Of Africa

Droughts and crop failures are not unique to Somalia, but other factors make the country less able to deal with these crises. Because Somalia has a weak central government, a single shock to the system can bring disaster.
Areas where seasonal rains did not fall and commodity prices spiked fell victim to famine, and are seeing massive human migration.
This pattern of drought, food scarcity and, finally, famine has plagued the region for over 20 years. This graph shows number of Somali refugees since 1987.







This year is likely to be the worst Somalia has experienced since 1992. The Dadaab refugee camps, in northeast Kenya, currently hold more than four times the people they were designed to house. According to the U.N., about 1,500 Somali new refugees pour into Kenya each day.




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