“Our Children Are Next”: Drought Devastates Herds and Drives Hunger in Northeastern Kenya

Villagers in drought-stricken northeastern Kenya are burning the carcasses of their livestock in distant fields to keep the stench of decay and scavengers away from their homes as the crisis deepens.

Mandera County, which borders Ethiopia and Somalia, has had no meaningful rainfall since May and is teetering on the brink of a full-scale water emergency. Reservoirs that once held tens of thousands of cubic metres of water are dry, and families who depend on pastoralism are losing their livelihoods.

“I have lost all my cows and goats, and burned them here,” said Bishar Maalim Mohammed, 60, a resident of Tawakal village. In Tawakal the last surviving bull can no longer stand; it has lain in the same place for days, severely dehydrated and emaciated.

In Banissa, a man-made reservoir that once held about 60,000 cubic metres of water is now an empty basin children have turned into a playground. Herds of goats, cattle and camels must trek up to 30 kilometres to reach the nearest watering point at Lulis village, where remaining water is being strictly rationed.

Humanitarian Impact

More than two million people across 23 Kenyan counties are facing worsening food insecurity after the October–December short rains failed, with rainfall roughly two-thirds below average. The National Drought Management Authority has placed about nine counties on alert while Mandera County sits at the "alarm" phase—one step short of an official emergency.

The Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) warns that some 20–25 million people across Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia will need humanitarian food assistance, with more than half of that need driven by drought.

Children, Health and Aid Strain

Banissa's main hospital has been overwhelmed by a surge of severely malnourished children, including some who have crossed from neighbouring Ethiopia. During a recent visit, aid workers observed eight children with severe acute malnutrition, among them a 32-month-old girl weighing just 4.5 kilograms. Hospital nutritionist Khalid Ahmed Wethow said, “Children are not getting an adequate diet because of this drought… they depend on camel and goat milk but there is now no milk at all.”

The hospital, which serves roughly 200,000 people, had only eight tins of therapeutic milk remaining in its paediatric unit at the time of reporting. The unit depends on donations from organisations such as the World Food Programme; however, cuts to international aid budgets have left supplies thin, and the hospital had received no deliveries in six months.

Livelihood Losses and Displacement

Desperate herders have walked hundreds of kilometres in search of pasture. Bishar Mohamed (no relation to the first villager) traveled more than 150 kilometres with 170 goats; about 100 died en route and the remainder died after he returned home to Hawara village. School enrolment has fallen sharply in affected communities as families move in search of water and grazing—one nearby school saw attendance drop by more than half.

Local leaders and families fear for their children. As one mother in Hawara put it, “May God save them.” The next rainy season is not expected before April, leaving communities and aid agencies racing to respond to an expanding humanitarian crisis.

What Aid Groups Are Doing: The Kenyan government and humanitarian organisations, including the Red Cross, have increased water-trucking, food distribution and cash assistance, but they say resources and supplies are insufficient to meet the scale of need.