Just a few months ago when Kenyans joined the world to celebrate Christmas, a goat, which used to sell at Sh3,000, is now going for Sh500 and it is also lucky to find someone who will buy it in Turkana drought calamity.
The drought being experienced in northern Kenya is alarming as hundreds of livestock have also perished due to lack of water and pasture.
Badly hit areas are Chematony, Tobereruo, Panyirit, Kopoluo, Kadeli, Korio and Katikit.Several people have reportedly died of hunger-related complications in Tiaty, Baringo County, while thousands of others face starvation as the ongoing drought takes its toll.
Affected families are now surviving on a wild fruit locally known as sorich, which has to be boiled for many hours to clear poison and make it edible.
women are forced to travel for long distances to get the berries, which are then boiled for the whole day.
“The wild fruit is boiled along the river because it needs a lot of water to drain the poison. People are sensitive to the berries and most of them, especially young children and the elderly, have suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting, but they have no option because there is no other food available,” said Mr Nakule.
In the villages are frail faces of children, the elderly and expectant mothers who are hardest hit by the calamity.