ACT Alliance

by Sarah Wilson in northern Kenya

After 18 months without rain the situation for pastoralists and farmers in northern Kenya, Somalia and southern Ethiopia is becoming critical.

The region is prone to drought but this is the most prolonged and severe in the past 60 years. The link between the lack of rains and global climate change cannot be ruled out.

Dadaab refugee camp was opened in Kenya near the border with Somalia in 1991 when the Somali government collapsed. It was originally designed to accommodate 90,000 people. It has remained open ever since as the political situation in Somalia has failed to improve.

The long-running drought has left people desperate for food and water across the region. This has led to a massive influx of refugees from Somalia flooding into the camp in recent months. Now nearly 400,000 people live in Dadaab, making it the largest refugee camp in the world.

Lennart Hernander, on behalf of the ACT Alliance operation in Kenya, explains "There were 42,000 new refugees registered in Dadaab between January and May 2011. In the month of June alone, there were a further 38,000 registered. There are now between 1300 and 1500 people arriving every day.

There were 42,000 new refugees registered in Dadaab between January and May 2011. In the month of June alone, there were a further 38,000 registered.

"The sheer weight of numbers means that the registration process take 15 days, so we are now giving people a basic food ration, tents or tarpaulins, blankets, sleeping mats and firewood as soon as they arrive."

One reason registration is time consuming is that people have to be searched for weapons so the camps are not infiltrated by armed groups like the Al Shabaab militia, which is now controlling parts of Somalia.

This huge influx of refugees is placing more pressure on the local Kenyan population who are also suffering the effects of the drought. One solution ACT is proposing is to buy cattle from struggling pastoralists before the livestock become too emaciated to have any market value, and to slaughter them.

Local organisations would then distribute the meat to the most vulnerable people in the community and the pastoralists would use the proceeds from the sale to restock when the drought ends.

ACT is training local people to regulate and maintain the boreholes in the drought-hit areas. The lack of water means that the boreholes are being used constantly, 24 hours a day, so they are particularly prone to breaking down.

Jarso Mokku, overseeing the project on ACT's behalf, explains "If a borehole is allowed to deteriorate it has a huge knock-on effect. Pastoralists will have to walk many miles with their cattle to the next one, and with cattle already weak from hunger, they may not survive the journey."

ACT's work at the Dadaab refugee camp is carried out by alliance member the Lutheran World Federation.