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You are here : Homepage > East Africa Food Crisis > “I do not have enough food to feed my child….”

“I do not have enough food to feed my child….”

: Hassan and his daughter Mariam after four weeks of treatment

Garbatulla, 10 August 2011 - Hassan is a very worried father. His small daughter, Mariam, is three and a half years old and is suffering from severe acute malnutrition. Mariam weighed just 10.3 kilos, when a team from Action Against Hunger arrived in their small town of Eskot in Central Kenya four weeks ago, to screen children for malnutrition.

Mariam, like so many other children, has fell victim to the worst crisis in the region for decades caused by drought, rising food prices and extreme poverty. Villagers in Eskot have not seen rain for two years. Farming communities have seen their crops destroyed and are forced to watch their animals die one by one. For many, livestock is the only source of income and without their animals families have no means of providing food for their children.

Hassan says: “Mariam is malnourished because of the drought. Before, we used to give her milk from our herds. I had 20 camels, 20 cows and 60 goats. Now I am left with barely any – the drought has killed them all. The only goats I have left are wasting away and cannot produce milk. I do not know how to feed my daughter. She started to become weaker and weaker.”

Families like Hassan's are trying to sell the few remaining animals they have left to generate money to buy food. However, given the weak state of the animals, cattle prices have completely collapsed.

Mariam has been supported by Action Against Hunger teams for the last few weeks, and is receiving highly nutritious foods, four times per day, which she can eat at home. Initially her weight increased to 11 kilos, before falling again to 10.9, highlighting her fragile state and the need for special monitoring. She is now improving rapidly and attends regular sessions at Action Against Hunger’s feeding centre to monitor her progress.

“We come to each session and the nutritionists measure Mariam’s arm circumference and her size and weight. Then they fill in Mariam’s record card and we can assess how well she is doing,” says Hassan.

Hassan affectionately showers his little daughter with hugs and kisses as she sits in the waiting room. “You know, I do not know what the future will hold for Mariam. I would have liked her to go to school, but I do not have enough money to buy supplies or books for her. Right now, I am barely able to feed my family.”

Action Against Hunger's teams have scaled up existing life-saving nutrition activities in Garbatulla region to nurture children like Mariam back to health and prevent the crisis from worsening. Our teams are also working in collaboration with communities to develop agriculture programmes to diversify livelihoods and improve food security, as well as providing access to clean drinking water.