World Watch
September 8, 2009 11:42 AM

Once Immune, Kenya Hit Hard By Drought

By
Stephen Smith
Topics
World Watch
(AP Photo/Sayyid Azim)
Kenya, a developed country with lush land and a typically robust economy, is being devastated by a deadly drought, the New York Times reports.

With green pastures drying up, the drought is killing crops and children. It is stoking tensions in water-deprived slums and spawning ethnic conflict in communities fighting over the few remaining areas of fertile land, the newspaper reports.

Two staples of the country's economy – agriculture and tourism – have been hit especially hard, according to the newspaper.

(AP Photo/Khalil Senosi)
Game animals that draw safari enthusiasts are ravaged by hunger while farm livestock are dying of thirst.

Despite warnings from the international aid community, the Kenyan government apparently ignored the red flags, in part because they are dealing with political infighting in the wake of a disputed election in 2007 that set off a wave of violence.

Some government officials have also been accused of illegally selling off thousands of tons of the nation's grain reserves as a famine was looming.

The United Nations World Food Program recently said that nearly four million Kenyans — or 10 percent of the population — urgently needed food.

"Red lights are flashing across the country," the agency said.

But donor nations have been slow to respond, and a United Nations-led emergency appeal for $576 million is less than half financed, the newspaper reports.


  • Stephen Smith

    Stephen Smith is a news producer and sports editor for CBSNews.com

Add a Comment
by nightingalern September 14, 2009 4:14 PM EDT
With the likes of Odinga (cousin to our infamous President)is it any wonder? Odinga and Obama are from the same Kenyan Luo tribe. Odinga supporters are the people that are burning Christians alive, trapped inside churches ? most of Odinga's fanatical followers are radical Islamists who have pushed for Islamic Sharia Law, total banning of other religions and closing of co-ed schools, night clubs and ?public dressing style considered immoral?. Odinga was educated in Former Soviet controlled East Germany and maintains a strong loyalty to the vision of his ?Educators? and has allied with Islamist in order to gain their political support. In 2006 Obama took a trip to Kenya and voiced his support for his fellow tribesman and political ally, Odinga. Think about that. Odinga ran on the socialist democrat ticket in Kenya and lost to sitting president Kibaki. Hmm Obama is just like his cousin. I could go on. G-d removes his hand of protection and blessings with leadership like this. Proverbs 14:34 states that "Righteousness exalts a nation." Well, righteousness comes from national politics that are enacted. And as Proverbs 29:2 states, "When the righteous rule, the people rejoice...when the wicked rule, the people groan." Is it any wonder there is drought. My question is What is going to happen to our nation with Obama ruling?
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