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ACTNews, KITUI
– Long drought had badly affected Kitui, an area located 180 kilometers
east of Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. The prolonged drought had led to crop
failure that affects a number of farmlands, limiting the food supply in Kitui.
The price of meat was
also too expensive for Kitui residents who mostly work as farmers. Hussein Adin
Somo, a Global Qurban partner in Kitui, reported in that in Eid al-Adha 2018,
the drought caused their crops to fail.
"Most
families here have a number of farms and livestock, such as chickens. When the
dry season came, they lost their livestock as many of them died due to the
unavailability of food, and the rice fields that fail to harvest,
"explained Husein.
In last year's Eid al-Adha, Global Qurban reached 1,800 people in Kitui. Global Qurban's arrival became an oasis amid the food crisis in Kitui. However, the Kitui community hopes that there will be a sustainable aid.
"We humbly hope that you reach us
again with sustainable programs, such as livestock raising and other
sustainable economic programs," said Maimuna Husein (59).
Eid al-Adha was also a precious moment for
Mohammed Abdallah Mwekka (70). He and his family were very happy to celebrate
the qurbani moment and to savor the sacrificial meat. "We thank Allah and
we thank you so much, the people of Indonesia, for remembering us and
delivering happiness to us during this Eid Al-Adha," said Mwekka. Mwekka
is a resident of Swahili village, he now no longer had a job and lives with his
eight family members.
This year, the food crisis still afflicts
Kenya. In Turkana district of Kenya in June 2019, the government even had to
subsidize food from Nairobi. Kenya is one of the countries in Africa which
experience food insecurity due to droughts, according to Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
From March to mid-May, rainfall on in
Africa is less than 50 percent of the average rainfall, not to mention that many
of the countries that experience drought are also plagued with conflict. []
