Pain of drought and hunger – Magogoni residents in Thika brave the rains to receive relief food

It’s a little past 12pm and Magogoni, a semi arid area to the east of Thika town sparks to life.

 Hundreds of residents have converged at Magogoni, some from Gatuanyaga, and Munyu villages defying the downpour to receive relief food donated by the national government.

To them, the food relief is all that matter, not even the heavy downpour – that is a little price to pay compared to the food donation they are just about to receive

The prolonged drought which has ravaged the country has made life unbearable for many; animals have died, rivers have dried up, while for the lucky ones - more so in urban settings - a meal a day has been the norm, for three is a luxury.

Based on the prevailing situation, the National government has scaled up relief food distribution as a measure to mitigate the effects of drought as well as cushion the vulnerable households.

And at Magogoni in Thika, the situation was not any different as women, men, the youth all turned up to receive the vital commodity - long queues witnessed as they patiently waited for their turn to receive foodstuff -  rice and beans.

“With little children to feed, the suffering we have undergone in the past four years to put food on the table is untold. We rarely get good harvests in this area due to erratic rains. We majorly depend on relief food from the government to take us through and menial jobs from the nearby Del Monte pineapple farm, “Wangari, a resident, said.

In the recent past, area Member of Parliament [MP] Alice Ng’ang’a has spearheaded a similar exercise but going by the turnout, it seems the situation is dire.

The residents, led by Esther Wangari and Esther Wanjiru acclaimed the government for remembering them, expressing optimism that their planted farms will soon sort out their food problem having struggled for years.

For now they cling onto hope, hope of better harvest tomorrow, and hope of a better future.

 “This area has received some good rains, and we hope it continues. Our farms are encouraging and we are hopeful that we will finally get enough food, as we were years ago,” said Evelyn Mwikali, another resident.

The food, they said, will help them survive for a few days even as they look forward to bumper harvests having planted enough crops on their farms.

Ngoliba Ward Member of County Assembly Joakim Njama urged the government to consider doubling the relief food allocation saying that most Kenyans especially in his ward are sleeping hungry.

On her part, MP Ng’ang’a lauded the government’s initiative urging Kenyans to take advantage of the long rainy season to till their farms with the aim of having a bumper produce.

“If we get serious in our farms, and take advantage of the rains, nothing will stop unga from selling at Ksh.50. It’s a choice as a country we need to make,” said Nga'ng'a.