Fault Lines

Horn of Africa Crisis: Drought Zone

As millions in Kenya suffer from extreme hunger, is the US addressing the causes of the crisis or just its symptoms?

The worst drought in 60 years has thrown more than 13 million people across the Horn of Africa into crisis.

In Kenya, those already living in the greatest precarity have been pushed even closer to the edge.

In the arid lands deadly inter-tribal conflict is escalating with pastoralists competing over increasingly scarce resources, as climate change accelerates drought cycles.

Weather patterns become increasingly unpredictable and small scale farmers are struggling to grow enough food. In Nairobi’s poorest neighbourhoods, residents are reduced to eating one meal a day, as the price of food spirals out of reach.

As world leaders discuss climate policy in Durban, Fault Lines travels through Kenya’s drought zone. In the second part of a two-part series, we ask how US policies intersect with drought and hunger, and how the US is responding to the emergency in the Horn of Africa.