Mothers struggle to feed children as hunger grips Turkana

For Dinah, 27, feeding her five children in Turkana has become a daily struggle that never ends. Seven-month-old twins Meldah and Ekuom cry through the nights, and some days there is nothing to give them.

Flooding in Lake Turkana has made fishing dangerous, crocodile attacks have reduced the catch, and aid has become scarce following funding cuts.

“When people go to fish by the lake, they stay there for a long time, one-and-a-half or two weeks … while people are starving here… But when they come back, they come with empty hands, and then we’re left wondering if we’ll survive,” Dinah said, according to a report by Save the Children.

“[Hunger] means my children’s bodies have not grown; they become weak and emaciated. They have no fat…When I see that they’re hungry and sleeping, even the young ones are crying. My heart feels pain, and I feel hurt.”

Josephine, 32, is seven months pregnant and a mother of four. With her husband struggling to earn a living from fishing, she now sells charcoal to buy food.

“These days, the drought is serious and it’s not like before … even the organisations that used to help us aren’t here. In the past, when there was a drought, organisations used to help people. Now there’s drought again, but the organisations have stopped (due to funding cuts),” she said.

Save the Children says the crisis is reaching alarming levels. Between July and August, its Emergency Health Unit (EHU), working with local health teams and the Ministry of Health, screened 2,780 children in Turkana County.

Of these, 990 were diagnosed with acute malnutrition, meaning one in three children cannot access the nutrition they need to survive and grow.

Across northern Kenya, the number of people facing severe food insecurity is expected to rise by 16 per cent by January 2026, with over 179,000 people at risk of emergency hunger.

Most of these cases are projected to occur in Turkana, Marsabit, Mandera, and Baringo counties.

In Turkana, seven in ten people do not have enough food. An estimated 87,000 children under five and 36,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women urgently require treatment for acute malnutrition.

Alice Oyuko-Awuor, Clinical Manager with the EHU, described the situation as devastating:

“During our first round of outreach clinics, I was shocked and saddened to see so many children and pregnant and breastfeeding women suffering from hunger and malnutrition. Countless parents told us they’re lucky if they can feed their children one cup of plain maize a day, and that they often go to bed hungry. Others are trying to survive on wild fruit.”

Jib Pornpun Rabiltossaporn, Save the Children Country Director for Kenya and Madagascar, explained the multiple causes of the crisis.

“The majority of the population in northern Kenya relies on pastoralism and fishing to put food on the table. However, recent locust infestations in May this year have led to a significant reduction in vegetation cover, impacting grazing. Families are reporting that their animals are feeding on locust droppings, leading to illnesses, diarrhoea, and even deaths, with devastating consequences on nutrition and health outcomes, especially for vulnerable children.

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“For the fisherfolk, rising water levels in Lake Turkana, driven by climate change, have submerged fishing zones and increased the risk of crocodile attacks, with several incidents reported in recent times causing fear and reducing fishing activity, further eroding families’ income and food availability.”

In July, Save the Children deployed 25 outreach sites across Turkana to provide health and nutrition services for children and adults in the hardest-hit areas. The organisation has worked in Kenya since 1950 and in 2024 reached nearly 700,000 people, including about 455,000 children.