Does Relief Food Distribution Kill Drought, Hunger?

Listening to some supposedly intelligent people discussing about the current drought hitting Turkana County and many other dry corners of Kenya prompted my mind to ask itself what the word 'drought' stands for. Is it just a long spell of dry weather hitting a place? Or is it the dryness of our minds and heartlessness of our hearts causing pro-people systems to turn against the very same targets they ought to uplift?

Predictably many of us will point out lack of rains as the real culprit causing drought and by extension leading to starvation - producing those ugly images of women and children fighting for their dear lives. But away from this rather common narrative there rests another critical component that could possibly be the reason why drought kills, and why it should always kill before a veiled 'anti-drought' intervention is quickly launched from all fronts - government, non-government, religious... Unfortunately hidden from these fronts is the question: has drought become so powerful to a point that it has to be cuddled when measures against it are put in place?

This question is relevant because it forms the bedrock of my fears that victims of drought do not appear to be the central reason behind anti-drought moves in Kenya. And to arrive at this painful stop I had to do some flashbacking. Actually if drought were to be set up as a business venture it would have overpowered the influence of those known international oil moguls. In Turkana alone this thing has attracted endless streams of cash, techniques, people and organizations with little impact on the general public.

Perhaps the most visible benefit associated with drought is some locals working as anti-poverty agents. But for how long? Drought benefits those around decision-making tables. Of course this is an area that is highly guarded because of its resourcefulness and the political power players it attracts. This is why I believe drought and other disasters, natural and manmade, have created lethal disaster hitmen patrolling northern Kenya's dry villages scuttling any efforts to empower people. Enlightening these villagers is a step these hitmen will explore every option to stop.

Sometime back I heard a well placed political broker sweet-talking his colleagues. The talk revolved around ways to adopt so as to counter the effects of drought that had ravaged their people. Preceding this small meeting was a conference on disaster preparedness and specifically how to come up with a viable way of sourcing for funds to facilitate this anti-disaster intervention. In the conference were people from all sides: donors, politicians and government representatives. To summarize this story, what has stuck in my mind is a statement made by that political broker: "...some problems come at the right time, moments when we need money for ourselves..." 

Ironically this guy won't cower to shout about the power vested in him to defend, speak for and stand with his people. It is such kind of people that force me to pose the question: does relief food distribution really kill drought, hunger?

I stand to be corrected. A disaster that attracts huge funding inlets and heavy political participation is unlikely to end. Food distribution is an exercise that needs money to purchase, store, transport, and to distribute those rations to victims of drought. These are ways that service lives of many; decision makers both in government and other bodies, politicians, influence peddlers, business people, local agents and many other unseen demons. Now tell me, why has it taken long for Kenya to even express its commitment to bring an end to these painful episodes?

For your information drought is not just about starvation and giving life to disaster hitmen. There are other effects. In many of these dry places when it becomes drier, wind sets in. Apart from causing health complications, these winds cause fires. Isn't it time to make life out of these winds? (Wind energy, I guess, could be an option).

To bring down drought and its hitmen, I think it is time we allowed this year's drought to trigger us to collectively do an honest analysis on past anti-drought, anti-starvation interventions with a view to allowing a new breed of interventionists with victims as their only and number one reason to lead this anti-disaster fight.

Lemukol Ng'asike is an architect. Email: lemoseh89@gmail.com. Twitter: @mlemukol.