Samburu Children Abandon School Over Drought.
As parents relocate in search of pasture and water for their livestock, they leave their children in the care of their elderly grandparents, thus increasing school dropouts in Samburu County.
Without their parents, girls are burdened with the additional responsibility of caring for their younger siblings.
The number of students at Remot Primary School in the Samburu East Constituency has decreased from 192 to 130 in the past few months, making it one of the most hit by the drought.
According to the school’s headmaster, Joseph Lolpranoi, the region has not gotten significant rainfall for the previous three years.
As a result, the residents, who are primarily pastoralists, have suffered enormous losses owing to the death of cattle.
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) reports that 115,725 pregnant and nursing women in drought-affected regions are malnourished and in need of care.
In Baringo, Kajiado, Kitui, Mandera, Marsabit, Samburu, Tana River, Tharaka Nithi, and Wajir, the number of children at risk of malnutrition is increasing.
With high temperatures, the county remains mostly dry. Pasture remains depleted, with poor browse conditions throughout the livelihood zones.
Most open surface water sources have remained dry, and borehole yields have been low due to high abstraction rates.
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Samburu Children Abandon School Over Drought