Impact of Drought on Education

Impact of Drought on Education

Eight-year-old Arupe, alongside his older 11-year-old brother Achore, confess that he and his brother have at no point of their lives, attended school. They do not know what education is, nor its purpose in life. No one, including their family members has ever told them to enroll in a school, to learn and get an education. Even with the free primary education in Kenya, such news is foreign to them. 

Their parents departed from home more than five months ago in search of casual work, to try and support them from the ongoing drought. But so far, nothing has been forthcoming. In one month they send a mere USD 2 (Kenya Shillings 200), per month. 

When we arrived at their home, the boys were grazing, just a handful of their grand-father’s 20 or so goats. In their hands were small shields and arrows in their hands to protect what is left of their grandparents’ cattle, with five cows dead from the drought.

Need for education

Although, there is negative impact of drought on their education, food and access to clean water, what the brothers desire is to get an education and succeed in life.

“We want to go to school. Seeing other children going to school does not make us happy at all,” says young Arupe.

They claim to have close association with children such as themselves, who do not attend school either.

“The ones who go to school despise us and say that we are unable to communicate with them,” says Achore.”

They boys live with their grandparents, the Lochipatulia family, seated outside their grass thatched roof house, with walls constructed and covered with goat and cow dung. It is around midday and the family, inclusive of Arupe and Achore, have eaten nothing, since morning. They await the sunset, before going out, in search of something to eat.

“We have only one meal at night, that is only when we get flour to cook ugali (a mixture of maize meal mixed with flour and water in order to make a dough). If not, we barely eat at all,” says, Grandfather Apuya.

As the drought bites in Lokis area in Baringo County, access to water and food is a bigger challenge to the community. The brothers milk the goats early in the morning, to try and get some milk. If the milk is dry, they harvest poisonous wild fruits called loma which takes a 12-hour cooking preparation, before they are edible. The other alternative, as they go to the forest in search of pasture for their goats, is to eat a non-poisonous fruit that grows in the wild called chaplis in their local dialect.

Children, such as Arupe and Achore, are disadvantaged since those who attend school, get to benefit through the school-feeding program. The boys may not know what education is and its importance in their life, but the drought further amplifies, their current situation.

School feeding program

Elsewhere, due to lack of water at home, nine-year-old Pkopus, could not attend school. He had to try and fetch water at the dry Ptikii, seasonal River. Since the onset of the drought season, the river has been dry. The only way to access water, was for Pkopus to move deeper into the ground, where the community improvised a hand-dug well. However, in general it is a futile search for water.

Pkopus is a class three (grade three) pupil at Ptikii Primary School. He says they have not been eating the required school feeding meal program, which is part of the free primary education requirement in Kenya. 

Teacher Lotiko, a class six (grade six) mathematics teacher at Ptikii primary school says, “Even with the school feeding program, it barely comes on time, with the distribution usually done, in the middle of the term.” The school receives only 27 bags of sacks per term and uses a sack to feed a total number of 360 pupils in the school daily.

“This time round we received sacks of maize alone, without beans as per the requirement,” Teacher Lotiko says. So far, the only sack of maize that remained was exhausted the previous week.

However, the number of pupils in each classes has dropped drastically, when the school feeding program does not work well. In Grade one, the number of pupils was 51 before the end of the food supply on Monday, 13th February 2017, but now during the visit by World Vision Kenya, on 15th February 2017, only 24 pupils were in class.

Pupils, do not currently receive the food required during the lunch-hour break. Teachers say that pupils do not concentrate during afternoon classes. “The school can barely get pupils the food they need,” adds teacher Lotiko.

Value based education

According to World Vision Kenya Operations Director Jeremiah Nyagah, impact of the current drought on education is due to the fact of migration of families to other areas, in search of food and pasture for livestock. During assessments conducted by National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) in December 2016, some of the schools were closed as a result of ongoing drought that is at alarm stage as per the NDMA January newsletter issue.

Some recommendations from teachers at Ptikii Primary School is for parents in the community to be sensitised to value education as a priority in their children’s live. To view the impact of migration that will cause on the future of their children’s education. Many families have migrated in search for pasture and water for their livestock (NDMA, January 2017). In some of the areas where the communities have migrated to Baringo South, several conflicts have been reported hence making it harder for follow up.

A view reaffirmed by World Vision Kenya Area Programme Manager John Mutisya, who is in-charge of Lokis, who said the organisation will not reach their target numbers to recruit newly sponsored children as per the technical programme requirement. Lokis Area Programme (AP) is targeting 3000 Registered Children (RC) for 2017 Financial Year. The project has had challenges in the recruitmen of new children for sponsorship project due to migration of families to other areas. As such the ADP has requested permission to recruit overage children in the programme in order to achieve the targets.

“Monitoring has become a challenge, since some children who migrated with their families cannot be traced. The implication is that in future, there will be a sponsorship Child Monitoring Standard (CMS), which states that RCs must be monitored within 90 days,” says John.

Access to water

A cause of concern in Ptikii Primary School is the lack of access to water. Their borehole is dry with no permanent, water supply. The water-trucking mitigating initiative by the Government, has barely reached their school, since it began distribution in other areas. Even after the National Treasury in Kenya started releasing funds for drought response for the first phase in November 2016. Funds were disbursed to livestock, agriculture, water, health and nutrition sub-sectors; interior and coordination of national Government; special programmes and drought co-ordination.

In January, the Government constituted an inter-governmental and inter-agency technical committee to coordinate drought response. The President further directed responsible government agencies, both at the national and county levels, to redirect resources towards drought mitigation in the affected counties and put in place appropriate measures, to protect the livelihood of affected communities.

However, at Ptikii Primary School, things are totally different. Access to water is a great challenge facing the pupils and entire, school administration.  “We only hear other schools have received water supply, but we are yet to receive water in our school,” says Lotiko, the teacher.

According to NDMA issue for January 2017. The situation has rapidly deteriorated in nine arid counties.  These are: Turkana, Marsabit, Samburu, Tana River, Isiolo, Mandera, Garissa, Wajir and Baringo counties. Both pastoral and marginal agricultural areas across the country are experiencing drier-than-usual conditions, for this time of year.  As at January 30, 2017, the Vegetation Condition Index (VCI) indicated an extremely serious drought situation across the majority of ASAL counties, which was unusual for this time of year.

Baringo County, experienced a moderate, vegetation deficit and high surface temperatures, with livestock loss and an outbreak of diarrhoea due to a lack of safe, drinking water in parts of the region. If this situation continues without interventions, it means lives will be lost and malnutrition levels will increase.

Forage conditions are drier than usual because of the poor performance of 2016 short rains, the extended dry period between the 2016 long and short rains and hotter-than- normal, land surface temperatures.

World Vision Kenya, in collaboration with Baringo County Government, supported drought rapid assessment in December 2016 and the report indicated failed, short rains.

The livelihood assets especially in pastoral areas, have been adversely impacted where water pans have less than 40 per cent capacity. The forage condition is poor, with worsening trends and dying livestock.

Baringo County, located in the North Rift region of Kenya, borders Turkana to the North and North East, Samburu and Laikipia to the East, Nakuru to the South, Kericho and Uasin Gishu to the South West, Elgeyo-Marakwet to the West and West Pokot to the North-West. It covers an area of 11,015.3 sq. kilometres. The county has six sub counties namely, Tiaty, Baringo North, Baringo South, Mogotio, Baringo Central and Eldama Ravine.

Due to factors, such as historical or political marginalisation, low level population density, poor access to services, poor infrastructure, recurrent drought and effects of climate change, rampant cattle-rustling and attendant insecurity as well as low literacy levels, Baringo is one of the poorest counties in Kenya with over half of total population living in absolute poverty.

Following the declaration of La Nina drought alert by Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) and the subsequent corroborating alerts from diverse quarters, Baringo County government requested partners to support in drought response.

Approximately 300,000 people have been affected by drought in Baringo County. World Vision Kenya supported by World Vision Germany is located in Lokis Area Programme in Tiaty Constituency in Baringo County.

World Vision Kenya

Communications Officer

Zipporah Kageha Karani