The severe drought Kenya has faced in 2011 has affected 3.5 million people – please read Mr. Kajembe’s story and support AMREF’s drought response here.
Mr Kajembe lives in one of the drier parts of the Kaloleni district in Kenya’s coastal region.
He has six small children who depend entirely on his 1.5 acre farm. The farm depends no the rains and over the last year there have been no rains - times have been extremely tough.
This past season he planted green peas, which did reasonably well, and maize which totally failed.
They family has no reserves.
Now Mr Kajembe has resorted to cutting down trees to make and sell into charcoal. It’s all his family has left to survive on.
He manages to produce about one bag of charcoal a week, which he sells for 400 Kenyan Shillings (about $4 Canadian) but this isn’t enough.
The other problem is that Mr. Kajembe isn’t the only farmer relying on charcoal to feed his family – his neighbours are doing the same thing. Sadly trees are becoming hard to find.
Mr Kajembe and his family rely on the nearby dams to collect water, but the one used for drawing human consumption has virtually dried up. The community is now sharing the remaining water with cattle.
When the last dam dries up, their final option will be to travel to Mariakani town which is 25 kilometers away.
Mr. Kajembe’s story is far too common across Kenya right now.
Learn more about AMREF's work responding to the ongoing drought in Kenya
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