Malina gets fresh vegetables every day despite drought

Six-year-old Malina lights up with a big smile when she starts talking about the vegetable garden at home. Her favorites are spinach and a type of kale that is often used in local dishes along with the maize porridge ugali.

But it wasn't always like that. Malina lives with her mother Halima and her four siblings in the small village of Korr in northern Kenya. It is home to just over 4,000 people, the vast majority of whom depend on livestock or farming for food and income.

Drought hits children hard

People in northern Kenya are used to recurring droughts, but in recent decades they have become worse. Climate change has made droughts more frequent and longer lasting. Since 2020, eastern Africa has experienced the worst drought in 40 years.

Reduced access to water means livestock die, crops are destroyed and income is lost. Food shortages in northern Kenya are severe. In Marsabit district, where Malina lives, one in five children currently suffers from acute malnutrition.

When the impossible becomes possible

- We have always said that it is not possible to grow vegetables here. But a relative of mine tried and asked if I could try too," says mom Halima.

How Erikshjälpen makes people and crops grow

With support from Erikshjälpen, Halima was able to create a small garden outside her house and started growing drought-resistant crops. She got the seeds from a teacher at the local school.

- She said: 'Try these at home' and now we can eat sukuma wiki and spinach every day!

Erikshjälpen works long-term in northern Kenya to enable families to start farming where it has not previously been possible. An important part of the work is targeted education on nutrition and nutritious food for parents and women's groups. Halima herself is active in a local women's group and she sees that this type of interventions has strengthened cohesion in the village.

- Many people have come to see the garden to learn more - it's much better to learn how to do it yourself than just to have food handed to you," she says.

Little Malina smiles proudly when she is allowed to join her mother in the vegetable garden.

- My mom says that vegetables make me strong and smart. So I help her water them," she says.

Author: Johan Larsson

Photo: Teddy Alwala