Highbrow Magazine - nairobi https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/nairobi en How Poverty, Food Shortages in Kenya Have Led to Catastrophe https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3160-how-poverty-food-shortages-kenya-have-led-catastrophe <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Mon, 11/04/2013 - 09:17</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1kenya%20%28CIMMYT%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=mWxo_9Zj"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1kenya%20%28CIMMYT%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=mWxo_9Zj" width="480" height="365" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/">Inter Press Service</a> and our content partner, <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/10/when-poverty-quietly-morphs-into-catastrophe.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> NAIROBI/NEW YORK, Oct 17 2013 - Wambui Karunyu, 72, and her 7-year-old grandson are the only surviving members of their immediate family. Karunyu’s husband and five children all succumbed to the hardships of living in the semi-arid area of lower Mukurweini district in central Kenya.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In 2009, a drought struck parts of central and southeast Kenya, leaving 3.8 million people in need of food aid. Four years later, conditions in the area remain dire. According to the regional Drought Management Authority, while the upper parts of Mukurweini receive an annual rainfall of 1,500 mm, lower Mukurweini only receives 200mm.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A new report by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a U.K.-based think tank, identifies Kenya as one of 11 countries most at risk for disaster-induced poverty. The report, entitled “The geography of poverty, disasters and climate extremes in 2030”, warns that the international community has yet to properly address the threats disasters pose to the poorest parts of the world.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The report includes locations where both poverty and natural disasters will likely be concentrated in 2030; and in many instances, these locations overlap.</p> <p>  </p> <p> However, the severity of disasters – such as drought, floods and hurricanes – depends on what “disaster risk management” policies the government has put in place, according to ODI.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In 2010, for example, the magnitude 7.0 earthquake in Haiti killed 11 percent of people who felt its tremors, while the Chilean earthquake – of an even higher magnitude, 8.8 – killed 0.1 percent; and in 2008, Cyclone Nargis killed 138,000 people in Myanmar, while Hurricane Gustav of similar strength killed 153 when it struck the Caribbean and the U.S.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Slow-onset” disasters – such as the drought afflicting Karunyu and her grandson in Kenya – are often the harshest setbacks for development, especially in poor, rural areas that lack social safety nets, according to ODI.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “I plant maize and beans every season, but I harvest nothing. I never stop planting because I hope that this time will be better than the last time. But it’s always the same, loss and hunger,” Karunyu tells IPS.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Simon Mwangi, a resident of Mukurweini and a service provider with the Dairy Goats Association of Kenya, an association of small-scale goat farmers, tells IPS that Karunyu’s story is not unique.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Life here is characterised by poverty and hunger. A great majority live in rural areas, and they are farmers. Due to prolonged dry spells, the situation is alarming, since they have no other livelihoods,” he says.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Mwangi notes that unreliable rainfall, frequent droughts and the inability of residents to adapt to harsh climatic changes has affected the growth of a variety of crops, such as maize and beans, which used to grow successfully.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Lower Mukurweini is no longer a corn zone, but farmers continue to plant maize with no success. There are drought-resistant crops that can do well here, including fruits, such as pineapples and indigenous mangoes. But the lack of extension officers has made it difficult for people here to adapt to the dry climate,” he says.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2Kenya%20%28CIMMYT%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 429px;" /></p> <p> There is also a lack of NGOs and aid workers in Mukurweini to address the residents’ plight. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) operated in Mukurweini for nine years, but left in 2011. “Things were much better when [IFAD] ran irrigation and trainings for farmers. Some sub-locations were doing much better, and there was food. But many parts of lower Mukurweini are now at risk of starvation,” says Mwangi.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In Kenya, each child born in a drought year is 50 percent more likely to become malnourished, according to the report. And from 1997 to 2007, less than 10 percent of Kenya’s poor escaped poverty, while 30 percent of Kenya’s non-poor entered poverty, partly due to the multiple natural disasters affecting the country.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In July 2012, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon assembled a team of 27 advisers to help him achieve the lofty goal of ending world poverty. Ten months later, the team – known as the High Level Panel of eminent persons (HLP) – produced a report that advised Ban, among other things, to “build resilience and reduce deaths from natural disasters” by a percentage to be agreed.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The HLP recommended this target on disaster-mitigation to be included in the post-2015 development agenda, a list that would replace the eight current Millennium Development Goals –which do not include the word “disaster” once.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The intensity of natural disasters is expected to increase with climate change. ODI predicts that up to 325 million impoverished people in 49 countries will be exposed to extreme weather conditions by 2030.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The regional Drought Management Authority says that Nyeri County, where Mukurweini is located, should expect more prolonged dry spells moving forward.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “During the day, you barely see anyone outside, it’s too hot. Even the earth becomes too hot, you cannot walk barefoot,” says Mwangi.</p> <p>  </p> <p> “Without food or access to water, the elderly starve and fade away quietly,” he says.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://www.ipsnews.net/">Inter Press Service</a></p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: CIMMYT (Flickr).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kenya" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kenya</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nairobi" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">nairobi</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/poverty" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">poverty</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food-shortages" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">food shortages</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/africa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">africa</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/poverty-africa" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">poverty in africa</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/food" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Food</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/world-food-shortage" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">world food shortage</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kenyan-farmers" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kenyan farmers</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Miriam Gathigah and George Gao</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">CIMMYT (Flickr)</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Mon, 04 Nov 2013 14:17:14 +0000 tara 3788 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/3160-how-poverty-food-shortages-kenya-have-led-catastrophe#comments Explaining the Terrorist Siege in Nairobi https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2835-explaining-terrorist-siege-nairobi <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/news-features" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">News &amp; Features</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 09/25/2013 - 10:03</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nairobi%20%28Mpigapicha%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=aNyCT6TB"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1nairobi%20%28Mpigapicha%20Flickr%29.jpg?itok=aNyCT6TB" width="480" height="318" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p>  </p> <p> From <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201309231788.html?viewall=1">All Africa</a> and our content partner, <a href="http://newamericamedia.org/2013/09/nairobi-siege-explaining-the-kenya-attack.php">New America Media</a>:</p> <p>  </p> <p> The siege by armed gunmen at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Nairobi should not come as a surprise. Unfortunately, Kenya has long been a terrorist target.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Just over a month ago, US President Barack Obama and former president George W. Bush attended a ceremony that marked the 15th anniversary of the 17 August 1998 bombings by al Qaeda of the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, that killed 224 and injured thousands.</p> <p>  </p> <p> In 2002, militants bombed an Israeli-owned luxury hotel near Mombasa, killing 13 people, and also tried to shoot down an Israeli airliner. Kenya's decision in October 2011 to become directly involved in military operations in Somalia against al Shabaab increased the chances of a reprisal act of terror by its supporters and heightened the threat.</p> <p>  </p> <p> A group of over a dozen heavily armed gunmen attacked the Westgate shopping centre on 21 September.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Over 175 are known to be injured, including Kenyans and foreigners, and among the confirmed dead are British, French, Canadians, a Ghanaian and Chinese. In an address to the Kenyan nation, the country's President Uhuru Kenyatta, confirmed his family had been impacted -- by the killing of his nephew and fiancée.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Through social media al Shabaab has claimed responsibility. There is little reason to doubt this claim by al Shabaab, and survivors who escaped from the attack mention that some of the gunmen targeted non-Muslims.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Since October 2011 a spate of retaliatory gun and grenade attacks have occurred in Kenya, killing at least 48 people and injuring around 200 in 17 separate incidents. Four of these attacks occurred in Nairobi, and four in Mombasa. Shops, bars, churches, police vehicles, a religious gathering and a bus station have been targeted.</p> <p>  </p> <p> Neighbouring Uganda has also been targeted, and at least 74 people were killed in twin bomb attacks by al Shabaab in Kampala in 2010. Militants have also attacked religious gatherings in Tanzania, and a spate of acid attacks in Zanzibar including against British tourists shows a worrying trend.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>High-stakes issue</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> When I was last in Nairobi and visited a Westgate restaurant, prosperous Kenyans could be seen enjoying their weekend. I never imagined the shopping centre would become headline news for a brutal terrorist siege.</p> <p>  </p> <p> It is easy to believe that the security threats are exaggerated and complacency can set in. The truth is that there are small networks of sympathizers to radical Islamist causes in Kenya and also apparently in Tanzania.</p> <p> <img alt="" src="/sites/default/files/2nairobi%20%28noodlepie%20Flickr%29.jpg" style="width: 650px; height: 485px;" /></p> <p>  </p> <p> It was only a matter of time before a high profile target such as Westgate was attacked. For some years Nairobi's Kenyatta International Airport has been regarded by Western intelligence agencies as particularly vulnerable, and international airlines have invested in additional security screening procedures that seem to have reduced the risk.</p> <p>  </p> <p> East African governments have also responded by beefing up their anti-terrorism laws. In 2012, Kenyan lawmakers passed the country's first anti-terrorism law. It provides the security forces the right to arrest terrorist suspects, to seize property and intercept communications; but it has already been badly abused as an excuse -- particularly by the police -- to harass and raid Somali refugee and Muslim communities on the Kenyan coast. As we have seen elsewhere, this deepens resentment and can radicalize individuals and communities further.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <strong>Next steps</strong></p> <p>  </p> <p> Today, one day after the attack, Kenya's politicians have united to condemn the Westgate terrorist atrocity. But any knee-jerk, emotive response against Somali and Muslim citizens and residents of Kenya could backfire. Improving intelligence, security and continuing to encourage a settlement in Somalia, which could accommodate moderate parts of al Shabaab, has to continue.</p> <p>  </p> <p> The Westgate terror attack is designed to draw an emotive response from Kenyan policymakers and their allies. Attempting to end the Westgate siege with minimum further loss of life is obviously the immediate priority, but smart long-term strategies to engage Kenya's Somali and Muslim communities in order to avoid further radicalization will become increasingly important.</p> <p>  </p> <p> <a href="http://allafrica.com/stories/201309231788.html?viewall=1">All Africa</a></p> <p>  </p> <p> <em><strong>Photos: Mpigapicha (Flcikr); Noodlepie (Flckr).</strong></em></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nairobi" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">nairobi</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/westgate-mall" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">westgate mall</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/nairboi-siege" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">nairboi siege</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/terrorism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">terrorism</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/terrorist" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">terrorist</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/islamic-fundamentalists" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Islamic fundamentalists</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/kenya" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">kenya</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/obama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Obama</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Alex Vines</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 25 Sep 2013 14:03:45 +0000 tara 3569 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/2835-explaining-terrorist-siege-nairobi#comments