---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: IRIN <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 4:09 AM Subject: SLIDESHOW: Living on the edge in Kenya's Turkana region To: Elisabeth Janaina <[email protected]>
SLIDESHOW: Living on the edge in Kenya's Turkana region NAIROBI, 27 January 2012 (IRIN) - The 850,000 residents of northwestern Kenya's vast and parched Turkana region face some of the most inhospitable living conditions on Earth. On their own, meagre average annual rainfall of between 300mm and 400mm and frequent droughts pose surmountable challenges. In the past, the predominantly livestock-raising population was able to travel far to find browse and water; a sustainable, cyclical livelihood. However, access to such greener pastures is now curtailed by agricultural development, out-of-bounds national parks, and the prevalence of small arms in the wider region. View the slideshow AccordingThere is little to fall back on. Infrastructure - roads, electricity, water supplies, schools, sanitation facilities, health centres, communications, social services and media access - are at best inadequate, if not virtually absent. Political clout is negligible. Poverty levels are at least 20 percent greater than the national average. Insecurity, nomadism, and the sheer vastness of the remote region - it covers some 70,000 sqkm - have greatly limited intervention by government agencies and international partners. All these factors contributed to malnutrition rates that topped 37 percent in some areas during the extreme drought of 2011. Food insecurity is permanent; many in Turkana have depended on food aid since before Kenya gained independence in 1963. Related Reports Drought exacerbates conflict in Turkana [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=85252 ] Illiteracy hampers treatment programmes [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93324 ] Turkana reels from severe drought [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93210 ] The dangers of pastoralism [ http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=85252 ] [END] This report online: http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportID=94739 © IRIN. All rights reserved. More humanitarian news and analysis: http://www.irinnews.org/ [This item comes to you via IRIN, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations or its Member States. Reposting or reproduction, with attribution, for non-commercial purposes is permitted. Terms and conditions: http://www.irinnews.org/copyright.aspx IRIN partners: UAE, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, UK and the IHC. More information: http://www.irinnews.org/donors.aspx This mail is from an automatic address. Contact IRIN at: [email protected]. Revise/stop your subscription: http://bit.ly/9nCoUP ] Subscribed email: [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/SouthSudanKob?hl=en.
