Walking Towards Hope: Mobile Nutrition Services Bring Hope to Families Facing Drought in Garissa

Life has not been easy for 25-year-old Sofia from Abaqdera village in Garissa County, Kenya. At a young age, she is already a mother to five children, ranging from her 10-year-old eldest son to her 5-month-old baby. 

Living in a region severely hit by prolonged drought, basic survival is a daily battle. For years, Sofia had to walk 12 long kilometres under the scorching sun just to reach the nearest health facility whenever one of her children fell ill. The gruelling walk became a regular routine as her 3-year-old daughter, Zamzam, suffered from repeated episodes of severe wasting. 

Every time Zamzam fell ill, the family’s routine was disrupted. Sofia, who depends on her pastoralist husband, was often forced to fend for her family through whatever means possible, including selling firewood to her neighbours just to make ends meet. 

However, a turning point came when local community health promoters trained Sofia on basic health and nutrition monitoring for her children. 

"From the education I got from our local health promoter, I was able to screen Zamzam myself. That is how I first noticed her health was taking a turn for the worse," Sofia recalls. 

Instead of enduring the difficult 12-kilometre journey on foot, help arrived directly for Sofia’s community.

Through the Kenya Humanitarian Fund (KHF), UNICEF and partners Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) and Rural Agency for Community Development and Assistance (RACIDA) are scaling access to lifesaving nutrition services through 245 outreach sites in Garissa, Mandera and Tana River counties for drought-affected communities.  These mobile clinics bring vital services directly to thousands of mothers and children under five who are struggling against climate-induced shocks.  

At the Abaqdera outreach site, a health worker assessed Zamzam and admitted her for outpatient treatment for severe wasting. She was provided with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), a specially formulated food used to treat children with severe wasting. Six weeks into treatment, Zamzam was showing steady improvement. 

"My child is getting better now, and that brings me so much joy," says a smiling Sofia. "I can finally see her smile and play with the other children again." 

The support extended beyond nutrition and WASH interventions to help vulnerable households recover from the economic strain of the drought. Sofia also received three tranches of KES 7,000 cash transfers disbursed by the World Food Programme as part of the same KHF-funded initiative. 

"With this money, I can buy nutritious food to complement my children’s diet," Sofia explains. "I was also able to pay school fees for my two eldest children." 

Though the impacts of climate change continue to challenge her community, Sofia now looks to the future with renewed optimism, confident that with accessible healthcare and support, her children will grow up healthy, educated, and strong.