Kenyan farmers, hit by drought, relocate to slums

Nanyuki, Kenya (AFP) Aug 19, 2009 - In Kenya a bruising and recurring drought is driving huge numbers of subsistence farmers away from rural areas, where they are increasingly reliant on hand-outs, into congested slums.

"People are opting to relocate. I know families that are demolishing their houses, selling iron sheets and timber and getting back to the nearest towns and settling in slums," said Steven Waweru, an official with Caritas that helps distribute World Food Programme aid in the region.

"In this village, about 50 percent of people have moved to the slum areas. This is going to increase pressure in town," he said, adding: "We've not seen that for a long long time".

"We see a very, very bad scenario in the next six months if no rains come down." ...

"The livestock still hasn't recovered from the 2005 drought. And already we have to confront a new drought. The drought cycle is getting shorter and shorter - every three or four years instead of every 10," a district veterinary official told AFP. ...

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