December in Kenya typically coincides with the arrival of rain. It’s an exciting moment that doesn’t just represent the start of the wet season but the promise of a good harvest and food for the year ahead. Going into Christmas, everyone breathes a sigh of relief knowing they can celebrate the holidays.
Farmer and single mother, Anastacia, remembers those days well. “When there was rain, Christmas was good because I would cook my children a good meal,” she says. “They love chapati and green grams.”
But, for the first time in a long time, Anastacia won’t be cooking chapati and green grams for her children.
Climate change has destroyed any predictability of rainfall in her village, Muukuni. Parts of the country have been in various stages of drought since as far back as 2014 and this year has been particularly bad for Muukuni. The added burden of the pandemic has sent food prices soaring and is pushing Anastacia’s family to the edge of survival. They are among the two million Kenyans facing famine levels of hunger due to food and water shortages.