Drought spreads beyond Kenya's arid north, plunging herders into crisis
Maria Katanga, 24, from the Maasai pastoralist community, handles the dry carcass of her cow that died following worsening drought due to the failed rainy season, at a village settlement near Magadi township, along the Kenya-Tanzania border in Kajiado, Kenya, February 5, 2026.
The dozens of cow and goat carcasses scattered around Maria Katanga's family compound testify to the grinding impact of an ongoing drought on Kenya's pastoralist communities who rely on livestock for survival.
Since August, the 24-year-old Maasai herder has lost more than 100 cattle and 300 goats to drought - and the animals still in her care are too emaciated to produce milk.
