After devastating drought wiped out livestock and pushed families into severe hunger and malnutrition in Garissa, communities are now rebuilding their lives through climate-smart farming supported by Save the Children. Families like Ardo’s are growing nutritious vegetables for the first time, improving children’s health, strengthening food security, and generating income through surplus produce and savings groups. The integrated support combining nutrition treatment, farming training, and financial empowerment is helping communities transition from vulnerability to resilience.
Laughter fills the compound as children chase one another barefoot across the sandy ground when we arrive at Ardo’s* homestead in Jarajara village, Garissa County.
Zakaria*, Ayan*, and Ibrahim* run around with energy and excitement, pausing every few minutes to flash shy smiles before hurrying back to their games. Their laughter echoes through the home, creating a joyful scene that would have been almost impossible to imagine just a few months earlier.
Not long ago, the children were severely malnourished, weak, and struggling to survive after prolonged drought devastated the family’s livelihood.
For years, Ardo and her family depended entirely on pastoralism. Livestock was their only source of food and income, but the severe 2024 drought wiped out most of their cows, leaving the family without milk, income, or enough food to eat.
“Drought has always hit us very hard,” says Ardo. “When the drought came in 2024, most of my cows died. I was left with only five, but they were very weak. They were not producing milk and I could not sell them. Life became very difficult.”
As food became scarce, her children began losing weight rapidly. Hunger spread across the community, affecting many families who had little means of coping after losing their animals.
“All my children became weak because we did not have enough food,” Ardo recalls quietly. “I thought, just like I lost my cows, I would also lose my children because of hunger.”
Although water from a nearby canal reached the village, farming was not something the community practiced. Families lacked the skills, tools, and confidence to grow crops despite the available water source.
Save the Children stepped in at a critical time, providing integrated nutrition and livelihood support to vulnerable families. Through community outreach activities, children were screened for malnutrition and enrolled into treatment programmes. Ardo’s children; Zakaria, Ayan, and Ibrahim were all diagnosed with Severe Acute Malnutrition and immediately started on treatment and therapeutic feeding.
“When I first assessed the children, they were visibly weak, and their measurements confirmed how serious their condition was,” explains Katra*, Nutrition officer, Save the Children . “Through the programme, the children received treatment alongside nutrition counselling for the caregivers. Over time, we saw a strong recovery. The children gained weight, their health improved significantly, and today they are healthy and active again.”
At the same time, Save the Children introduced climate-smart agriculture through Farmer Field School sessions, equipping families with farming knowledge, certified seeds, fertilizers, and tools. For Ardo, the training opened a completely new path for her family.
“Before, we never thought about farming, even though we had water nearby,” she says. “Then Save the Children came and trained us on farming and gave us tools and seeds. That is when things started to change for me.”
Ardo* at her farm in Garissa, where she has embraced climate-smart farming by growing rice and a variety of vegetables, a shift that follows devastating drought which wiped out livestock and pushed families into severe hunger and malnutrition. Through Save the Children’s integrated support in nutrition, farming, and financial empowerment, families like hers are now rebuilding resilience, improving children’s health, strengthening food security, and generating income. Samfelix Randa / Save the Children
Using the new skills, Ardo established a small kitchen garden and began growing vegetables such as spinach and cabbage. She also has a large hector of land with rice plantation, green grams and beans. The fresh produce became an important source of nutritious food for her recovering children.
“Every day I prepared food for them, making sure they ate well,” she says. “Slowly, I saw them becoming stronger. They started gaining energy, playing again, and looking healthy. That made me very happy.”
Within just a few weeks, the children showed remarkable improvement and were discharged from the nutrition programme. Today, they are healthy, attending school, and enjoying balanced meals prepared from food grown just steps away from their home.
“My children were very weak, and I feared I would lose them because of hunger, but Save the Children came at the right time, treated them, and showed me how to grow the food that helped them become strong again,” says Ardo.
The transformation is visible beyond Ardo’s household. Across Jarajara village, many families that once relied only on livestock are now embracing farming to improve nutrition and generate income.
Habiba*, the Secretary of the Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA), says the community has undergone a major shift.
“Before, hunger was part of our daily life,” she explains. “Now families are growing their own food, children are healthy, and the whole community is changing. Some families are even selling produce to schools and markets, something we never imagined before.”
After receiving training as a Trainer of Trainers from Save the Children, Habiba now supports community members and teachers to practice climate-smart agriculture and establish kitchen gardens.
The programme also strengthened household resilience through Village Savings and Loans Associations, helping families save money, access small loans, and invest in farming and small businesses. Through her savings group, Ardo can now borrow money to buy seeds and support her family whenever needed.
“Now my children are doing well. They go to school, they eat well, and they are healthy,” says Ardo with a smile. “Life is not the same as before. We are doing better.”
Implemented in partnership with local actors, farmer associations, the Garissa County Government, private sector partners, and agricultural research institutions, the project supports drought-affected communities through climate-smart agriculture, nutrition support, livelihood diversification, financial inclusion, and disaster preparedness.
For families like Ardo’s, the support has restored more than food and income — it has restored dignity, confidence, and hope for the future.
“Even if Save the Children leaves, we will continue with what we have learned,” Ardo says. “Now we have knowledge, we have tools, and we have hope for the future.”
