BANDARERO, Kenya: Loko Kalicha Junno says she trekked for a week to save her 10 cattle from dying of thirst and hunger. But none survived. Now, at one of the last watering holes in this remote village, she fears for herself.
“If this water gets finished I am going to die,” said the 64-year-old single mother of four.
The scorched earth and scrubland in this semi-arid region of Kenya are littered with livestock carcasses in various stages of decomposition. Vultures wait patiently, waiting for nearby humans to leave. Kenya has declared the drought that affects nearly half of its counties a national disaster.
To ensure the survival of her children, Junno has resorted to selling tea to other pastoralists, some even from neighboring Ethiopia, who like her have traveled long distances to remaining watering holes.
The prices of livestock have plummeted as buyers take advantage of herders’ desperation. A cow that used to sell for $150 or more now sells for $20, and a goat that used to sell for $35 now goes for $2.
Marsabit County is among 10 counties hit hardest by the drought in Kenya and beyond. Some areas have reported inter-community fighting and land invasions as pastoralists push further their search for increasingly limited water.
The UN humanitarian chief, Stephen O’Brien, toured Bandarero village on Friday and called on the international community to act to “avert the very worst of the effects of drought and to avert a famine to make sure we do not go from what is deep suffering to a catastrophe.” He pointed out that famine was declared last month in parts of neighboring South Sudan, and that another neighbor, Somalia, is at risk of famine for the second time in a decade.
In Kenya, more than 2.7 million people are severely food insecure, O’Brien said.
“Crops are failing, food prices are rising and families are going hungry. The specter of hunger and disease is haunting East Africa again. We need to put a stop to this.”
After a severe drought hit East Africa in 2011, Kenya and donors put in place measures to lessen the impact of future droughts on parts of northern Kenya that government reports have called vulnerable. Long marginalized, they have not received an equal share of national resources.
The measures include a Hunger Safety Program that provides $24 for more than 100,000 households every month, as well as a school feeding program.
But the measures are limited. Junno and other pastoralists said cash safety net services meant to cushion the vulnerable have not reached them.
The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) country director for Kenya, Werner Schultink, said an estimated 180,000 children had dropped out school at the beginning of the year in the 10 regions worst affected by the drought. The agency anticipates more than 100,000 children will need treatment for severe malnourishment by the end of the year.
“I think that if there is continued shortage (of water) we are truly going to see a very bad impact on life and well-being of the population here in northern Kenya,” he said.
Desperate herders lose animals, hope amid drought in Kenya
Desperate herders lose animals, hope amid drought in Kenya
Britain needs ‘AI stress tests’ for financial services, lawmakers say
- Lawmakers urge AI-specific stress tests for financial firms
LONDON: Britain’s financial watchdogs are not doing enough to stop artificial intelligence from harming consumers or destabilising markets, a cross-party group of lawmakers said on Tuesday, urging regulators to move away from what it called a “wait and see” approach.
In a report on AI in financial services, the Treasury Committee said the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England should start running AI-specific stress tests to help firms prepare for market shocks triggered by automated systems.
The committee also called on the FCA to publish detailed guidance by the end of 2026 on how consumer protection rules apply to AI, and on the extent to which senior managers should be expected to understand the systems they oversee.
“Based on the evidence I’ve seen, I do not feel confident that our financial system is prepared if there was a major AI-related incident and that is worrying,” committee chair Meg Hillier said in a statement.
TECHNOLOGY CARRIES ‘SIGNIFICANT RISKS’
A race among banks to adopt agentic AI, which unlike generative AI can make decisions and take autonomous action, runs new risks for retail customers, the FCA told Reuters late last year.
About three-quarters of UK financial firms now use AI. Companies are deploying the technology across core functions, from processing insurance claims to performing credit assessments.
While the report acknowledged the benefits of AI, it warned the technology also carried “significant risks” including opaque credit decisions, the potential exclusion of vulnerable consumers through algorithmic tailoring, fraud, and the spread of unregulated financial advice through AI chatbots.
Experts contributing to the report also highlighted threats to financial stability, pointing to the reliance on a small group of US tech giants for AI and cloud services. Some also noted that AI-driven trading systems may amplify herding behavior in markets, risking a financial crisis in a worst-case scenario.
An FCA spokesperson said the regulator welcomed the focus on AI and would review the report. The regulator has previously indicated it does not favor AI-specific rules due to the pace of technological change.
The BoE did not respond to a request for comment.
Hillier told Reuters that increasingly sophisticated forms of generative AI were influencing financial decisions. “If something has gone wrong in the system, that could have a very big impact on the consumer,” she said.
Separately, Britain’s finance ministry appointed Starling Bank CIO Harriet Rees and Lloyds Banking Group ‘s Rohit Dhawan as “AI Champions” to help steer AI adoption in financial services.
