The six-month Eastern and South Africa Humanitarian Fund (ESAHF) project implemented by the County Government of Turkana in partnership with Save the Children International (SCI) across the county’s 10 sub counties has recorded key gains.
In Turkana Central, Loima and Lokiriama sub-counties, the integrated outreaches recorded 18,623 children under five years were screened with increased tracking of key health and nutrition indicators.
The achievements of this emergency Integrated Nutrition and WASH response were highlighted during a review and reflection meeting bringing together Sub-County Health Management Teams from the three sub-counties ahead of the project close-out. This project began in April, 2026 and is scheduled to close on October 9, 2026.
The government-led, community-driven intervention was implemented through 184 outreach sites across the county, with 53 sites located in Turkana Central, Loima and Lokiriama.
Loima Medical Officer of Health (MOH) Moses Elim commended the programme for contributing to improved health and nutrition indicators through integrated outreaches and regular data review.
“Before the project, Loima had experienced a period of struggling in terms of indicators. The support in terms of integrated health and nutrition outreaches has scaled up the indicators,” said Elim.
He noted that Vitamin A supplementation and deworming increased, attributing the improvement partly to regular data review meetings that enabled facilities to track their performance.
SCI Health and Nutrition Coordinator Akutan Lobolia said the 184 outreaches were the highest number implemented in the county since the 2016/17 response.
He acknowledged the strong partnership with the county government in addressing implementation challenges, including commodity shortages, through the provision of Cone soya blend (CSB++) and other essential commodities.
As the project ends, Lessons and feedback from the current phase will inform the next phase of programming as the same session taken to Turkana South, North and West.
Elim urged the health teams to strengthen the use of Community Health Services for early screening, identification, referral and management of malnutrition at household and community level.
by Peter Gitonga
