ABSTRACT
This chapter examines how the people in the district have in the past coped with drought and famine. One remarkable cultural phenomenon of the Kitui Kamba is that each major famine is remembered by its name, which describes how the people responded to it. The drought and famine were so severe that some people had to set aside their moral principles in order to survive. The brief history of drought and famine in Kitui District indicates that much of the efforts of the local people and the government have been directed toward coping with drought and famine rather than making tangible progress in the area of socioeconomic development. The costs of drought and famine are not only social and economic but also physiological and psychological. Psychological effects of famine include “depression, apathy, and loss of initiative, accompanied by obsession with the idea of food”.
