Lopeto, 12, holds the dried stomach of a hyena. Because of drought and food shortages in Kenya, people have started to kill and eat them.  

The villagers are despondent. With no food left to eat, men hunt animals that thrive during a drought in a pastoralist area — scavengers like hyenas and vultures.

The mothers have learned to cook hyena, roasting it on a spit. The children hate it and say it tastes vile. 

Naroo, 9, says, “Hyena is bitter. When we eat it, it gives us diarrhea. But it’s the only food on the table.”

This summer, 25 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Somalia are in need of emergency food aid. Families are fleeing their barren farming and grazing lands. Many children are malnourished and could die or suffer long-term debilitating effects of malnutrition. 

Photo©2017 World Vision, Jon Warren