Hi, I'm NAMMULANTA KOMBO and I'm so excited to tell you that my podcast,

Dear Dota from the BBC World Service, has won podcast of the year 2022 at the British

Podcast Awards. Dear Dota is a collection of letters and stories offering advice and wisdom

for life. It's sometimes funny, it's sometimes sad, but it's always insightful.

Just search for Dear Dota wherever you found this podcast.

A

half a century ago, astronauts flying to the moon took a photo of the earth that became known

as the blue marble with Africa and its centre. The picture revealed a beautiful blue world

against the blackness of space. Two thirds of our planet is covered in water, but when you look

at the latest satellite images, you'll see that vast areas of land that were once green

are now brown as they dry up. One of the worst droughts is happening in the horn of Africa,

the region on the eastern tip of the continent. Crops can't grow properly and people are unable

to feed their livestock. In turn, this pushes up the price of food. The United Nations recently

said that millions are at risk of severe hunger due to conflict and drought. Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia

have been highlighted as concerns. We brought together two people living in the Kenyan capital,

Nairobi, Michael and firstly, O'Dongo, to hear how the drought is affecting people's lives.

We've faced scarcity of food, particularly the vegetables have become very expensive.

Usually, I grow my own food in Nairobi. I grow my own vegetables. We have a few fruit trees.

Sometimes, we also grow maize, but what I've experienced in the last years is that it has become

more expensive because during the long-range season, in March, I planted three times.

On both occasions, my crop died there. The first two dried too early. Then the others

waited, but I did not get a good harvest. I spent a lot of money on fertilizer, on seeds,

...