"Me, my husband and six children have walked in every direction looking for water and pasture, but wherever we have gone we have found nothing," says Ambiya, looking out across barren wasteland.

"We've lost over 100 cows and my children are getting sick now as we have no meat or milk to give to them... I am scared."

The Kenyan government says the failure of rains for three consecutive years has left 2.5 million people on the brink of starvation in what could be its worst recorded drought.

The crisis has shocked Kenyans, whose nation is the richest in east Africa. Other countries in the region, particularly Somalia and Ethiopia, are also hit, with six million people on the brink of starvation, according to the United Nations.

Kenya's 2.5 million figure was given after an initial assessment in November.

But aid agencies and officials now say field assessments indicate the number of people in dire need of food could be more than three million - almost 10 percent of the population.

Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki said at the beginning of the year he was declaring the drought a national disaster and the government has appealed for $150 million to feed the hungry.

Kenyan medical officials believe the death toll from hunger is already much higher than the 30 fatalities confirmed by local residents because many deaths go unreported in the desolate and arid north of the country.

"ONLY GOD CAN HELP"

In Garissa district, officials say the number in need of emergency aid is three times more than those being helped.

"We are feeding 53,000 out of the district's population of 385,000, but we are already seeing that actually 150,000 people really need food," said Ahmed Mohamed Farah from the Arid Lands Resource Management Project.

Thousands of sheep, cattle and goats have also perished, with some cows dying after eating poisonous weeds to stave off hunger, Garissa authorities add.

Even camels - better suited to arid climates - have started dying.

Mothers cradling infants at the Balambala-Modogashe junction, 60 km (40 miles) from Garissa town, say the lack of meat and milk has forced them to give to their young children black tea instead of milk.

Aid agencies say there are other districts in the region which are worse off than Garissa, with around 40 human deaths recorded and child malnutrition rates rising.

In addition, aid is barely trickling in from donors, government red tape is slowing down food distribution at district levels and there are massive logistical challenges in getting food to remote, inaccessible areas.

Kenyan nomads, who criss-cross the country's arid plains hunting for water and grazing land for their livestock, say they are not counting on the government or anyone else.

"We will just pray to God to help us," says 36-year-old Suleman Ibrahim, a pastoralist who trekked 30 km (20 miles) to Garissa and lost 15 cows. "We have been forgotten by everyone ... only God can help us."

With the rainy season due in April, the next three months are critical.