Kadija and her family once lived on a thriving three-hectare farm in southern Somalia.

As drought ravaged her land, she helplessly watched her crops and cows die one by one.

After days turned into months of little to no food, she realised she had to move to ensure her family's survival.

Kadija, her husband and their children would have to walk for days with no food or water to get to a camp in the capital Mogadishu.

But she knew her elderly mother, who lived with her family, would not be able to make the gruelling walk.

In the end, Kadija had to make a painstaking decision: stay with her mum and risk the death of her whole family; or leave her behind and walk to a slightly more secure future.

As her children became more hungry, she decided she had no choice but to leave her mum and her eldest daughter, 13. She said that's all she could do.

Kadija left them to survive off begging in a famine-hit town while she, her husband and their three other young children walked to a camp to try to secure their survival.

They're now based in a camp called Al Adullah, living off the meagre offerings from locals living near the camp and international aid.

But there's no way of contacting her mum and young daughter to see if they're okay. There's no phones, no internet, no way to know if they're even alive.

"She kept on saying that was the most difficult decision I've ever made. It pained her that she had to leave them but she had no choice. It's heartbreaking, very awful," UN worker Faith Kasina said, as she relayed Kadija's story to ABC News Online.

Kadija's story is one of hundreds of desperate tales Ms Kasina encounters in her work for the UNHCR.

Ms Kasina, from neighbouring Kenya, has been to numerous camps for people displaced by the East African drought, documenting the stories of those left destitute by a famine that, according to the UN, has left more than 12.4 million at risk of starvation.

Two children suffering from malnutrition lie at a Mogadishu camp. ( AFP: Mustafa Abdi )

Here Ms Kasina tells ABC News Online about the camps:

When Faith Kasina met Kadija at the Al Adullah camp, which is a temporary home for more than 13,000 people, it was the first time she had been to a camp in Mogadishu.

Makeshift tents sit in Al Adullah camp in Mogadishu. ( Supplied: Faith Kasina )

Ms Kasina says the people in the camps have to fill idle hours every day.

A woman prepares porridge for her children at the camp. ( Supplied: Faith Kasina )

Ms Kasina says she sees plenty of hope in the camps.

Somalians queue for food in Mogadishu. ( AFP: Roberto Schmidt )

Ms Kasina says security is still a major issue for aid workers.

'Like a war zone' - Soldiers in the north of Mogadishu. ( AFP )

A Somalian child stands in the Al Adullah camp. ( Supplied: Faith Kasina )

Ms Kasina says she has changed a lot since she started going to the camps.

Find out how to donate to those affected by the East African famine.