KENYA: 1.2 million in need of emergency food aid

KENYANS are part of 14.6 million people in need of emergency food aid in the Horn of Africa.

According to UN agencies, 1.2 million people in the country are in dire need of food aid due to the drought and effects of the post-election violence.

“The number in Kenya is expected to rise due to poor performance of the long rains in some parts of the country,” said World Food Programme senior public affairs officer Peter Smerdon.

Of the 14.6 million, Ethiopia and Somalia comprise a large number of the needy.

Mr Smerdon said WFP needed $35 million (Sh2.27 billion) to address the food situation in Kenya.

Despite the Government’s assurance that the situation was under control, the UN agencies warned that the situation might worsen by the end of the year.

“If the short rains also fail, then the number of people in need of assistance in Kenya and other countries may explode,” he added.

Besides Kenya, other states making up the Horn of Africa are Ethiopia, Somalia, Uganda, Eritrea and Djibouti.

Of the six countries, Ethiopia is the most affected with about 4.6 million people in need of food aid, an increase of 2.2 million between January and March this year.

“Acute diarrhoea, meningitis and measles have compounded the situation. At the same time inflation of food prices has reached 29.6 per cent,” said Ms Besida Tonwe, the head of the UN Nairobi office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

On  Somalia, the agencies said the number of people requiring emergency aid was expected to reach 3.5 million.

Mr Mark Bowden, the UN resident and humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said the country had experienced three years of drought. He said $63.7 million (Sh4..6 billion) was needed to tackle the food crisis in the country.

“We have a few months before we get deeper into crisis. Only 35 per cent of the money needed is available,” he added.

Mr Francesco Del Re, Food and Agriculture Organisation regional food security adviser, said the increase in prices of  food in Kenya had plunged more people in poverty.

“We need to introduce social safety net measures and increase agricultural production,” he added.

According to the Kenya Food Security Outlook April-September 2008 report, food availability for households had been reduced countrywide.  It says food security has decreased for normally food secure households in Rift Valley, Nyanza, Central and Western Kenya following the post-election mayhem.

Meanwhile, the Government has been urged to consider rolling out a social welfare scheme immediately to cushion the poorest against the worsening food crisis before it explodes into civil strife.

Experts meeting under the auspices of the World Bank, say already there has been a huge increase in the school dropout rate in urban slums in the last few months.

The meeting said the Government should consider offering targeted food subsidies, offer cash transfers, food-for-work or employment schemes.

The unfolding crisis, said Mr Burkard Oberle, WFP country director, was the worst his organisation had faced in 45 years and required skilful leadership and strong political will.

A senior Ministry of Agriculture official, Mr James Malinga, said medium term measures to mitigate the crisis include raising the producer price for maize, authorising the importation of three million bags of maize, and setting aside Sh150 million to promote traditional crops.

The Nation (Kenya)