1.6 million Kenyans facing drought to receive relief food, says Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru

Some 1.6 million Kenyans are acutely food-insecure and will need immediate assistance over the next six months, the Government has said.

Devolution Cabinet Secretary Anne Waiguru said the hardest hit are areas that experienced extremely poor rainfall particularly in the pastoral zones of the north and north eastern counties – Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Wajir and parts of Tana River County.

Other affected areas include the marginal agricultural zones of the south east counties – Tharaka Nithi, parts of Meru, Makueni and Kitui.

This is according to the assessment report on the country’s current drought and food security situation in the arid and semi-arid land (Asal) counties in the country. The report was released yesterday by Ms Waiguru.

The Devolution CS pointed out that the most critical period for the affected areas is between February and end of March 2015.

“There are varying degrees of drought stress in the Asal counties but emergency conditions have not yet been reached largely due to the interventions from the national government and other stake holders. Further deterioration of the situation can be contained by timely and effective response particularly in the water, health and nutrition, livestock and security sectors,” she said.

Waiguru said at the Asal inter-governmental consultative meeting that it was noted the short rains of November and December 2014 had been poor, given the rains started  late and ended early in most of the arid and semi-arid counties.

The CS pointed out that despite the situation, the Government will continue to undertake different interventions.

“With regard to relief food provisions, the Ministry of Devolution will continue to provide monthly relief food rations to the counties that are food-insecure. In addition, there will be a scaling-up of the authority to incur expenditure for distribution to ensure that county commissioners are able to distribute the food to all affected areas,” she explained.

CASH TRANSFERS

She added that the Ministry of Agriculture will ensure all the National Cereals and Produce Board stores in Asal areas are stocked with maize.

Waiguru pointed out that the national government had disbursed Sh279 million to 16 counties since August last year to implement their contingency plans with further disbursement being availed on request by the affected counties.

“Through the Hunger Safety Net Programme in the Ministry of Devolution, cash transfers of Sh2,450 per month are being provided to 70,394 of the most food insecure households in the four counties. This figure is projected to rise to over 75,000 by March. Around Sh2 billion to Sh3 billion will be spent over the next six months to handle the situation,” said Waiguru.

The Devolution CS said the county governments need to supplement the national government’s efforts in addressing the drought situation through water tracking, nutrition and public health services and livestock diseases surveillance in their respective counties.