Government monitoring food reserves as drought worsens

Agriculture CAS Ann Nyaga examines a potato seed variety during the KCSAP conference in Naivasha. [Antony Gitonga, Standard]

The government is monitoring the current food stocks as the ongoing drought continues to affect various parts of the country.

According to Chief Administrative Secretary (CAS) in the Ministry of Agriculture Ann Nyaga, the current drought was due to climate change.

She said plans are underway for livestock uptake as one way of cushioning pastoralist communities.

This comes barely a week after the Meteorological Department warned of harsh weather in the coming days, raising fears of famine.

The government has already termed the drought that has affected more than 20 counties a national disaster, with over one million persons affected.

She said that the government had already embarked on various intervention measures.

“The government is keen to cushion farmers and pastoralists and that is why the livestock uptake programme has kicked off,” she said.

Nyaga noted that the solution to dealing with the perennial droughts in the country lay in introducing drought-resistant crops.

“Experts have conducted a lot of research on drought-resistant crops and it is time that the findings were put in place to address the current challenges,” she said.

The CAS was addressing the press at Lake Naivasha Resort after opening a one-week Kenya Climate-Smart Agriculture Project scientific conference.

She said that 24 counties had benefited from the project that sought to increase food production, address post-harvest losses and create market linkages.

Under the programme that is supported by the World Bank, Nyaga said that tens of students had also benefited through scholarships in various universities.