KENYA: Tens of thousands facing potential disaster due to drought

NAIROBI, 6 July (IRIN) - As food needs continue to grow due to one of Kenya's worst recorded droughts, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned it only has one month of relief food left. Without further assistance, tens of thousands of Kenyans face potential disaster in August. Launching an appeal on Wednesday for US $88 million to feed 3.3 million Kenyans until the end of the year, the UN food agency stressed that Kenya was really struggling to cope with the drought which has affected the entire Horn of Africa region.

"Millions of people throughout the country have never managed to recover from an almost nonstop string of devastating droughts and floods during the '90s," WFP's Deputy Country Director for Kenya, David Fletcher, said. The situation has been exacerbated by the almost complete failure of the long rains this year. Thousands of pastoralists and agro-pastoralists face "destitution" in 19 districts of the country, particularly in the Rift Valley, North Eastern, Eastern and Coast provinces. "In the worst-hit areas, already 80 percent of livestock have died," Fletcher stressed. "Crops have withered, and people are selling their few remaining possessions at throw-away prices."

At a news conference in Nairobi, he pointed out that international attention had focused on Ethiopia - also devastated by drought - to the detriment of Kenya. "The number of Kenyans in need of food aid are second only to Ethiopia where 10 million people rely on relief food," he said. Schools across the country are reporting high drop-out rates in drought-affected areas as children are forced to join their parents in the search for food. There is particular concern that girls are having to abandon their studies and find jobs because of the lack of food at home, WFP said.

Fletcher told the news conference that the Kenyan government was struggling to cope with the effects of the drought, coupled with insecurity in many of the affected areas, particularly in the north. A recent Kenya Food Security Meeting noted that a major emergency was evident in the northern Turkana, Samburu, Isiolo, Marsabit and Moyale districts which are frequently subjected to banditry, cattle-rustling and cross-border raids. "We are pleading for money, funds and food to come in urgently," Fletcher said.