KENYA: Famine situation deepens in northeastern district

NAIROBI, 21 September (IRIN) - Meanwhile, authorities have appealed to the World Food Programme (WFP) to step up relief food allocations for the Wajir District in the northeastern district of Kenya, as famine conditions there go from bad to worse. According to a report by the Kenyan newspaper 'Daily Nation' on Tuesday, more than 300,000 residents in Wajir were in need of regular food relief supplies, up from 256,000 in the past month. Speaking at the Wajir cereals depot on Monday, District Officer Mohamud Mohammed said that all 13 divisions in the district were in an emergency famine situation after rains had failed for more than three years, the report said.