Kenya: UN pledges to feed 3.2m

elderly_woman.jpg

An elderly woman carries relief food at Mutaro, Olmoran, in Laikipia West District. More than 300 people received 250 bags of maize from Ms Kuki Gallmann of Laikipia Nature Conservancy.


The World Food Pr


WFP spokesperson Gabrielle Menezes said the 3.2 million exclude the 1.2 million people in arid and semi-arid areas who currently depend on food aid from the UN agency.

She said they were currently carrying out an assessment in the affected areas to determine the extent of the drought, which has left more than 10 million people starving.

From previous droughts WFP scaled up to feed 3.2 million people, so that is the estimated figure that we may have to feed, said Ms Menezes.

They intend to begin distributing relief food in the coastal region, one of the areas worst hit by crop failure.

On Wednesday, the Kenya Red Cross reported that three children had died in the past week as a result of malnutrition as hunger continued to bite.

WFP officials said they intend to increase the number of children under the school-feeding programme as part of efforts to ease the crisis.

With this crisis, it means that we may need to scale up school-feeding by an additional 850,000 children, said.

Elsewhere, former Cabinet minister Nicholas Biwott's National Vision Party has called on farmers in the Rift Valley to stop hoarding maize.

Recent reports have indicated that farmers in the province were holding their grain over unfavourable buying prices offered by the Government.

The farmers have vowed not to sell their maize unless the Government increases the amount.

In a statement issued Friday, the party said release of the maize to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) would help save more than 10 million Kenyans who are currently facing starvation.

The party called on the Government to expeditiously charge those behind the maize shortage in the country.

Holding maize

The party said it was important for the country to boost management of existing resources in order to create food security.

Farmers in Uasin Gishu District are still holding maize in the hope that the Government will increase prices.

A director of the ailing Kenya Farmers Association Kipkorir Menjo said yesterday only 600,000 bags of maize had been delivered to the NCPB.

He said the farmers usually deliver more than one million bags to the board.

The official asked the Government to increase the price from the current Sh1,950 per 90-kg bag. He said Kenya risked facing another food shortage next year as farmers were unlikely to continue with commercial maize cultivation as it was not cost effective.

The subsidised Government maize flour has now arrived in Migori District.

Low crop yields

About 5,000 five-kilogramme bags of the staple food arrived at the local depot of the NCPB after a two-week protest by the local residents.

Each bag is retailing at Sh130, according to the board's workers.

The region experienced low food crop yields as a result of the post-election violence and poor weather patterns.

Leaders from Nyanza Province have sounded an alarm over food insecurity in the region. They said the residents were faced with starvation and required urgent relief supplies. – Saturday Nation

Additional reporting by Kennedy Lumwamu and Elisha Otieno

Post published in: Uncategorized

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *