Kenya: Rains worsen food crisis
2006-04-07 15:14
Nairobi - Recent brief, but heavy rains in drought-hit parts of Kenya threaten to worsen the already fragile food situation, with flooding displacing thousands, said charity groups on Friday.
British charity, Oxfam International, and the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) said the rains would not end the drought and that an urgent boost in humanitarian aid was still critical to avert disaster.
Floods resulting from the rains had displaced more than 3 000 people in parts of northern Kenya and washed away access roads that relief groups depended on to distribute much-needed humanitarian supplies.
Rains 'worsen situation'
Oxfam said: "With the coming of the rains in certain areas, some people will begin to return to land, where they usually graze their livestock - but this does not mean the end of the crisis."
It said: "Far from it: initially the rain will exacerbate an already fragile situation. In fact, in the short term they could make the situation worse by spreading disease and blocking access for food aid."
The KRCS said the rains had displaced thousands of people across Kenya, most in north-central parts of the country, where at least 3 500 people had been forced from their homes.
Farid AbdulKadir, the head of the society's disaster operations, said: "As we are speaking now, we do not have access to at least 3 500 displaced people in Isiolo, where heavy rains have also washed away key access roads.
Officials evacuate tourists
"As we go along, we expect the rains to displace tens of thousands of people across the country and worsen food shortages."
Meanwhile, Kenyan officials said that flooding had forced authorities to evacuate tourists from guesthouses in Samburu National Park, about 230km north of Nairobi.
Red Cross officials said that at least 50 people had died of drought-related conditions since December in Kenya, home to 32 million people. In addition, tens of thousands of livestock and wildlife had perished.
The World Food Programme said it was officially co-ordinating feeding programmes for 3.5 million Kenyans, although last month President Mwai Kibaki said that five million faced food shortages across the east African nation.