Northern Kenya facing famine
2006-01-05 11:49
Nairobi - International aid agencies stepped up appeals on Thursday for urgent intervention in drought-hit northern Kenya, warning of mass starvation in the region where at least 40 people have already died of hunger and related illness amid fears of a major famine.
At least three foreign relief organizations - the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Action Against Hunger and World Vision - said immediate emergency assistance was needed to help about 2.5 million people survive the crisis.
A day after local Red Cross and hospital officials said the death toll from malnutrition had risen to 40 since the beginning of December, the groups described the situation as "grim," "dramatic" and "disastrous" for the largely pastoral population amid widespread death of livestock.
The IFRC urged donors to contribute $12.7m (about R78m) to help deal with "a critical lack of water for human and animal consumption across many districts".
Could be wiped out
It said the mortality rate for livestock, essential to the nomadic people there, could surge from 30% to 70%.
"Communities may soon be wiped out since they depend entirely on livestock," said the Red Cross.
"Given the dramatic situation, it is vital that the international community respond by supporting the government of Kenya appeal for food assistance."
Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has declared the situation a "national disaster", ordered the military to help with food and water distribution and appealed at Christmas for $100m (about R601m) to fill a shortfall in relief funding.
Yet, the severity of crisis has continued to worsen, according to AAH and World Vision.
"The situation in Mandera has really gone from bad to disastrous," said Kelly Delaney, a nutritionist with AAH, referring to one of the worst-hit regions in Kenya's far northeast on the Somali border.
Emergency feeding centres in the area saw a 29% increase in the number of children admitted in the first three weeks of December over the entire month of November.
Many of those "are more severely malnourished than those the organisation has seen in the past," said AAH.
"More international support is essential," it said, noting that the mass deaths of cattle, goats and camels were a dire indication of worse times to come.
"This population depends on cattle for food, transportation and economic viability," it said.
"Cattle dying now means that children will die months from now and families will be left with no economic viability or way to feed themselves."