Fight for survival in Kenya

2004-07-26 10:46

Justin Brown

Johannesburg - The food shortages in parts of Kenya, especially the country's Coast province, are causing people to eat wild roots, the United Nations' Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN) has reported.

The Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture has estimated that food production this year in five of the country's eight provinces will be at least 40% below normal, while drought conditions in pastoral areas have rendered nearly a million people severely food-insecure.

Aggravating the situation, there have been cases of poisoning in three districts of Eastern Province by aflatoxin, a toxin created by a mould on grains. The extent of the outbreak is not fully known.

UN relief agencies will soon be appealing for international aid on behalf of the Kenyan government, which has already declared the shortages a "national disaster".

Kwale District Commissioner Fred Mutsami told IRIN there had been a "total" crop failure in the Kinango, Sambulu and Lunga Lunga divisions of the district.

He said the government had been carrying out general food distributions in Kwale since October 2003, but stocks were inadequate.

The government was distributing 5 000 bags of maize to an estimated 191 000 people in Kwale every month instead of the required 21 000 bags, he said, adding that the district had an estimated population of 500 000 people.

On July 14, President Mwai Kibaki appealed for $76m to fund emergency relief operations for some 3.3 million people affected by drought.

He told reporters in the capital, Nairobi, that the situation could worsen if the short rains expected towards the end of the year also failed, in which case the number of affected people would rise to 4.3 million and the cost of relief operations would soar to about $90m.

Help for the affected people will be offered through general food distributions, food-for-work schemes and supplementary feeding programs, according to the text of the government appeal for food aid.

Non-food drought recovery measures to be undertaken in agriculture, livestock, water, sanitation and health would cost an additional $32m, the president added.

The worst affected areas are in the Coast, Eastern, North Eastern and Rift Valley provinces, according to a consolidated inter-agency report prepared by the Kenya Food Security Steering Group, a multi-agency team comprising representatives from the Kenyan government, the UN and non-governmental organisations.

- I-Net Bridge (Business)