NEW YORK, 25 August 2009: The United Nations food agency Tuesday issued a warning that Kenya faces a dire hunger crisis due to failed rains, appealing today for 230 million US dollar to feed nearly 4 million Kenyans – nearly one-tenth of the African nation’s population – over the next six months.
– Red lights are flashing around the country. said Burkard Oberle, Kenya director of the World Food Programme (WFP).
– People are already going hungry, malnutrition is preying on more and more young children, cattle are dying – we face a huge challenge and are urging the international community to provide us with the resources we need to get the job done, he added.
WFP is currently distributing 2,6 million drought-affected Kenyans with food aid and hopes to increase that number by 1,2 million. Life has never been easy for the poor in Kenya, but right now conditions are more desperate than they have been for a decade.
Many parts of Kenya have experienced three or even four consecutive seasons of failed rains, and conditions are expected to deteriorate, with the Government projecting the main maize harvest to fall nearly one-third below the five-year average. In addition, pasture and water for livestock is quickly dwindling.
The hardest-hit Kenyans have taken drastic measures, such as reducing the number of meals each day, eating cheaper and less nutritious food, migrating to urban centres and taking on massive debt.
Acute malnutrition rates among children under the age of five are over 20 per cent in some areas, well above the 15 per cent emergency threshold.
– Life has never been easy for the poor in Kenya, but right now conditions are more desperate than they have been for a decade, Mr. Oberle said. – WFP is aiming to help almost 1 in every 10 Kenyans to cope with this serious crisis but we can’t do it without money.”
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