Search
  1. Home
  2. East Africa
  3. Kenya

KENYA: Early rains catch farmers unawares

    NAIROBI

    A report by USAID's Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) indicates that despite widespread rainfall in most parts of Kenya last month, intra-district rainfall distribution has been poor and farmers have been caught unawares.

    "Rainfall quantity and distribution during April will be a critical indicator of the true quality of the season," FEWS warned in the report, received by IRIN on Thursday.

    The earlier-than-usual start to the long rains season caught most farmers unprepared. Subsequently, "land preparation and planting are running concurrently" in many parts of the country.

    The ministry of agriculture indicates however that the national maize supply is fair. "Depletion of current stocks is expected to coincide with the initial long rains harvest," the FEWS report said. Prices of maize and beans appreciated, while livestock conditions improved in major pastoral areas.

    So far, the government of Kenya has distributed 2,700 mt of maize to the worst-hit pastoral, agro-pastoral and marginal districts of the country.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join