About 3.3 million in need of urgent food

Meanwhile, the FAO estimates that nearly 3.3 million people need urgent food aid in Kenya. It said that some starvation-related deaths have been reported among children in the hardest hit areas of the country. Livestock farmers are of particular concern because they are facing the failure of the fourth consecutive rainy season, the report noted. The current drought has aggravated an already severe scarcity of water and pasture, resulting in large livestock losses. With the exception of parts of Western and Nyanza provinces, the agency says that the rest of the country, including the “bread-basket” Rift Valley province, has received little or no rainfall, leading to widespread crop failures, as well as large livestock losses. The long drought has drained water reservoirs and the government has had to ration power and water.