Pastoralists still facing hardship in the east

Food security prospects have improved in arable districts and western pastoral areas of Kenya following favourable short and long rains, but food insecurity persists in pastoral districts in the east, according to the latest country report from USAID’s Famine Early Warning System (FEWS).

Food production trends would be uncertain in these pastoral areas after critically needed rains were low and poorly distributed, it said.
Significant improvement had been noted in drought-affected western pastoral districts, raising hopes of a revival in the pastoral economy; “favourable rain in May remains critical in sustaining the early signs of pastoralist recovery,” the report added. Significant improvement in the rates of child malnutrition illustrated the impact of emergency interventions, but food needs in pastoral areas would persist at least until December, according to FEWS.
In coastal areas, only 30 percent of the projected hectarage had been put to maize by late April, largely as a result of poor initial rains in March and most of April, the report said. Planting was completed in the critical long-rains maize-growing areas of Rift Valley and Western provinces but pest damage from the African army worm could threaten the favourable harvests anticipated, it added. [for more details, go to: www.fews.net]