Worsening food situation in several areas despite heavy rains

At least 300,000 people in four districts of Coast Province are short of food despite heavy, unusual rainfall since January, while the situation is rapidly worsening in the northwestern pastoral districts, such as Turkana, where local conflicts have disrupted farming patterns, a report said on Tuesday. The January-February rainfall has, however, provided substantial relief to severely drought-affected households and improved availability of water and pasture for livestock, the Kenya Food Security Watch report published by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) said. "[The rains] provided substantial respite to severely drought-affected households in Kilifi, Kwale, Malindi and Taita Taveta districts. However, the rains have come too late to help wilting or stunted crops in marginal agricultural areas," the report said. According to the report, the September-December short rains started late and remained far below average, leading to the failure of both the long- and short-rains farming season. "Total maize production dropped by nearly 70 percent," it said. "It is critical to mount effective food security interventions in Coast Province at this time, because the government of Kenya's 'untargeted' free food distributions during the October-January period have not fundamentally eased the situation," the report added. "The food insecurity may even worsen." The report recommends that "national, provincial and district decision makers, as well as development partners, consider funding and implementing practical drought-mitigation plans... within the context of an overall poverty reduction strategy" in Coast Province. A separate Kenya Vulnerability Update, published jointly by the agriculture ministry, FEWS NET and the World Food Programme (WFP), said that in the pastoral districts, including Turkana, Marsabit, Kajiado and Baringo, the heavy unseasonable rains that have fallen since January had improved conditions. "Livestock herders have been able to find water and pasture supplies closer to home, reducing their trekking distances from 20 km in December to less than 6 km in January," it said. It added, however, that "although livestock conditions may improve given the recent rains, pastoral household food security will not immediately change from what was a rapidly worsening situation. Favourable rains in some of the worst-affected areas, such as southern Turkana (including Katilu and Lokori divisions) will not ameliorate the alarming food insecurity situation, which is primarily caused by local conflict rather than poor seasonal rainfall." It said malnutrition rates had risen significantly higher than last year, citing Katilu Division, where, it said, the rates were over 50 percent higher than the district average, and comparable to those in the neighboring Lokori Division. The report said the January rains had improved crop prospects in the marginal agricultural districts of the eastern provinces, while early harvesting of the short-rains maize crop was going on in Nyanza, Western and Rift Valley Provinces. "The ministry of agriculture now anticipates that the 2003/04 short rains maize harvest will reach 360,000 mt, compared to the previous year's harvest of 540,000 mt... The total national supply of 2.9 million mt, which includes the combined July 2003/June 2004 production of 2.5 million mt nevertheless represents a national deficit of 90,000 mt, which is expected to increase as cross-border exports continue to occur," it said. The report hailed a donation of 31,500 mt of maize from the Kenya government to the WFP-assisted School Feeding Programme in food-insecure areas. "The [programme] was likely to be discontinued [causing] several thousand children to drop out of school, while increasing food shortages for beneficiary households," it said. "[It] will now to continue at least for the first and second semesters in 2004, covering one million children. WFP is in negotiations with other donors to meet the need for the third semester. Sustainable long-term funding options are also being pursued."