$96.9 m needed to help drought-affected people

United Nations agencies and the Kenyan government on Tuesday appealed for US $96.9 million to buy food and other relief supplies for an estimated 2.3 million people facing acute food shortages across the country. According to the flash appeal, some 166,000 mt of food was needed until January 2005, of which the Kenyan government had already pledged 45,000 mt of food worth $9 million in kind, from its own resources. Officials who spoke at the appeal launch in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said funds were also needed to support projects in health and nutrition, water and sanitation, education, agriculture and livestock and pay for the coordination and support services of the relief effort. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) appealed for $82 million for immediate food aid to those in need, including more than half a million vulnerable children. "Malnutrition rates are reaching alarming levels, endangering children’s physical and intellectual development," WFP acting representative in Kenya, Timo Pakkala, said. "The livelihoods of pastoralist and agropastoralist communities are failing as successive droughts have made them progressively unable to cope." According to Pakkala, Kenya had, during the past 40 years, suffered at least 10 droughts - averaging one every four years. During the last drought in 1999-2002, which was the worst, up to 4.4 million people received relief food assistance, he said. "An obvious lesson from this is that much more attention and resources have to be placed on preparing communities to withstand the effects of droughts. This is a long-term process. In the short-term, we need to ensure a quick and effective life-saving drought relief response - which is the purpose of this Flash Appeal," said Pakkala. Under the emergency operation, the school feeding programme would be expanded from one million primary and pre-primary children who already receive hot lunch, to include another 544,000 in arid and semi-arid areas. Over $4.37 million from the appeal would be used to replace and repair boreholes, water trucking and social mobilisation for the prevention of disease. Another $4.18 million was required for running health and nutrition projects, including therapeutic and supplementary feeding programmes for an estimated 37,000 children and for a massive vaccination campaign against measles. According to the appeal, more than $3.6 million was needed for emergency support to crop production for the 2004 short rains expected in October, emergency agriculture coordination and information analysis, as well emergency livestock management. The education sector needed more than $1.6 million for projects designed to minimize disruption to children's education during the drought period and to ensure that orphans and other vulnerable children were not exposed to additional risks as a result of the emergency. The UN Development Programme (UNDP) would need $157,214 to carry out its role as the central resource for coordination and collaboration for all agencies, according to the appeal. Estimates of the number of people in need of assistance were based on assessments by the Kenya Food Security Group, which consists of government ministries, UN agencies, non-governmental organisations and donors. This year’s long rains were poor in much of eastern and southern Kenya, and in some northern areas. A dry spell from late April to May came at a critical stage in crop development, and scattered showers in early June came too late for recovery, resulting in near-total crop failures in many parts of Coast and Eastern provinces.