Drought to persist despite recent rainfall

Heavy rainfall in some parts of central and western Kenya in early March should not be mistaken for the onset of the long rains, the country's meteorologists said on Thursday.

They warned that the severe drought that has ravaged the eastern and northern districts would persist.

"The rains have not been widespread. Areas hard hit by drought are still dry," Peter Ambeje, assistant director at Kenya's Meteorological Department, told IRIN.

He said rainfall in the capital, Nairobi, parts of the western and eastern highlands, the Rift Valley and the southeastern highland regions was the result of a cyclone in the Indian Ocean, a phenomenon whose effects on eastern Africa had already subsided.

Kenya and its neighbours in the Horn of Africa are in the grip of a severe drought that has left millions of people on the brink of starvation and killed thousands of livestock, rendering pastoral communities in the northern and northeastern areas destitute.

On Wednesday, the meteorological department warned that the March-May long rains would not be adequate for a full recovery of Kenya's agriculture.

"The continued drought conditions would impact negatively on the sectors of agriculture, livestock, wildlife, hydropower generation and water supply," said Joseph Mukabana, the department's director, in a statement. "Some of the current intervention measures may go beyond December 2006 in some parts of the country.

"The current drought is more severe at most locations than the droughts of 1984, 1999, and 2000," he added.

In a related development, the Australian government, through its international aid agency AusAID, has announced that it will provide five million Australian dollars (US $3.67 million) for urgent humanitarian aid to Kenya and Somalia, where a total of 5.5 million people are facing severe food shortages as a result of the drought.

Also see:
KENYA: Livelihood crisis as drought ravages northeast