Food imports planned as drought bites

Kenya is making arrangements to import grain to offset food shortages that are affecting an estimated five million people in the country, President Mwai Kibaki has said.

Food stocks distributed thus far to those in need had been purchased from local farmers, but domestically produced grain reserves would be exhausted by June, making it necessary to import food. "We are therefore making urgent arrangements to import additional grains to bridge the gap," Kibaki said when he opened a new session of parliament on Tuesday.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said it was endeavouring to feed 3.5 million Kenyans threatened with starvation because of a prevailing drought in the region. The agency was increasing the number of its beneficiaries in areas such as Mandera and Wajir districts in the northeast, where the crisis had worsened.

"But if there were to be any substantial revision of the figure, it would have to be agreed at the Kenya Food Security Meeting [KFSM]," said WFP spokesman Peter Smerdon. The KFSM brings together government officials and representatives from UN agencies and NGOs.

WFP needs US $225 million to feed drought-affected Kenyans from February 2006 until February 2007. It has received $74.6 million so far. A shortage of contributions had forced WFP to cut vegetable oil from the food rations for three million people in Kenya beginning in March. Only limited amounts of corn-soya blend, which is especially beneficial for malnourished children and nursing mothers, and pulses would be distributed in the worst-affected areas, the agency said in a statement.

"If these cuts continue into April and May, they will only worsen the already perilous nutritional situation in the hardest-hit areas," Tesema Negash, WFP Kenya country director, said on Tuesday.

Kibaki said the government had spent $52.5 million from its own budget to feed those in need. External donors had contributed $16.6 million, while other volunteers and Kenyan well-wishers had provided a total of $2.9 million. "However, it is estimated that an additional 6.3 billion shillings ($87 million) is required up to the end of June to meet the increasing needs of the growing numbers of those affected by the famine. The government will therefore be requesting for supplementary appropriations to meet the additional requirements," the president said.

In cooperation with the Kenya Red Cross Society, the government had made arrangements to procure an additional 50 water tankers for the drought-stricken areas. Twenty-five of the tankers had arrived in the country and would be sent to Mandera, Wajir, Moyale and Marsabit districts in the northeast. Since last year, the government has drilled 162 boreholes and 221 pans in the drought-stricken districts to alleviate the severe water shortage, Kibaki said, adding that $20.7 million had been set aside for the construction of an additional 200 boreholes and 250 water pans by the end of 2006.