4 million Kenyans will face hunger by April- Govt

By Judith Akolo

The government is warning that the population facing hunger is set to hit the four million mark by April and is therefore urging for sustained support from the private sector and the international community to help those at risk.

The Principal Secretary, State Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Dr. Richard Lesiyampe revealed that the projections for the impact of the ongoing drought are not good, and that current levels of intervention are becoming increasingly unable to arrest the effects of the drought.

The United Nations has in the meantime expressed its support on this front and has called for scaling up of interventions in the hunger stricken regions in Kenya and the Horn of Africa region.

In many areas in the former north-Eastern region, carcasses of livestock, empty landscapes and emaciated people are the reality of effects of the devastating drought ravaging Kenya and the Horn of Africa region.

Here, The government has embarked on an off-take program that involves the purchase of livestock from herders before they waste away.

It is a support program to ensure the sustenance of livelihoods in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands inhabited by pastoralists. But a more ominous state of affairs is the level of malnutrition afflicting children here.

The UN Under Secretary for Humanitarian Affairs Stephen O’Brien came face to face with the effects of a drought that many now say is beyond comprehension.

Even as this is the case, the government has warned that the numbers of the affected population is set to hit the four million mark by April.

The weatherman has predicted depressed rainfall during the March to May long rains season.

The government and the international community through the UN are appealing for increased humanitarian assistance to save vulnerable populations from imminent starvation.