PRESS STATEMENT ON THE CONSULTATIVE MEETING OF GOVERNMENT OF KENYA AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS ON THE DROUGHT SITUATION

PRESS STATEMENT ON THE CONSULTATIVE MEETING OF GOVERNMENT OF KENYA AND DEVELOPMENT PARTNERS ON THE DROUGHT SITUATION

This morning, the Government of Kenya and the development partners held a consultative meeting on the drought situation in the Arid and Semi-Arid counties.

As you are aware, His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the drought a national disaster on September 8, 2021.

Today’s meeting received a brief status report on the drought situation and highlights of the long rains assessment report. 23 arid and semi-arid counties are experiencing drought as a result of 4 successive failed rain seasons. Currently, the number of people facing acute food insecurity is 4.1 million up from 3.5 million in March 2022. Based on the IPC Food Insecurity Phase Classification,3 counties are in Emergency, 8 counties are in Crisis, 12 counties are Stressed and 24 counties are yet to be assessed.

The government of Kenya has scaled up its drought mitigation efforts and to date has spent approximately KES. 12.6 billion on interventions which have been achieved through the support and collaboration with development partners, humanitarian agencies, the private sector and other non-state actors.

Despite the interventions, the persistent drought has left the country with a resource gap of more than KES. 15 billion for interventions required in critical sectors of food security, health and nutrition, water, agriculture, livestock and education.

According to the weather report, there will be depressed rainfall across all the Arid and Semi-Arid counties during the October-December 2022 rainfall season due to La Nina hence the prospect of a 5th failed rain season. Consequently, the number of people in need of relief assistance could, therefore, rise to 4.35 million by December 2022.

Our meeting today has underscored the urgent need for enhanced coordination and the scaling up of more measures to address the needs of the 4.1 million people in the 23 Arid and Semi-Arid counties who are facing acute food insecurity.

I wish to thank all stakeholders, including our Development Partners, for the continued support to mitigate the impacts of drought. As the Government strives to strengthen partnerships and mobilise resources and coordination at the national and county levels.

As part of this continuing support, we have also today launched Lisha Jamii an initiative established by the World Food Programme that will provide food assistance to 535,000 (89,000 families) across 12 counties that are facing acute food insecurity. The targetted counties are Turkana, Samburu, Isiolo, Garissa, Tana River, Baringo, Mandera, Wajir, Kitui, Kilifi, Kwale and Marsabit. The food assistance will be provided for six months through both cash transfers and in-kind with beneficiary families set to receive KSh 6,500 per month.

Winnie Mburu

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