State of emergency as hunger looms

One in every three Kenyans is in danger of starvation due to crop failure and the Government plans to declare the food shortage a national emergency.

The 10 million Kenyans who are suffering food shortages include 1.5 million children under the school feeding programme, 2.5 million people suffering from various diseases including HIV and Aids and orphans, and further 2.5 million poor people in towns.

President Kibaki chaired a Cabinet committee meeting on food security at his Harambee House office on Friday, where it was decided that importation of five million bags of maize should start.

The food shortage were partly caused by the post-election violence, which affected the country’s bread basket districts in Western, Nyanza and Rift Valley provinces, but is also due to drought in Eastern, parts of Central, Coast and North Eastern provinces.

Maize harvested in Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza should be entering the national food chain from this month, but because of the disruption of ploughing, the burning of food in stores and the fact that people were prevented from planting during the violence early last year, has contributed to the shortage.

Added to this, the crucial long rains were inadequate in most places and the short rains failed altogether in some districts.

At Friday’s meeting, an inter-ministerial committee was set up to immediately start working out ways of executing the national emergency.

They will include providing relief food — mostly maize and beans — to those affected.

The Government, through the Ministry of Livestock, will provide an emergency loan of Sh500 million to the Kenya Meat Commission for purchase of livestock from areas that have been hit hard by the drought.

Hay is also to be given to livestock herders in the most severely affected areas.

Measures are also to be taken to provide water in areas that are suffering an acute shortage.

President Kibaki told the food security committee that the entire Government must focus on the urgency of providing food to all Kenyans after rains failed for the past two seasons and a drop in production occasioned by last year’s post-election challenges.

The meeting brought together the ministries of Agriculture, Water and Irrigation, Finance, Livestock Development and Internal Security.

Among the strategies adopted by the Government to ensure sufficient food in the country include importation of duty free maize up to the next major harvest season.

The Cabinet has already authorised importation of five million bags of maize to bridge the maize deficit in the country.