WFP says may cut Kenya funding

• In August, WFP appealed for at least US$230 million to provide emergency food assistance in the next six months to 3.8 million Kenyans affected by drought.

• Food aid is at its lowest in 20 years despite indications that those in need of urgent food aid is on the increase.

About two million Kenyans currently relying on emergency food assistance from the World Food Programme are at risk of starving after the UN relief agency warned that it may withdraw funding.

In a move that is likely to complicate government efforts to save over 10 million Kenyans faced with hunger, WFP says serious budgetary deficits, soaring world food prices and the economic meltdown have frustrated its efforts to feed millions of people around the world, including Kenya.

The aid agency, in a statement this week in London that coincides with the first anniversary of the global financial crisis, admitted that it faced challenges meeting its obligations.

“.......the financial crisis and the still record high food prices around the world is delivering a devastating blow. Throw in a storm, a drought and a conflict and you have a recipe for disaster,” said executive director Josette Sheeran.

He warned that at the current funding levels, “we will – in October – have to cut our services throughout the world, including to half of those we are trying to reach in Kenya.”

The revelation comes in the wake of another assessment by the UN agency in August, which forecast that while it was committed to feeding the hungry but was being held back by budgetary deficits.

“Life has never been easy for the poor in Kenya, but right now conditions are more desperate than they have been for a decade,” said WFP Kenya country director Burkard Oberle.

“WFP is aiming to help almost 1 in every 10 Kenyans to cope with this serious crisis but we can’t do it without money.”

In August, WFP appealed for at least US$230 million to provide emergency food assistance in the next six months to 3.8 million Kenyans affected by drought and subsequent high food prices.

But the Wednesday statement indicates that food aid is at its lowest in 20 years despite indications that those in need of urgent food aid is on the increase.

The number of hungry people will pass 1 billion this year for the first time, the WFP said, adding that it is facing a serious budget deficit. To date the WFP has confirmed $2.6 billion in funding for its 2009 budget of $6.7 billion.

“There are more hungry people in the world and less food aid than ever before.  For the world’s most vulnerable, the perfect storm is hitting with a vengeance,” said the statement.

In August, Mr Oberle said at least 260,000 metric tonnes of food are required to feed the affected population. WFP, which has been providing about 32,000 MT of food per month, is already distributing general food rations to close to four million people.

Mr Sheeran says they urgently need an additional US$3 billion to meet the rising needs, something that is critical for the world’s peace and stability.

Although donors have been generous, Mr Sheeran said, the fact is that the cost of food is still high and needs have gone up, requires the world to step up to the plate in a bigger way. 

“We are making an urgent plea to the world that as the green shoots of economic recovery are appearing, we do not forget those who are most in need, and who have been hit hardest by this crisis.”

Today in the United States and much of Europe, more people are relying on government safety nets for food and support than perhaps ever before, but for 80 per cent of the world, there is perhaps no safety net.  WFP’s budget to feed 108 million people in 74 countries this year is US$6.7 billion, but so far it has just US$2.6 billion. 

Kenya has experienced a failure of the long rains in the marginal agricultural lowlands and some pastoral and agro-pastoral areas have caused a substantial decline in both crop and livestock production, according to the Famine Early Warning Systems Network

Another 2009 long rains assessment found that "3.8 million pastoralists, agro-pastoralists and marginal agricultural farm households require urgent humanitarian food assistance."

The assessment, conducted by the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG) in May and July, covered 30 districts, including 27 drought-prone ones and three affected by the 2008 post-election violence.

The KFSSG assessment identified poor land use, low agricultural diversification and over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture as major factors contributing to food insecurity.

Widespread environmental degradation was also cited "as an underlying cause of food insecurity in most agriculture-based livelihoods".

The assessment estimates that "over 242,000 children under five years are moderately malnourished and 39,000 are severely malnourished and consequently, have three and nine times more chances of dying [respectively] if appropriate interventions are not implemented."

According to Mr Oberle, the current drought is worse than the one in 2006 and could compare to the one in 2000 - the worst in 37 years - if the situation does not improve.

By June 2000, an estimated 1.7 million people needed food assistance, reaching four million by December 2000.

“Red lights are flashing across the country,” says Oberle. “People are already going hungry, malnutrition is preying on more and more young children, cattle are dying.”

Many parts of the country have now experienced three or even four consecutive failed rainy seasons and conditions are expected to deteriorate further over the coming months. According to government long rains assessment, the main maize harvest is projected to be 28 percent lower than the five-year average. Pasture and water for livestock are dwindling rapidly.

Some of the worst affected Kenyans have been pushed to the edge and are struggling to survive. Acute malnutrition rates among children under five are over 20 per cent in some areas – well above the 15 percent emergency threshold.

Pastoralist communities are particularly affected. As food prices remain 100 to 130 percent above normal, prices for their livestock – most of them in poor condition – have been heading in the opposite direction. Not even government efforts to offload them through its meat processor, Kenya Meat Commission, has helped matters as a few livestock are purchased while others succumb to death on the way to the market.

In response to the dire situation, WFP had recently indicated that it will expand its school feeding programme by 100,000 to reach nearly 1.2 million children across the worst affected areas. The government is also providing school meals to about half a million more children under their own school meals programme.

School meals are an effective social safety net for hard-hit communities, providing vital assistance to hungry children and ensuring they can continue their education. WFP has continued to provide school meals to over a million children in Kenya in August during the holidays, following a request by the government.