Kenya’s Drought: Response Must Be Sustainable, Not Piecemeal.
Waterholes and rivers have dried up, leading to widespread crop failure and livestock depletion.
Livestock and milk production has declined, adversely affecting food consumption levels for communities, particularly women and children.
Malnutrition is widespread among children.
The World Food Programme (WFP) and partners have developed a US$30 million plan to intervene with blanket supplementary feeding in nine northern hotspots, but only 10 per cent of the required funds have been committed.
By the time the Government had declared drought a national disaster, over 2.6 million Kenyans were in urgent need of food aid.
This will bring about more frequent, intense and widespread droughts and flash floods.
The vast majority of smallholders in sub-Saharan Africa are dependent on rain-fed agriculture for their livelihoods and are subject to the vagaries of the weather.
UNDP has created capacities for food production in Turkana County, slowly building community resilience and food security through irrigation.
We need sustainable solutions to effectively tackle drought and its devastating impacts on Kenya’s most vulnerable communities, particularly women and children.