- Title: KENYA: ICRC appeals for help in fighting hunger
- Date: 3rd February 2009
- Summary: VARIOUS OF YOUNG GIRL KNOCKING WILD BERRIES OFF A BUSH CHILD'S FACE
- Embargoed: 18th February 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Kenya
- Country: Kenya
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA2PDMQDJDI6DI06LF2SGIKMLQO
- Story Text: The ICRC has added its voice to calls for humanitarian assistance for the ten million people that the Kenyan government says are in urgent need of food aid.
The arid, northern and eastern parts of the country are the most affected. Most farmers there have not gotten a meaningful harvest from their fields for last two years due to inadequate rainfall.
"When it rained we planted, but we got a very bad harvest. In other seasons we would at least have something to harvest but this time around it's really bad," says Bernard Kaloki, a farmer in Kithyoko village, which is in eastern Kenya.
Lack of rain has also caused the regions wells, springs and rivers to dry up. There aren't enough boreholes to fill the gap. Most people can't afford the water being sold by private companies so they have to rely on water of poor quality, increasing the chance of disease outbreaks.
"We have never seen anything like this. There is no water. Our children are falling ill because the little water we get is not clean. We come here very early in the morning to scoop out sand so we can get water and then we wait for the evening so that the water can settle. If we can get some assistance, maybe the diseases will reduce," said Grace Mulwa, who also lives in Kithyoko.
The situation is made worse by an already existing shortfall of the staple food - maize. The shortage was caused largely by the crisis of early 2007, when an outbreak of violence over a disputed election killed 1,300 people and drove 300,000 from their homes and fields.
It also comes at a time when the government is mired in corruption scandals. Critics say Kenya's coalition government is partly to blame for the grain shortfall because of poor planning and high-level corruption involving the import, storage and sale of maize.
Market forces and rising food prices have also played a role.
The drought is also causing hardship around the East and Horn of Africa, particularly Somalia and Ethiopia.
"The recent financial crisis has resulted in high prices of all commodities, not least fuel and food. The price of maize here in Kenya has more than doubled in the last few months. In Ethiopia, the prices went up by 300 percent in just a few months. So it is a combination of factors that causes this extreme insecurity. I think the answer is never in the short term response, we have a duty to respond now and save lives but we have a stronger duty to invest in the future and make sure that these people don't live on one day to another on handouts," said Andrei Engstrand-Neascu who handles communications for ICRC in East Africa.
The Kenyan government declared a national emergency over the drought early last month and made an international appeal for 470 million U.S.
dollars. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: Footage contains identifiable children: users must ensure that they comply with local laws and regulations governing the publishing of this material.