Nairobi, March 1 (IANS) The number of food-insecure people in Kenya stands at 2.15 million, up from one million in July 2024, according to the East African country’s National Drought Management Authority (NDMA).
The NDMA said that the worsening food security is attributed to below-normal short rains, reversing gains from previous seasons, leading to household food consumption gaps and elevated levels of malnutrition.
“The situation is projected to deteriorate further during the March-May long rains season, with an estimated 2.8 million people likely to experience acute food insecurity,” the NDMA warned in a report released in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.
The agency observed that the 2024 short rains season performed below average across all livelihood zones in the 23 arid and semi-arid lands, leading to a significant increase in the food-insecure population, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the NDMA, declining pasture and water availability have resulted in longer livestock trekking distances as well as reduced livestock productivity, resulting in a 25-40 per cent decrease in milk production and higher milk prices in the pastoral northwest of the country.
NDMA’s alert comes a week after climate scientists at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) revealed that Kenya is among four East African countries that are set to experience elevated levels of heat waves in the coming days.
According to USA’s World Food Programme, Kenya, a lower-middle-income economy, is transforming rapidly. However, social and economic inequalities persist. More than one third of Kenyans live below the poverty line. Rapid population growth, climate change, underperforming food systems and gender inequalities are the most significant challenges to food security in the country.
Access to enough nutritious food remains a challenge for many, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions which make up 80 per cent of the country’s land area. The arid climate means the country’s main economic driver of agriculture is highly dependent on seasonal rainfall.
Kenya hosts 500,000 refugees, mainly in camps located in remote, food-insecure counties. Unable to work or move freely, refugees are highly dependent on international assistance.
–IANS
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