Oscar Kingori and Mwangi Ndirangu
15 September 2008
Nairobi — Eleven districts experiencing severe famine will receive emergency relief food from the Government and World Food Programme.
A report from the Special Programmes ministry said that those threatened with starvation will be fed until March.
And in the meantime, the UN has delayed to deliver food rations to schools in Isiolo District, disrupting learning in arid areas worst hit by drought.
Laikipia District drought management officer, Mr Julius Muriuki said the district had sent a report on the crisis to Nairobi.
He, however, declined to reveal the names of the other affected districts.
Mr Muriuki said a report prepared by his office last month showed that over 80,000 people were faced with hunger.
But only 42,000 identified as being in grave danger would benefit, he said.
A Catholic relief and development agency, Caritas-Nyeri will distribute the food.
"We expect to start this week after we get a consignment from Nairobi," Mr Stephen Waweru of Caritas said.
Food rations
Beneficiaries would receive food rations on a monthly basis until the next harvest, he said.
But in the drought-stricken Isiolo District children, especially those in lower classes, have not gone back to school after UN food rations for the school feeding programme were delayed for the second week.
The programme is a major enticement used among pastoral communities to allow them to let their children attend school.
Most schools have suspended learning in the afternoon as some pupils have not been coming back after lunch because they would be too hungry.
Divisions most affected by the drought include Central, Oldonyiro, Modogashe, Bulesa, Cherab and Merti.
Isiolo district education officer Newton Okwatsa said food rations from the World Food Programme were always delayed during the first month of the opening of school and assured pupils that food rations would be distributed soon.
He said the district, with 50 public schools, was allocated 16,757 bags of maize and beans for this term, while Garba Tulla District, with 27 schools, was allocated 6,011 bags.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Nation. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
