Daniel Nyassy
10 July 2009
Nairobi — Driving along the Mombasa-Malindi road during day time from Mombasa to Garsen in Tana Delta district, a visitor would easily be deceived into believing the Coast has a bounty harvest.
But alas! The greed maize packed in the shambas go only as far as five or so kilometres into the hinterland from the ocean.
The hunger situation is severe as thousands of residents face starvation in the Coast.
In Malindi district alone, at least 120,000 people will continue to rely on relief food for the next one year following a total crop failure in many rural parts of the district. Despite the rains currently being received along the shoreline strip, many parts of the district have not received rains for a long time leading to the drying up of crops. According to the Malindi District Drought Management Officer Mr Roman Shera, the whole of Lango Baya division and most parts of Adu and Marafa divisions have not received a single drop of the current long rains. "Despite the current rains along the coastline, we still expect food shortages in the hinterland where rains have not been received," he said.
Farmers in the affected areas prepared their farms in time and even planted, but their crops have dried up, said the officer. Commenting on the situation, the District Agricultural Officer Mr Babu Musa said his department had supplied drought-resistant seeds.
"Following the failure of the maize crop, my department is supplying drought resistant seed crops in the affected areas," he said. "We have supplied cassava cuttings and seeds of cowpeas and green grams among others. This is in an effort to tackle the problem, but this will take long before maturity and people will require food aid," said Mr Musa. The Kenya Red Cross Society, Malindi branch, has also launched a campaign aimed at identifying the most vulnerable areas and people with a view to assisting them with food supplies, he said.
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