Nairobi — President William Ruto has urged development partners, national and county governments to work closely in ensuring efficient distribution of relief food so as to avert any duplication.
His statement came as he flagged off an assortment of relief food supplies and animal feed across the country to areas worst affected by drought.
The President further expressed the government's commitment to the provision of solutions to drought through investments in drought preparedness and early warning programs.
"We must have proactive approach to arrest food crises. We better be prepared to adequately deal with these situations in the future," said the President.
Speaking at State House Nairobi, the head of state thanked all stakeholders including county governments, international community, humanitarian agencies and development partners for supporting the national Government's drought response measures.
President Ruto, at the same time said there was need to reduce high reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
He said with elaborate irrigation strategy, farmers can increase productivity, boost value-added production, incorporate arid lands into strategic agricultural reserve, and provide new opportunities for private sector and substantial farmers.
He observed that 3.5 million Kenyans from 23 counties have been hard hit by famine.
The President said the Government was committed to providing both short-term and long-term solutions to drought severely affecting Kenyans in some parts of the country.
The consignment included 20,000 bags of rice, 20,000 bags of beans, assorted animal feeds and cooking oil among others.
"As for now, 3.5 million people in 23 counties are severely affected by food shortage, lack of water and animal feeds," said Dr Ruto.
The President said his Deputy Rigathi Gachagua, who was present, has already convened a meeting with the county governments to come up with an action plan aimed at ensuring that no one dies of hunger.
Ruto said there was need to invest in community-based resilience and drought preparedness programmes to avert situations where Kenyans in some parts of the country experience acute food shortages.
"We are closely monitoring the situation on a weekly basis with a few to ensuring the affected people are given the attention it deserves," said Ruto.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He asked county governments to make provision in their budgets so as to complement the national governments in provision of relief food, water trucking and a livestock offtake programme.
Ruto said there was need for affected residents to offload their livestock to the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) to avert more losses from the dry spell.
"There is no need for the residents to be stuck with their livestock when there is no pasture. They can sell them to KMC to avert further losses because of the drought," he stated.
Gachagua said he would continue to have engagement with the counties to ensure no one dies of starvation.
"As the President has directed, I will continue to engage with the leadership of our counties to ensure problems such as food shortages are solved," said Gachagua.
Chairperson of Council of Governors Anne Waiguru, who is also the Governor of Kirinyaga, thanked the President and the national government for stepping in to assist counties ravaged by drought.
"As counties, we will work closely with the national government in addressing the problem of drought in some parts of the country," she said.
