Nairobi — President William Ruto on Wednesday chaired a meeting with development partners to discuss the drought situation in the country.
The President's meeting came days after he flagged off relief food to drought-stricken counties.
President Ruto also received an update from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on Kenya's drought response at State House, Nairobi.
He also welcomed the contribution by development partners to tackling the famine situation in the country.
"Aware of the fact that this is the worst drought in four decades, we must step up, create synergy, marshal more resources and adopt a more coordinated, real-time and targeted intervention that will guarantee assistance to the vulnerable people in drought-affected areas," Ruto stated.
On Monday the President flagged off 20,000 bags of rice, 20,000 bags of beans, assorted animal feed to areas facing severe drought.
The intervention followed the deterioration of the drought situation as several parts of the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) remained relatively dry with 20 out of the 23 arid and semi-arid counties affected.
The Head of State flagged off the consignment to 23 counties most affected by famine and drought.
According to President Ruto, the second consignment of food aid would be sent to the affected counties on Friday.
The government will also examine the situation on a weekly basis to determine additional measures needed to end hunger.
"On a weekly basis we will assess the situation and see what this intervention will mean for the people around the country and what additionally can be done as we go into the future," he said.
The President added that, they will work with the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) for animal off take to counties where animals are too weak so as to enable citizens not to get stuck in terms of animal feeding.
"We are going to work with the Kenya Meat Commission to make sure that there is an offtake program that will facilitate citizens not to get stuck with livestock when they do not have pasture," he added.
As the Horn of Africa enters its sixth season of below average rainfall, Kenya is one of the three nations in the region experiencing the worst drought in decades.
