By Betty Luke
More than 1 million children and pregnant or lactating mothers are in urgent need of food aid as a drought continues to wreak havoc in 23 Arid and Semi Arid Land (ASALs) counties across country.
The crisis has left an estimated 810,000 children aged between six and 59 months malnourished, alongside an estimated 104,000 pregnant and lactating women struggling to access adequate food.
Public Service CS Geoffrey Ruku said the number of people requiring urgent food aid has risen to 3.3 million, with children and mothers bearing the biggest burden.
According to the government, many households in the worst-hit counties are experiencing severe food shortages, while others have almost no food at all.
Counties in the emergency phase include Mandera, Wajir, Garissa and Kwale, while Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana, Samburu, Tana River, Kajiado, Baringo and Taita Taveta remain in the alert stage.
According to the CS, the government is working with humanitarian partners, including the Kenya Red Cross, to provide nutrition support to vulnerable children, mothers and the elderly.
Interventions include the distribution of fortified porridge for children and women, as well as school feeding programmes in drought-affected and nomadic communities.
To scale up the response, the Cabinet recently approved Sh2.1 billion to improve school feeding under the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK).
Food distribution has been prioritized in the hardest-hit regions, with counties such as Marsabit and Garissa and Isiolo receiving tens of thousands of bags of rice and beans in the recent months.
