The National Steering Committee on Drought Response distributed food to 1,500 families in Mariakani, Kilifi County.
The exercise was led by Steering Committee Chair and Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. The 1,500 families are part of the 320,000 people
The Committee will also embark on rehabilitation of more than 300 boreholes in 32 counties in partnership with Kenya Defence Forces. This is expected to benefit over 2 million people.
“We are reaching out to some of the hardest hit communities with food hampers as part of our immediate plan measures as the Committee. We have other plans such as rehabilitation of boreholes in most of the ASAL counties that will seek to create a greater sustainability in dealing with the drought as we collaborate with the government and other stakeholders for longer term measures that will alleviate this drought crisis,” said Peter Ndegwa, Chairman, National Steering Committee on Drought Response.
The latest data from the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) shows that 6 million Kenyans from 32 counties are food insecure with the persisting drought set to continue due to depressed rainfall.
At least 970,000 children and 142,000 pregnant women are malnourished with urgent lifesaving interventions needed.
The number of malnourished children has risen from 884,000 children as of July 2022 who have received food hampers in the last one week in 9 counties.
