About 1.6 million people are getting relief food under the World Food Programme. Photo/FILE
The number of Kenyans facing starvation could climb to five million from the current 1.8 million in the coming months, the government said on Tuesday, as it sought to reassure the public that there was enough food for those in need of relief aid.
Special Programmes minister Esther Murugi and her Agriculture counterpart Sally Kosgei said the government would not seek foreign help for those affected by drought in North Eastern and Rift Valley.
“We will not seek food from outside until we have exhausted what we have in store which we feel is enough,” Ms Murugi said at Mosoriot in Nandi during a tour of areas worst hit by drought.
The ministers said the government would not declare the current drought a national disaster — the State’s call for full resource mobilisation to deal with national emergencies.
The Kenya Red Cross Society last week launched a Sh1.4 billion appeal for donations to support 1.8 million people worst affected by famine for the next six months.
The World Bank in a report released last week had also warned that a prolonged drought would slow down the overall economic growth, with the local lead economist at the institution, Wolfgang Fengler, saying a severe famine could knock off “two percentage points” from this year’s projected growth rate.
The rainfall shortage has hit an estimated 24 counties where there is urgent need for food, water and livestock feeds.
The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) managing director, Mr Gideon Misoi, who was with the ministers, said Treasury would release a further Sh200 million to finance purchase of maize from farmers in surplus production areas.
Prof Misoi said the government had already bought 300,000 bags of maize using the Sh500 million released through the special programmes ministry last month.
Additional
“Treasury has promised to release the additional funds so that we continue to buy maize countrywide,” said Prof Misoi, asking farmers to continue making deliveries to various depots run by the Board.
Ms Murugi asked the farmers not to demand higher pay for their crop, adding that a rise in prices would slow down the ongoing efforts to provide relief food to vulnerable groups.
“High prices of maize will deny our brothers and sisters who are in urgent need of relief food in other parts of the country,” said Ms Murugi.
Farmers in the area had asked the government to increase the prize of maize from the current price of Sh1,800 per bag to Sh2,200.
Ms Murugi said movement of pastoralists to Uganda in search of pastures and water for their livestock had undermined distribution of relief food in the affected areas.
“We are not doing well in terms of relief food and water distribution to pastoralists since some have moved to Uganda and we cannot follow them there,” said Ms Murugi.
She said that about 1.6 million people are getting relief food under the World Food Programme, while the Kenya government was feeding about one million people.
Dr Kosgei ruled out the possibility of raising maize prices.
“We are asking farmers to calculate the cost of producing a bag of maize so that you do not sell your product below production cost and also you do not get too much,” she said, adding that the agriculture ministry’s main responsibility was to boost food production, while providing relief efforts was the role of the special programmes ministry.
Dr Kosgei said the government was looking at ways of reducing the price of farm inputs in order to cut production costs which were eating into farmers’ earnings.
“We are looking at ways of reducing the price of farm inputs including fertilizer so that farmers can be able to buy the input,” said the agriculture minister.
Purchased
While addressing farmers at NCPB’s depot in Mosoriot, Prof Misoi said the board intended to offload some 3 million bags purchased two years ago.
He said the maize is still being held at various NCPB depots across the country, but will be moved in order to create space for the fresh maize that was harvested last year and the stocks that are currently being purchased.
At Mosoriot depot alone with a capacity of 50,000 bags, there are 16,000 bags of maize that was bought last year, he said.
The ministers also visited Moi bridge NCPB depot before heading Lodwar to assess the food situation in the area.
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