Number of Kenyans in need of food aid drops by 2 million - WFP

Written by: Frank Nyakairu

NAIROBI (AlertNet) - The number of Kenyans in need of food aid has fallen by more than 2 million in the last six months because of increased production of maize, the national staple, the World Food Programme (WFP) said.

In August, the United Nations' agency appealed for more than $230 million to provide emergency food aid over the following six months for a 10th of Kenya's population.

Many parts of the country had suffered two years of drought and crop failures, and pastoralists had been forced to migrate a long way in search of water. Last year food prices were nearly triple the normal costs.

But rainfall improved towards the end of 2009, boosting this year's first harvest.

"At the height of the drought we were feeding 3.8 million people. Now that has gone down - as harvests are coming in -to 1.6 million," said Gabrielle Menezes, WFP's spokeswoman in Kenya.

Some 28 million bags of maize have been harvested this year - nearly double the output of the same time last year, Kenya's Agriculture Minister, William Ruto, told AlertNet this week.

The minister added the government plans to fund irrigation projects in areas vulnerable to drought.

But food shortages are not yet over. A report by Kenya's government, WFP and other international aid bodies released last week predicts a maize deficit before the next harvest in July. The report said most of the deficit will have to be met by imports.

The Kenya Meteorological Department is forecasting good rains in most areas in the March to May rainy season, so the July harvest is expected to be better, the report said.

The improved rains will also help pastoralists recover, stabilise livestock prices and terms of trade and reduce conflicts over access to resources, the authors say.

"The recovery process is going to be very slow," WFP's Menezes said.

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