Drought Situation: Development partners to offer aid to minimize impact

Kenya’s development partners have agreed to support Government efforts to mobilise resources to address the gaps in drought response and resilience building in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), the Ministry of Public Service, Gender, Senior Citizens Affairs, and Special Programmes has said.

Public Service Cabinet Secretary Prof. Margaret Kobia noted that the support will come in to boost intervention initiatives after the government identified priority needs in key sectors amounting to Ksh7.3 billion.

While assuring that the government is working tirelessly to adequately address the crisis, the CS said the monies will cover the costs of delivering food and safety needs, livestock, health and nutrition, agriculture, education and water for the period ending December 2021.

“As a Government, we are committed to ensure that all steps are taken to address the drought crisis in the country. I wish to thank all stakeholders, including our Development Partners, for continuing to partner with the Government to attend to this national disaster.” She said

Speaking after consultations with representatives of the development partners, where she appraised them on the drought situation in the country, the CS underscored the need for urgent measures to address the needs of 2.5 million people in 23 ASAL counties that require relief assistance as of November 2021.

On the interventions made so far, Prof Kobia indicated that the government provided Ksh1.2 billion for the purchase and distribution of food in October.

Added to this is the disbursement of Ksh450 million to Kenya Defence Forces for livestock off-take, purchase and distribution of livestock feed.

She also noted that Ksh.350 million has been allocayed to the Ministry of Water and Sanitation for water trucking.

At the same time, Ksh500 million has been allocated to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), through the European Union, for drought emergency response in non-food interventions.

The government interventions coming as the latest forecasts show that there will generally be depressed rainfall across all the ASALs and a highly depressed rainfall in the North-East of Kenya between October and December 2021.