Nairobi, 21 May.- (ANA) - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has begun pre-positioning supplies in eastern Kenya to feed an estimated 3.5 million people who are facing food shortages as a result of poor harvest caused by inadequate rainfall.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), trucks have begun rolling out of warehouses, filled with foodstuff in preparation for increased needs.
Last month, WFP delivered food to selected health facilities in eastern Kenya and supported training to district health staff on supplementary feeding for children under the age of five and pregnant and nursing mothers, OCHA said.
An inter-agency group of humanitarian organizations and government ministries is concerned that the delayed onset of the current long rains will affect crop yield in the grain basket areas of the Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza provinces, which produce over 90 per cent of the national food output. There is also increasing morbidity among livestock in the arid areas that is leading to loss of breeding stock, OCHA added.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is also assisting on health issues especially with assessments and the response to cholera outbreaks in northern and western Kenya. (ANA)
