Nairobi, 11th March 2023…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 who have received food hampers in the last one week in 9 counties.
The Committee will also embark on the rehabilitation of approximately 300 boreholes in 32 counties, in partnership with the Kenya Defence Forces. This is expected to benefit approximately 1 million people.
“As the Committee, we are reaching out to some of the hardest hit communities with food hampers as part of our immediate measures. We have other plans such as the rehabilitation of boreholes in most of the ASAL counties that will seek to create 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, Chair, the 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 life saving interventions needed. The number of malnourished children has risen from 884,000 children, as at July, 2022.
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