United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will give Kenya $255 million (Ksh 30.28b) in emergency assistance funding to help the country address drought and food security.
Administrator Samantha power says the funding is in addition to Ksh 7.72 b given to the country in 2022.
Overall, the development agency said it is providing $1.3 billion to Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia to address the ongoing hunger and food crisis in the horn of Africa, estimated to affect over 20 million people in the region.
The announcement follows a worsening drought in Kenya after the poor performance of short rains in 2021 as well as two failed seasons and cessation of long rains in 2022. This, together with the war in Ukraine which has pushed global commodity prices is exposing 4.2 million people to food insecurity, an additional 400,000 from 3.8 million in March 2022.
Further forecasts by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs show that drought conditions are likely to worsen, saying that October to December 2022 short rains might fail, affecting 23 Arid and Semi-Arid counties in the country. Mandera, Turkana, Wajir, and Marsabit counties have taken the worst blow from the drought.
Public Service Cabinet Secretary Margaret Kobia estimates that the Kenyan government has spent up to Ksh 12.6 billion shillings to help people affected by drought. However, the government had a deficit of Ksh 15 billion.
READ: 20 million Risk Starvation as Horn of Africa Drought Worsens – UN
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