Millions 'at risk' from famine in Kenya
The lives of thousands of Kenyans hit by food shortages are at risk because of the lack of funds to buy food in districts with surplus harvests for distribution in areas hit by drought, aid agencies warned today.
The warning comes as the government announced that the number of Kenyans at risk from the food crisis had increased from 2.5 million to 3.5 million.
“The number of districts affected by drought is expected to rise very much from 17 to 37,” or half of Kenya’s 74 districts, said Gezahegn Kebede, head of Oxfam in the country.
“Donors have to make money available for the moving of the food to the needy people.”
The UN food aid agency does not have the money to reach all the people who need help, said Peter Smerdon, spokesman for the World Food Program.
Later, British secretary of state for international development Hilary Benn met President Mwai Kibaki and said the UK would release £3m (€4.4m) to combat the crisis, according to a statement released by the Presidential Press Service.
