Saturday, February 07, 2009
Hunger situation in Kitui
According to the recently released statistics, 10 million people in Kenya face imminent starvation. The most affected areas include the arid and semi arid zones in rural areas and the slum population in urban areas.
Catholic Diocese of Kitui is within the Arid and Semi arid Zone
This prompted the Kenya government to declare the current famine and food crisis in the country a national disaster, with President Mwai Kibaki appealing for an urgent aid of Kshs. 37 Billion from the international and internal well-wishers.
According to an assessment undertaken by Caritas-Kenya, Cafod and Trocaire EARO in several Dioceses in Kenya, including Kitui, Garissa, Machakos, Embu, Meru,Isiolo, Maralal, Nakuru and Lodwar diocese Malindi and Mombasa, the assessors recommend that urgent food intervention programmes are needed on the ground.
Also needed are enhanced selective/ targeted feeding programmes for children especially in marginal areas.
In addition, is urgent need for providing livestock disease control initiatives, as well as rehabilitating water sources to enhance water harvesting.
Also required is investment in long term interventions to equip the affected communities with livelihood assets, physical and intellectual know-how that will prepare them for shocks and uncertainties in future.
The reports from meteorological department indicate that the country should be prepared for a longer dry spell. This means more food crisis at the back drop of the failed December rains.
This comes at a time when government has revealed that there may be not enough strategic emergency food reserves (Read: Maize (corn) the staple food in Kenya) to feed the nation.
More worrisome are alleged corruption scandals in the media that some cartels within the government/ private sector are exporting available maize stocks.
Also there are media reports that farmers in the north rift, a zone in Kenya which produces most of the grains consumed in the country have with held their stocks out of fear for losses as the price government is offering is quite low.
As a result the situation is expected to worsen.
Within this diocese, much fear goes to the populace that requires special diet as a therapeutic measure, including the under fives, persons living with HIV/AIDS, the aged and the expectant mums.