NAIROBI, Jan 5 (NNN-KBC) – The number of Kenyans in need of humanitarian assistance stands at 1.5 million, with a majority of them having been affected by floods, caused by the recent El Nino rains, the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said in a report, yesterday.
“An assessment of the impact of the 2023 long rainy season on food and nutrition security projected that, the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance during the Oct, 2023 to Jan, 2024, period, would drop to 1.5 million from 2.8 million in Jul, 2023,” NDMA said.
The agency, in the latest assessment, released in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, attributed the decline to the positive impact of the 2023 Mar to May, long rain season.
The agency, however, noted that, the negative effects of the El Nino rains have undermined the food and nutrition security situation, especially in arid and semi-arid areas, which were worst affected by floods, leading to the 1.5 million people in need of food assistance.
NDMA said, the situation has been worsened by the destruction of the road and communication network, which has limited the flow of food and other essential commodities in local markets.
Due to both the 2023 long rains season and El Nino rains, the agency said, there is no drought in Kenya currently, with all the 23 arid and semi-arid areas experiencing improved vegetation conditions.
Kenya is among the countries in the Horn of Africa that were affected by drought and heavy rains in 2023, in a span of a few months, which increased the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance.
The drought left 23.4 million people facing hunger and 5.1 million children acutely malnourished in the Horn of Africa region, which includes Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, according to the World Food Programme.
On the other hand, floods caused by the El Nino rains, killed at least 300 people, displaced thousands more and destroyed crops in more than 600,000 hectares in Somalia, Kenya, Burundi, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
