More than four million Kenyans who live in the arid and semi-arid areas are struggling with hunger, a report from IMF shows. This has come about as a result of the on-going drought that has wiped out their livestock and crops.
The IMF says these climatic conditions are worsening and periodically hit these areas with extreme drought and floods. This number has gone up from an estimated 3.5million people, which is about 21 per cent of the arid and semi-arid land population that faced severe food insecurity in late 2021, a number that has also gone up from 2.1million earlier in the year.
The government has been forced to intervene through emergency monetary and food relief to avert a humanitarian crisis amid a thinning public funds envelope.
The National Treasury had set aside Sh20billion for emergency drought and security intervention in the supplementary budget for the financial year 2021/2022 in order to offer food supply to the population living in such areas.
“Domestically, the shortfall in rains and continuing drought in semi-arid regions is adding to uncertainties and pressuring vulnerable groups, food insecurity is highest in the arid and semi-arid lands due to vulnerability and exposure to extreme weather event,.” said IMF.
The IMF also claimed that 600,000 Kenyans became vulnerable in June because of the high inflation that had hit the country that month making the prices of basic commodities to rise. The inflation has also affected major companies in key sectors of the economy.
“The temporary hold on upward adjustment of fuel pump prices gives the government time to put in place appropriate targeted measures to cushion the rapidly rising number of vulnerable persons impacted,” IMF Executive Director Ita Mannathoko said.