KENYA: Drought problems remain even as floods recede

U N I T E D N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)

KENYA: Drought problems remain even as floods recede

NAIROBI, 21 June (IRIN) - Parts of southeastern Kenya, which received exceptionally poor rainfall during May, are experiencing the stress of drought - even as flooding subsides in western and eastern parts of the country, according to a new vulnerability update for the country.

Southeastern agro-pastoral areas and marginal agricultural areas received poor rains throughout the 2002 long-rains season (roughly from March to May), but particular in May, and this was "especially detrimental", because the long rains seasons in these districts are generally brief in any case.

The areas most affected are Kajiado, Taita Taveta, Kwale, Kilifi and parts of Tana River, Kitui and Makueni districts, according to the Famine Early Warning System Network.

Parts of southeastern Kenya - in common with southeastern Ethiopia and northern Tanzania - have experienced almost total rain failure, according to FEWS Net.

As a consequence of a northward shift in rains associated with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, the equatorial area of the Greater Horn of Africa is experiencing declining rainfall, it says. This early stoppage of rains, preceded by the poor distribution of rain in April, may affect production in agricultural areas of Kenya, Uganda and northern Tanzania.

More generally, the heavy rains that had caused heavy flooding around Lake Victoria in western Kenya, and in some eastern districts (especially Tana River, Ijara and Garissa), eased considerably towards the end of May and substantially reduced the areas in flood, particularly in the west.

That flooding has caused the loss of a significant part of the Kenyan bean crop, and the total loss of riverside crops in the pastoral districts of Mandera and Tana River.

"Although initially welcome, the break in rainfall may become detrimental to maize, particularly in Central, Eastern and Rift Valley provinces, where the crop was planted late due to a late onset of rains," according to FEWS Net. In order to avoid moisture stress, a resumption of rainfall in June would therefore be critical, it added.

While there were signs of recovery and improved food security in pastoral areas, which were hard hit by five successive poor rainy seasons, the situation of pastoralists remained precarious, especially for those who lost most, if not all, their livestock, the vulnerability update stated.

More favourable conditions (including increased availability of pasture, browse and water for livestock) and food security improvements were "likely to bypass these pastoralists until they can rebuild their herds, a process that takes several years," it said.

Many pastoralists in Kenya still rely on food aid as a result of successive rainy season failures, and FEWS Net expressed concern over the "critical" situation of the maize pipeline in Kenya, which did not allow for any maize food aid distribution in May.

There was a shortfall in donor pledges equivalent to some 50,000 mt of maize (until the end of the emergency programme in October) and, though maize was available for sale locally, "cash contributions are urgently needed" to cover transport and distribution costs, it stated.

Beyond food aid, pastoralist areas of Kenya needed quick investment in income- and asset-generating activities "if the end of the drought emergency operation is to avert increasing levels of hunger and malnutrition," FEWS Net added.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) also warned on Thursday - World Refugee Day - that hundreds of thousands of refugees living in camps in northern Kenya face a severe food shortage crisis, and appealed to the international community to "come forward" with contributions in order to avert a further deterioration of the situation.

The UN agency said it lacked the funds to supply food aid to 205,000 refugees currently living in the two main refugee camps of Dadaab and Kakuma, both in northern Kenya. It said it had, in effect, reduced the food ration in Kakuma and Dadaab camps since February to the current figures of 1,600 and 1,900 kcal per person per day, respectively, and that further reductions in rations were anticipated unless new donor contributions "came forward urgently".

[ENDS]

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