Response to Kenya Drought & Famine

With the failure of the current rainy season in northern and eastern Kenya, the already precarious food security outlook in the country has worsened. Crop failure and depletion of livestock herds due to the prolonged drought have led to famine conditions with some deaths reported in the arid areas. The districts affected, according to ACT members, include Mandera, Kajiado, Laikipia, Narok, Kitui, Taita and Turkana. The Government of Kenya has declared the famine conditions affecting parts of the country a national disaster and has called for national and international efforts to raise much needed aid to provide food for about 2.5 million people, almost 10 percent of the population, over the next six months. Additional assistance is also required for the provision of water for both people and animals, restocking of livestock and provision of seeds to farmers in preparation for the next crop season.

Presently, ACT members Norwegian Church Aid (NCA), Lutheran World Federation (Dept. for World Service) - Kenya/Sudan (LWF/DWS), Lutheran World Relief (LWR), Christian Aid, Church World Service (CWS) and the Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK), with their partners that are operational in these areas are either monitoring the situation or have started to assist drought-affected communities in their respective working areas. However, it has become very clear that due to the worsening situation, many more people are in need of relief assistance than the individual ACT members can possibly handle.

ACT members and their partners plan to carry out a 12- month relief/rehabilitation activities focused on supplementing and filling gaps of Government of Kenya/World Food Program and other NGO efforts in the specified districts. Interventions include providing life saving interventions that will address the immediate food and water needs of the most affected communities, food distribution, water tankering for domestic and livestock use, and borehole drilling and/ or repair in key specific areas of Mandera, Kajiado, Narok, Makueni, Kitui, Taita Taveta, Tana River and Turkana Districts.  

Project Completion Date: 31 Jan 2007; LWF and NCA - Presbyterian Church of East Africa 31 Dec 2006

Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance Requested

Signed by:
Jenny Borden
Interim Director, ACT Co-ordinating Office