Kenya Red Cross Society on Saturday launched the 'Jaza Lorry' initiative to mobilise resources and mitigate ongoing drought in the Coast region.
The initiative will be coordinated by the Coast region office and other partners to provide food aid to residents of Kinango and Lunga Lunga subcounties.
Kwale Governor Salim Mvurya donated 15 bails of flour towards and thanked partners for coming together to mitigate the effects of drought in the region.
Partners include Kwale county, Kenya Ports Authority, Base Titanium, Hotels, local media and individual donors.
Drought in the two subcounties has affected more than 200,000 people.
Water sources are reported to have dried up, forcing residents to walk for long distances to fetch the commodity.
KRCS Region Manager Hassan Musa said hundreds of livestock have died and residents are at risk of waterborne diseases as a result of consuming unsafe water.
He said water distances have also increased from the average 2.4 kilometres to between five and 10 kilometres by October.
He said this is expected to continue well after the next long rains harvest in July 2017.
This is attributed to changing weather patterns caused by La Nina.
Among the worst affected areas are Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River, Taita Taveta, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera.
Other affected areas are Marsabit, Kitui and Samburu.
While government estimates indicate that the society says the number may go up to 2.5 million by April 2017.
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