Eleven per cent of the 1.13 million residents of Kitui county are food insecure and need urgent humanitarian support to avoid starvation.
According to a food and nutrition situation assessment following the failed March-May long rains, up to 126,118 residents, most from the marginal mixed farming regions of the county are hungry and in dire need of assistance.
There was massive crop failure due to a lack of rains.
The report by the Kitui county steering group indicates the most affected people are from the hot spot subcounties of Mwingi North, Kitui South, Kitui Rural, Kitui East and marginal parts of Mwingi Central.
The assessment also revealed that not a single area in the county received 100 per cent rainfall during the March-April long-rains season as the rainfall ranged between 75 to 5 per cent leading to massive crop failure.
The July report indicates that many families in the affected areas have been forced to forgo meals as the frequency of eating reduces. They also have to do with consuming reduced quantities and poor quality food.
This, the report adds, has resulted in serious malnutrition cases among the population. Further, the hard-hit families are forced to sell their livestock to get money to buy food.
A spot check by the Star in trading centres showed the retail prices of regular food such as maize, cowpeas and beans have spiralled out of the reach of the ordinary locals.
A kilo of maize costs Sh40, up from Sh20, while a kilogramme of cowpeas has reached Sh80 up from Sh20.
A container of beans, which ordinarily retailed at Sh30, is now going for Sh100.
