The Wajir government has started food distribution to all the sub-counties, following drought.
Governor Mohamed Abdi said this is part of the emergency interventions by the administration to protect livelihoods following a devastating drought.
Speaking at the county headquarters on Saturday morning when he flagged off distribution of food and non-food items, Abdi said the county has procured approximately 1000MT to support over 42,000 households in the 30 wards in more than 300 food distribution points.
The food he said is for the most vulnerable population, adding that and no deserving case should be left out.
“As we roll out this very important exercise, I don’t expect to hear any cases of deserving cases being left out because the identification of beneficiaries was already done through community based targeting where the communities’ leaders and county staff have identified most vulnerable persons within the community,” said the governor.
Special groups such as the orphans, people with disabilities, elderly, single headed families and families with extreme poverty will be targeted.
Institutions with boarding facilities that host orphans, children with mental and hearing impairment will also be supported.
The county has experienced various disasters for the last two years from severe drought, flash floods, locust invasion, the Covid-19 pandemic to sporadic bush fire compounded by insecurity which has made our county food insecure.
The county is currently experiencing severe drought as a result of cumulative failure of both Short Rains and Long Rains of 2020 The rains were depressed in most of parts of the sub counties.
Most of the pans have not been impounded, this has led to long distance trekking of already weak animals with no pasture.
A food security assessments done between January 18 to 29 by the National drought Management drought Authority shows severe vegetation deficit, depletion of pastures and browsers and drying of water pans.
There is also overconcentration of livestock on major boreholes which has led to frequent breakdown.
The governor regretted that the frequency and intensity of disaster has increased giving less time for the community to recover from the shocks and stress caused by the disasters.
This is partly due to effects of climate change and global warming.
The governor however said that even as the county supports needy families, provision of relief food to the public is not sustainable, noting that in the long run there was need to put emphasis on crop and livestock production as well as diversification of livelihood.
“The President’s call on investing in food security and nutrition is the way to go and I therefore welcome World Food Programme’s partnership on Sustainable Food Systems Project and that of like-minded organizations,” he said.
