The Garissa government will strengthen its focus on cash transfer to mitigate the double whammy effects of drought and Covid-19.
Finance executive Issa Oyow made the announcement on Tuesday while addressing partners at a farmers' training centre during the Cash Transfer and Hunger Safety Net Programme.
In the programme, National Drought Management Authority targets 9,250 households, Islamic relief 1,000, Pastoralist Girls Initiative 2,500, Save the Children 906, state social service department 5,196 and WFP 20,000 beneficiaries for relief food.
He said the county government will also, in the coming months, upscale the Kazi Mashinani programme to increase household incomes among the poor.
The executive said the county initially enrolled 2,000 households for Kazi Mashinani in the last year adding that plans are underway to soon double the number.
He welcomed the move by partner organisations rolling similar cash transfer initiatives aimed at addressing the needs of the poor.
Oyow revealed that the registration progress by all partner organisations was impressive as a good number of the population will be receiving cash transfers and food aid.
The executive said networking among the county government and partnerships in both cash transfers and the HSNP programme under NDMA will address inefficiency and duplication.
Oyow noted that the HSNP programme that initially started in Mandera and Turkana in the first phase has been rolled out in Garissa county by the national government.
The programme is expected to yield good results for household food security.
He urged partner organisations to link their programme to efforts by the county and national governments for the purpose of sustainability.
Water executive Abdi Omar, for his part, said the situation had worsened because of the drought, saying the programme rolled out was timely to prevent starvation.
He said the national, county government and non-state actors joint working group mobilised by NDMA will have a harmonised approach to limit duplication of beneficiaries.
Last Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta declared the drought affecting parts of the country a national disaster.
Consequently, the President instructed the National Treasury and the Ministry of Interior to spearhead government efforts to assist affected households.
The assistance includes water and relief food distribution, as well as livestock uptake.
(Edited by Bilha Makokha)
