Revoke new policy on refugee food distribution, says Fafi MP

Fafi MP Salah Yakub in Garissa town yesterday /STEPHEN ASTARIKO

Fafi MP Salah Yakub has urgently called on UNHCR and the World Food Programme to revoke their new food-distribution policy, enacted in May, which drastically reduces food rations for refugees in Dadaab and Kakuma camps.

Under this policy, daily rations have dropped to roughly 28 per cent of the recommended 2,100 kilocalories, down from 40 per cent in February 2025. Moreover, the Bamba Chakula cash/voucher assistance has been suspended.

Speaking to the press in Garissa town while unveiling land for the Fafi Madrasa Waqf, Yakub decried the decision as shortsighted and damaging.

“Today ... refugees don’t have food and water. Healthcare is in a total mess; their education is in big trouble ... We are likely to see an increase in malnutrition and insecurity both in the camps and outside the camps where host communities live.”

He warned that cuts have already triggered a rise in poaching and charcoal burning by desperate refugees—a direct consequence of starvation and loss of support systems.

“We demand the total revocation of the current programe. The food ration should be reinstated to what it was before. The single-handed decision made by UNHCR and WFP will backfire on them. They should go back to the drawing board and bring back the previous food ration for refugees,” he added.

Yakub called on the President to look into the issue and hold discussions with those concerned least it leads to more problems for both the refugees and the host communities.

In May, hundreds of refugees from the four camps — Dagahaley, Hagadera, Ifo, and Ifo 2 — gathered at Ifo 2 where they held peaceful demonstrations to raise their voices.

The refugees pleaded with the international community, particularly the United States, to reconsider their positions and urgently restore life-saving humanitarian aid following the funding cuts.

The crisis started following an executive order issued by US President Donald Trump on January 20, 2025 — the day he assumed office — freezing foreign aid, including USAID programmes.

The move has had far-reaching consequences on the refugees who have lived in the camps for decades.

INSTANT ANALYSIS

These food cuts are not just a policy issue—they’re a crisis in motion. WFP’s reduction to 28 per cent of daily kilocalorie intake and removal of cash aid threaten to deepen malnutrition among refugees. With global acute malnutrition rates at over 13 per cent, the rhetoric of weaning off aid masks a looming emergency in camps like Dadaab and Kakuma.