Devolution CS Eugene Wamalwa yesterday said 13 of 47 counties arefacing serious drought due to delayed long rains.
Wamalwa said the situation on the ground has not changed. He listed the counties of Marsabait, Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Baringo, Kilifi, Tana River, West Pokot, Samburu, Kwale, Makueni and Isiolo.
He has said 1.1 million Kenyans are facing a serious food shortage, requiring government action to prevent the situation from escalating.
He has said they have been working with counties but urged them to use emergency funds to assist those in need of food.
“The implication of the weather outlook is that if the long rains delay any further, another two or more weeks, we might see more scarcity of water, malnutrition, and disease, which needs more intervention,” he said.
So far, Wamalwa said, the government has spent Sh1.85 billion on relief. They have distributed 26,000 bags of maize, 15,000 bags of rice, among other commodities.
They are also trucking water to the affected counties.
“Food distribution is going on in all counties and subcounties. We are doing water trucking through the National Drought Management Authority. We have been able to avail about Sh5 million per county for water trucking," Wamalwa said.
He also said the government aims to harvest water from the long rains.
On Tuesday, Agriculture CAS Andrew Tuimur warned there's likely to have a maize shortage next year due to lack of rain.
“It has never stayed for this long without rain. We are almost getting to the middle of April without rain and this is not good for food production,” he said.
NDMA says the current drought is worse than in 2011, with some areas experiencing rain failure for three seasons in a row.
(Edited by V. Graham)
