• State has been releasing 50,000 bags of maize monthly to the hard-hit counties of Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Garissa and Tana River.
• CS says cash transfers are more effective, humane and cost-effective.
A digital cash system will replace food distribution at the end of this year, Devolution Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa said on Wednesday.
Wamalwa at the same time said the ministry has received 250,000 bags of maize from the Strategic Food Reserve board for drought-affected Kenyans.
The food will be enough for the 2.6 million people affected by drought until December. Some 50,000 bags of maize are being released monthly to Mandera, Marsabit, Isiolo, Garissa and Tana River.
“By then (December), the country will have experienced some good rains as the Met department indicated and there will be enough food, pasture and water for people in the arid and semi-arid areas,” he said.
The CS spoke during the launch of a joint task force on the creation of a digital platform to provide relief assistance to needy Kenyans in his office at the Treasury Building.
He said the government will stop distributing maize, rice and beans to drought-affected Kenyans in favour of digital cash transfers.
“The government has been distributing relief food to populations affected by drought for 50 years. We want to change this and support people in a more decent and humane way.
"We want to change the trend of having old people queuing for long hours to receive food and instead assist them with cash transfers where they can buy food for themselves,” he said.
The CS said in the drought of 2017-18, the government distributed Sh2 billion through cash transfer to 1.6 million people in 13 ASAL counties through the Chakula Kwa Jamii programme.
This was a partnership between the World Food Programme and Safaricom.
Wamalwa also mentioned other programmes including the Hunger Safety Net programme by the National Drought Management Authority which targeted 100,000 people in Turkana, Mandera, Wajir, Tana River and Marsabit.
“This has now been expanded to Isiolo, Samburu and Garissa. We also have the Inua Jamii Programme by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection which provides assistance to the elderly, orphans and other vulnerable people through cash transfers,” Wamalwa said.
He said members of the task force are drawn from ministries of Interior, Labour and ICT, the NDMA and WFP.
“The team will in two months identify various existing systems available for the provision of relief food and explore the possibility of harmonising these existing systems to create a common digital platform," the minister said.
They will assess the availability, viability and efficiency of existing systems, digital platforms and financial service providers in the market to identify the most reliable and efficient.
The team will also establish the criteria for the provision of cash transfers and take stock of government assistance databases with the aim of improving and establishing a single registry.
Edited by R.Wamochie