• The Government has stepped up drought response effort across the 23 counties spending over Sh4.9 billion in food aid, commercial livestock offtakes and water response activities.
• A further Sh1.1 billion has been disbursed as Emergency Relief Cash Transfer to 170,940 vulnerable households.
94,000 drought-affected households in Marsabit, Wajir, Mandera and Turkana Counties to get funds through the cash transfer funds program.
The Government, through the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), has disbursed Sh517 million under the Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) to go to 94,000 poor and vulnerable households in Marsabit, Wajir, Mandera and Turkana counties under the routine cash transfer segment.
The Authority has also disbursed a further Sh150 million under the drought shock responsive cash transfer portfolio to an additional 55,699 households in Mandera, Marsabit and Wajir Counties.
Hared Adan, NDMA CEO has said each household under the routine segment is entitled to Sh5,400 while those under the shock-responsive portfolio will receive Sh2,700.
“This will go a long way in ensuring food for the vulnerable households in these four counties, which are among the most affected by drought which has been occasioned by three consecutive failed rain seasons,” said Adan in a statement.
He added that the cash disbursements under the Hunger Safety Net Programme are part of the larger Kenya Social and Economic Inclusion Project (KSEIP) implemented by the Government.
The other cash transfers under KSEIP are Older person cash transfer (OPCT), Persons with Severe Disabilities (PWSD) and Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) under the overall Inua Jamii programme.
According to a food security and nutrition security assessment report released in February, Marsabit, Turkana, Wajir, and Mandera Counties are among those singled as having huge populations in dire need of relief assistance.
The assessment indicated that at least eight counties are in the alarm stage of drought while nine are in the alert phase.
With a fourth consecutive failed season, many residents in the Arid and semi-arid counties are grappling with an unprecedented drought situation that has impacted negatively on their pastoralist livelihood.
“The number of people in need of relief assistance has increased from 3.1 million in February to 3.5 million currently. The Government has increased relief assistance with the help of other development partners,” said the CEO.
He said beneficiaries will begin receiving their payments on Friday through Equity Agents and branches within their regions.
“Over 20,000 and 19,000 beneficiaries in Mandera and Marsabit will receive Sh111 million and Sh107 million respectively while Wajir County with over 18,000 beneficiaries received Sh98 million. This is for the March-April payment cycle. Turkana County has the highest number of beneficiaries standing at over 36,000 and the county has received Sh198 million,” Adan said.
Since September 2021, the Government has disbursed over Sh2.11 billion in cash transfers under HSNP and another Sh8.58 billion targeting the elderly, orphans and vulnerable children and People with Severe Disabilities.
The CEO also said that NDMA was currently undertaking registration of poor and vulnerable households in Isiolo, Garissa, Samburu, and Tana River Counties with a view to bringing on board an additional 32,000 households under the HSNP.
“We intend to bring on board as many households in the arid counties since these counties are most affected by drought. HSNP cash transfers reach about 26 per cent of the population in the programme counties,” he said.