Red Cross has said the nation is in an emergency state since most people are relying on relief food.
In an interview on Monday morning, Venant Ndigila, Manager of Disaster Response a Red Cross said urgent interventions are needed to salvage the situation.
"It is very clear that the drought is here with us. Indeed 29 counties have been affected and are in need of continuous support in form of food and water," he said.
He added that over 4.3 million Kenyans are in need of food and water.
He noted that the impact of drought is dire as there has been a total loss of 2.5 million livestock and the situation keeps deteriorating because of the lack of rains.
"We still need to do more and find ways of saving valuable assets including livestock," Ndigila added.
The Red Cross, he said, was working on a programme that would effectively enable the affected people to survive the crisis.
Some of the counties affected by drought include Garissa, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kitui, Mandera, Marsabit, Laikipia, Samburu, Tana River, Turkana and Wajir which are said to be in the Alarm drought phase.
Embu, Kilifi, Kwale, Makueni, Meru, Narok, Nyeri, Tharaka Nithi and Taita Taveta are in the Alert drought phase while the remaining three counties: Baringo, West Pokot and Lamu are in the Normal drought phase.
The drought crisis has affected school-going children to the extent that they are at a risk of dropping out from school.
More than 54,500 children in 17 out the 29 counties are at a risk of dropping out of school due to starvation.
“We are focusing on candidates so they don’t miss exams because of lack of food," he said.
Having began in July, the Red Cross has been thriving on looking at mid and long term interventions that enhance fast response to cover the most affected areas despite the economic struggle.
He added that the Off-take programe is a humanitarian intervention meant to save some of the assets lost due to lack of water and pasture.
Prices of livestock has also dropped at a drastic rate as most patrolists rush to dispose their cattle instead of watching them starve to death.
A cattle worth Sh50,000 now sells at Sh5,000 leaving the respective farmers counting losses.
The intervention is said to be of capital intensive as there is a need to pay the farmers immediately the purchase is done and to save the money to restock other animals.
