US gives Kenya Sh29 billion to fight drought

The United States will provide Kenya with $255 million (Sh29 billion) in humanitarian and development assistance, USAID administrator Samantha Power has said.

Power said $234 million will go into humanitarian assistance and emergency relief to fight the ongoing drought, the worst in 40 years after four failed rain seasons. 

The rest of the amount, she said, will go towards development assistance, particularly in long-term investment in agriculture to ensure food security.

She spoke on Friday during a joint press conference with the Cabinet Secretary of Special Programmes Margaret Kobia.

The two leaders spoke after a meeting on the drought and food security situation in Kenya and the ongoing response.

The CS urged others in the international community to join in the partnership to rapidly scale up assistance to Kenyans most affected by the drought.

"We appreciate the US government for its continued support to Kenya and the donation it has made today of Sh29 billion ($255 million ) for humanitarian assistance.

"This roundtable discussion comes at a critical time when the arid and semi-arid counties are experiencing severe drought as a result of four successive failed rain seasons," she said.

Kobia said 4.1 million people are facing acute food insecurity in Kenya up from 3.5 million in March 2022.

She however said the government has scaled up its drought mitigation efforts and has so far spent Sh12.6 billion on interventions.

"We have also made progress through a policy shift, which has focused on upscaling cash transfers from 700,000 to 935,000 beneficiaries.

"Also, resilience building, enhanced partnership coordination and strengthening early warning systems," the CS said. 

USAID said the humanitarian assistance will help meet urgent needs for more than 1.1 million people across Kenya.

"However, more funding will be needed to help prevent significant loss of life, and to meet expected humanitarian needs well into 2023.

"USAID is urging the international community to join in scaling up assistance to save lives," Power said. 

The assistance includes funding for emergency food to prevent extreme hunger, nutrition aid to prevent and treat child malnutrition and support for farmers to prevent crop and livestock losses.

(Edited by Bilha Makokha)

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