Acute hunger ravages East Africa

Nearly half a million Kenyans go to bed on an empty stomach due to deteriorating economic conditions, new data has revealed.

The report by US-based Famine Early Warning Systems Network strikes at the heart of what has been driving acute food shortage including the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Covid-19 is one of a number of drivers of acute food insecurity including, but not limited to, conflict, macroeconomic shocks, weather shocks and pest outbreaks,” said the report.

It said between one and three million people in Uganda need to be fed urgently while Somalia has up to five million hungry citizens.