State orders 15,000 bags of maize for Turkana

By LUCAS NG’ASIKE

Turkana, Kenya: The national government has ordered the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) to release 15,000 bags of maize to Turkana County to counter the food deficit in the region.

Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Felix Koskei disclosed that the region has suffered a setback in food security following the biting drought that has made food inaccessible in the region.

Mr Koskei, who toured the county to assess the drought situation, admitted that the region was in dire need of food.

“I can attest that the region is food insecure due to the biting drought. We will ensure that we will provide sufficient food to the local depot in response to the drought emergency. We don’t want people to die of hunger when we have the capacity to feed them,” Koskei said.

This comes as Turkana Governor Josphat Nanok announced that the county has set aside Sh190 million for emergency relief to fight a looming hunger crisis in the region.

He said more than 300,000 people were in a food and water crisis situation and that urgent measures were needed to address the problem.

The governor said his government had already spent Sh20 million to repair boreholes and water tanks.

“Such allocations are not enough to feed more than 300,000 starving residents. We have only intervened to repair broken water pumps, construct news boreholes and transport water to drought affected areas,” Nanok said.

The governor said the county was allocated Sh9.2 billion but has so far received a quarterly amount of Sh600 million from the National Treasury.

Koskei said Turkana has been rated among the 22 most drought vulnerable counties, which have lost livestock to drought. “We will ensure that livestock in the region are put in proper health conditions to improve the economic livelihoods of locals.”