Famine will worsen, report warns

By Francis Ngige

Poor rains and increasing prices of cereals will worsen food shortage in coming months, a famine-monitoring agency has warned.

Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FewsNet) says in its report released this week the most vulnerable groups are the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) and pastoralists.

The prices of maize, the country’s staple food and beans have shot up by up to 170 per cent higher than normal in some parts of the country, the report says.

Purchasing Capacities

It adds: "The constrained supply of maize has sustained high prices that have severely affected the purchasing capacities of vulnerable households."

It notes that 80 per cent of the long-rain crops, which contribute about 30 per cent of food output in lowlands, had failed.

FewsNet, a warning system funded by United States Agency for International Development, uses scientific methods to predict famines and advise policy makers.

The report also says conflict and limited implementation of planned interventions by the Government had worsened food insecurity.

The agency has predicted that between July-September there would be a worsening food insecurity situation in the south-eastern and coastal lowlands as well as in many pastoral areas, where rains have largely failed.

Significant Reversal

The latest FewsNet report said the average maize production in the Rift Valley, and Western and Nyanza highlands is unlikely to cause a significant reversal in high prices or food insecurity for the affected households.

Painting a gloomy picture of the country’s food security, FewsNet said the Ministry of Agriculture had already revised expected maize production downward to 2.16 million tonnes, which is over 20 per cent lower than the expected quantity.

water shortage

The food security problem has been accelerated by an acute shortage of water in the country, FewsNet said.

"Scarcity of water has caused the price of a 20-litre can to rise from Sh20 to Sh60, and hygiene is compromised due to the inability to meet either food or water purchases," it said.