The 2006 long rains from April to June were largely favourable, bringing some relief to many parts of Kenya. Much of the rainfall, however, was extremely heavy, causing severe flooding and bringing further misery to others.
According to Oxfam, improvements in livestock conditions have led to an increase in the availability of camel milk and a rise in livestock prices. In both Wajir and Turkana food is once again available in the markets, with the prices of maize falling slightly.
Nevertheless, the agency has warned that northeastern Kenya could take 15 years to recover from the effects of drought.
Fewsnet says that rates of malnutrition are still unacceptably high in Moyale, Samburu, Turkana, Mandera and Marsabit Districts.
Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rates range from 18 percent in Moyale to 30 percent in Marsabit District, well above the World Health Organization's emergency threshold of 15 percent.
The rains were especially uneven in areas such as Turkana, where poor rainfall is also forecast for the next short rains, due from October to December.
Dozens of human deaths have been reported and significant numbers of livestock have been lost, as pastoralists move ever further in search of viable pasture.
In late April, the World Food Programme (WFP) warned that millions of nomadic herders and destitute subsistence farmers in Kenya remained in desperate need of sustained assistance until they can rebuild their lives.
Those people who have lost everything will need food and other assistance well into 2007 and beyond, the WFP said.
In September, WFP said the rains had reduced the number of Kenyans in need of food aid to nearly three million people from 3.5 million. But it also said it was a cause for concern that donor contributions had slowed considerably in recent months.
To make matters worse, the growing tide of Somalis fleeing conflict at home has raised the number of refugees in Kenya to the highest for a decade and is threatening food aid stocks.
Some 24,000 people have entered the Dadaab camps in northern Kenya since the start of the year, with the latest flare-ups in south Somalia pushing arrivals up to between 300 to 400 a day, WFP has said.
Ironically, FewsNet has said that cumulative national maize production in Kenya for both long and short seasons last year amounted to some 62,500 tonnes, about 5 percent higher than the 1992-2003 average. But officials at USAID, the U.S. government aid agency, noted that high transport costs, insecurity, and lack of purchasing power meant that the food would never reach those who needed it in the northeast. Market forces also drew stocks across the border into Tanzania and Malawi.
East Africa hunger
West Africa Hunger
Southern Africa hunger
African hunger: Myths and realities
| Population |
35.1 million (U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, 2006) |
| People needing immediate aid |
3.0 million (WFP) |
| Proportion of malnourished in total population |
33 percent (FAO) |
| Life expectancy at birth |
47.2 years (UNDP) |
Last reviewed date: 2006-10-19
