Kenya faces a prolonged food crisis, warned CARE International today, and urgent action is needed in the next two weeks to prevent its worst effects.

According to CARE, it is vital that aid efforts focus on getting seeds to those farmers that remain on their land in the next two weeks, so that they can be planted in time to be harvested later this year. This boost to production will provide some future food security in the region and could prevent the worst of the anticipated food shortages.

"With just £125,000, CARE alone could buy and distribute seeds to the 7,000 farmers that we work with in Nyanza in the short window available for planting," said Mohammed Qazilbash, Senior Sector Manager for CARE International's Emergency and Refugee Operations in Kenya. "We have two weeks to cushion the blow by helping those farmers who still can, to plant. We must think ahead."

Continued violence and large scale displacement in Rift Valley, Western and Nyanza provinces - key areas of Kenya's agricultural production - has meant that thousands of farmers have been unable to harvest their current maize crop and are unable to plant the next.

It is estimated that more than 20 per cent of the maize crop has been left unharvested as farmers fled their fields. Added to that, in many cases where maize was harvested, it was not able to be stored properly. People have been forced to eat much of the seed intended for planting in order to meet their immediate food needs. This failure to harvest and to plant will lead to significant production deficits in the country, food shortages, and food prices rising out of reach of the poor.

"Within days of the outbreak of violence, the cost of maize meal in Nairobi slums had increased by 50 per cent and in Kisumu slums up to 300 per cent," said Qazilbash. "It is clear that enough damage has been done already to trigger a serious food crisis later this year."

The need for a political solution in Kenya is stronger that ever. The continued violence is exacerbating food price rises, by making it difficult for farmers to deliver their goods to market. And the longer the violence continues, the longer Kenya will be forced to eat into its national grain reserves in order to feed the affected population, which is growing daily. This will leave Kenya unprepared and less able to deal with the worsening food shortages anticipated in six months time.

CARE has been working in Kibera and Mathare slums in Nairobi and Kisumu providing nearly 200,000 of the displaced poor with water and sanitation, food and essential items such as blankets, soap, mosquito nets, kitchen utensils, plastic sheeting and jerry cans and managing camps for the displaced. CARE has been working closely with the Kenyan Red Cross.

About CARE International: CARE is one of the world's largest aid agencies, working in 70 countries to fight poverty and helping more than 55 million people every year. Our long-term programmes tackle the deep-seated causes of poverty and we are always among the first to respond when disaster strikes. We remain with communities to help them rebuild their lives long after the cameras have gone. www.careinternational.org.uk

For more information or interviews, please contact:

London: Amber Meikle, meikle@careinternational.org, +44 (0)207 934 9348

Nairobi: Bea Spadacini, spadacini@ci.or.ke; +254 (0) 725 22 10 36