Kenya: DDG Bechdol visit drought-stricken region

Top officials from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have just completed a visit to Kenya to raise awareness on the drought and see FAO’s vital response in action, including in Isiolo and Marsabit counties in the north.

Top officials from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) have just completed a visit to Kenya to raise awareness on the drought and see FAO’s vital response in action, including in Isiolo and Marsabit counties in the north.

FAO’s Deputy Director-General, Beth Bechdol; Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa, David Phiri; and Director of Emergencies and Resilience, Rein Paulsen visited Kenya from 6 to 9 February.

SOUNDBITE (English) Beth Bechdol, Deputy Director-General, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO):
“So, we are here for a short period of time, only three to four days. And it's an opportunity for us, as I said, to really understand the work that we have done to successfully beat back the desert locusts. But now most importantly to really assess first-hand the issues that are being faced by the country with the ongoing drought, like continued climate shocks and the very important impacts that are facing the livestock industry in particular; the pastoralists, the farmers in the rural communities in the ASALs that are most impacted by these challenges.”

An extended, multi-season drought is driving acute food insecurity in the Horn of Africa, with 12 to 14 million people now at risk as crops continue to wither and animals weaken, the FAO and partners warned on Friday (11 Feb).

Resource-based conflicts are escalating as competition for water and pasturelands increases, and malnutrition rates are rising in affected areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia, highlighting the need to sustain the rural livelihoods that underpin peace and food security across the Horn.

At a briefing to international donors in Nairobi, FAO and its partners reported that the food security outlook in the region will be highly dependent on the performance of the upcoming rainy season, with forecasts currently uncertain.

In a worst-case scenario in which the rains completely fail and agricultural-dependent communities do not receive adequate support, the number of highly food insecure people could climb to 15 to 20 million – with some worst affected households facing catastrophic hunger conditions.

Under FAO’s new Horn of Africa Drought Response Plan, USD 130 million is urgently needed to provide time-critical assistance to highly vulnerable communities in drought-hit regions of the three countries. The plan supports the production of up to 90 million litres of milk and up to 40 000 tonnes of staple food crops in the first part of 2022, putting over one million highly-food insecure people on a safe footing.

For pastoralist families, FAO aims to deliver animal feed and nutritional supplements, provide mobile veterinary health clinics, transport 10,000 litre collapsible water reservoirs to remote areas, and upgrade existing wells to run on solar power.

For farming families, FAO aims to distribute drought-tolerant early-maturing varieties of sorghum, maize, cowpea and other beans and vegetables.

FAO is also carrying out cash transfers and cash-for-work programmes to ensure the most vulnerable can access food.