Governor Cecily Mbarire seeks help for starving Embu residents

Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire has appealed for food donations to save residents starving because of a biting drought.

Residents of arid Mbeere North and Mbeere South required food urgently, she said.

The relief food that the government released through the Special Programmes department was not enough.

Ms Mbarire spoke on Tuesday in Embu town during a consultative meeting with the national government and county disaster management representatives.

She reached out to churches, non-governmental organisations and “people of goodwill” to donate food to hard-hit residents.

The meeting discussed measures to mitigate the effects of the drought. 

"We have received relief food from Special Programmes. However, the situation requires more,” she said. 

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“The current crisis requires concerted efforts and in line with this, we are asking people of goodwill, churches, and the business community to donate food substances, water, animal feeds, and nutritional supplements as we work [to arrest] the situation."

In the last growing two seasons, rains failed and farmers did not harvest ‘anything’.

All crops that farmers planted, including green grams, maize, beans, millet and cowpeas, were wiped out by the scorching sun.

The most affected areas are Kiambeere, Mavuria, Makima and Mwea, where the crops are grown on a large scale.

Ms Mbarire said the situation was serious and should be addressed urgently to prevent deaths from hunger.

She observed that residents also lack water for domestic use as water pans that they relied on had dried up.

Her administration, she said, had adopted short-term measures to provide water, with the Embu Water and Sanitation Company (Ewasco) distributing tanks in the affected regions.

The disaster management committee will foresee ongoing drought response interventions and prioritise food aid and water.