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Inside the State's Sh9 billion plan to fight drought
A woman fetches water from the drying Dingiria water pan in Kilifi County.
The National Treasury has allocated Sh9 billion for drought intervention to support millions of Kenyans affected by the devastating effects of drought in at least 23 counties.
Appearing before the plenary, the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Human Capital Development and Special Programmes, Geoffrey Ruku, told MPs that Sh8.5 billion of the fund would be used for emergency food assistance, and Sh500 million for the purchase of livestock feed to protect livelihoods and prevent asset depletion.
Mr Ruku said that approximately 3.3 million people in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) counties are food insecure and in need of assistance.
Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has played a key role in spearheading drought mitigation interventions, ensuring a targeted response in all 23 affected counties.
Prof. Kindiki has been holding weekly review meetings at his Karen residence to analyse the implementation of various interventions to protect Kenyans from the devastating effects of the drought.
The latest meetings have focused on increasing the frequency of food supplies and ensuring they reach the last mile, as well as boosting trucking services to provide enough water for human and livestock consumption.
The drought has affected nine non-ASAL counties, which include Nakuru, Elgeyo Marakwet, Kiambu, Machakos, Siaya, Homa Bay, Kirinyaga, Murang’a and Migori
An analysis from the Kenya Drought Early Warning has placed Mandera, Wajir, Kwale and Kilifi in the alarm phase
Garissa, Tana River, Isiolo, Marsabit, Kajiado, Kitui, Lamu, Samburu, Taita Taveta, Tharaka Nithi, Turkana and Baringo counties are in the alert phase.
Nyeri, Makueni and Meru counties remain in the normal phase, though CS said Meru is showing early warning signs.
Mr Ruku told the House that so far the government has spent Sh778 million to buy food for 131,000 households in seven counties.
The counties include Turkana where Sh215 million has been used to buy food for 39,000 affected households. In Marsabit, Sh110 million has been used to support 20,000 households.
In Garissa, the government has used Sh49 million to support 6,000 households while Sh36 million has been used in Isiolo to support 8,000 households.
In Tana River, Sh40 million has so far been spent to support 7,000 households that have been affected by drought.
Mr Ruku, however, admitted that emergency relief alone cannot break the cycle of drought vulnerability. The government is investing in structural, long-term solutions, such as mainstreaming drought risk management and climate adaptation to protect the affected areas from future effects.
Other long term interventions include developing a county development framework, investment in water infrastructure, including dams, pans and boreholes, strengthening early warning systems and community preparedness, and integrating social protection programmes to cushion vulnerable households during shocks
“The measures among others will facilitate the gradual shift from relief dependency to resilience building and self-reliance,” Mr Ruku told MPs
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