USAID pledges Kenya $255m to fight drought

The U.S. development agency, USAID said it will provide Kenya with $255 million in emergency and development assistance to tackle drought.

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The USAID administrator, Samantha Power disclosed this on Friday stating that Kenyan government says 4.1 million people in the East African nation are food insecure, up from 3.8 million in March this year.

The funding commitment comes in addition to $65 million that USAID had already provided this year, USAID administrator Samantha Power said.

“We need other countries to step up and join us,” she said, warning that the food crisis could spill over into other areas like education since hungry children can’t go to school.

The government has so far spent 12.6 billion shillings ($106.28 million) to help people affected by drought but it has a shortfall of more than 15 billion shillings, said Margaret Kobia, the minister responsible for special programmes.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has hit the global food supply chain, was increasing drought-related suffering in Kenya and the rest of the region, Power said.

More than 50 million people are expected to face acute food insecurity this year in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, the World Food Programme said in a joint statement with other agencies on Friday.

MTO/Reuters