Attachments
In Numbers
9,210 MT of food commodities distributed
USD 7.29 million cash-based transfers made
USD 125 million net funding requirements across all activities for the next six months (March-August 2023)
1.5 million people assisted in February 2023
Food Security Situation
• Kenya is facing a food crisis due to a prolonged drought, leaving 4.4 million people acutely food insecure, up from 739,000 in August 2020. This number is projected to increase up to 5.4 million people by June if the drought persists. Almost 1 million children and 142,000 pregnant and lactating women require treatment for acute malnutrition. Below-average harvests in 2022 and the death of 2.6 million livestock have worsened the crisis. Pastoralist communities are affected, with children lacking milk, which is a source of nutrition. Urgent intervention is needed from the Government, international community, and stakeholders to sustain the gains made so far in averting hunger.
Operational Updates
Refugee operations
• Kenya is currently hosting over half a million refugees, with over 100,000 arriving in 2022 and an additional 30,000 since the beginning of 2023, predominantly due to drought and protracted conflict in their home countries. These refugees and asylum seekers rely on international assistance as they cannot work or move freely. Working with cooperating partners, WFP distributed food to 581,405 refugees in February, safely and efficiently. Of these, 63,316 women and children under the age of 5 years who were malnourished or at risk of malnutrition received nutrition support, to treat and prevent moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). This was complemented with social behaviour change communication (SBCC). About 70,000 schoolchildren in the refugee camps also received hot school meals every day in school.
Emergency food assistance and nutrition support to drought-affected Kenyans
• WFP provided food assistance through cash-based transfers and in-kind to drought-affected Kenyans in the arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) through the Lisha Jamii programme, targeting 535,962 people for six months. The food basket comprised of safe and nutritious cereals, pulses, and vegetable oil. In February, 360,642 people received food assistance helping them meet their basic food needs – of the targeted, 175,320 had received their six-months entitlements earlier. Another 216,544 pregnant and breastfeeding women and children aged below five years, who are more susceptible to malnutrition received prevention and treatment of malnutrition support. To complement the treatment and prevention of moderate acute malnutrition, the programme provided SBCC and counselling to improve feeding practices and increase awareness of the importance of a balanced diet. In addition to meeting basic food and nutrition needs, WFP’s assistance has the potential to mitigate the risk of malnutrition-related diseases and deaths, lessen the burden of food insecurity among supported communities and to create more resilient populations in the face of the severe drought situation.