Following United States Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s recent trip to Kenya for the 8th summit between the United States and Africa for the African Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA), the United Nations has announced that Kenya is in desperate need of food aid following a prolonged draught.The AGOA conference focused, in part, on how to make the African continent more self-sustaining in terms of food production on the continent. The trip was the third to Africa for Secretary Vilsack. To read more about the AGOA conference click here.
The Associated Press’s Tom Odula is reporting that the United Nations World Food Program believes more than 1 million Kenyans are being affected by the drought. Currently, the agency is providing emergency food aid to approximately 2.5 million people in Kenya, but, as Odula reports, World Food Program spokesperson Gabrielle Menezes thinks another 1.3 million people are still in need of help.
‘“What we have here is an extremely difficult situation and people are saying it is the worst drought since 2000,’ Menezes said Tuesday from a region some 120 miles (200 kilometers) north of the capital, Nairobi, where WFP was distributing food.” The southeastern regions and areas of central Kenya are the areas of the nation hardest hit by the current drought. The lack of rains this year has harmed the maize crop in these areas.
To read the Associated Press article click here.
Posted: 08/18/09
