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Number of Kenyans in need of food aid to jump: U.N.
28.07.2011 09:17 "Agro Perspectiva" (Kyiv) —
The number of Kenyans who will need food aid due to drought will rise to 3.5 million by September, the United Nations said Tuesday, while European officials warned such crises would flare up again unless more money was directed at prevention efforts.
Some 11.6 million people are going hungry in the «triangle of death» that straddles Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia, with pockets of famine existing in rebel-controlled southern Somalia, adding pressure on donors to respond to the hunger crisis.
«The most affected districts are in northern and northeastern Kenya, where food insecurity is expected to reach crisis levels in August and September,» Aeneas Chuma, the U.N.s Humanitarian Coordinator for Kenya, told a news conference following an assessment of the drought-hit areas.
Kenya, where some 2.4 million are now going hungry, declared the drought a national disaster in late May while the U.N. has categorized the situation in east Africas largest economy as an emergency, one level short of a famine.
The U. N. World Food Program said it was at present giving aid to 1.7 million people needing help, while the government is targeting another 800,000.
The U.N.s humanitarian office has said its $605 million appeal for Kenya was only 52 percent funded, with a U.N. emergency fund releasing $13.5 million Tuesday.
The U. N. said the estimated food shortfall for the next six months was 103,000 tonnes and valued at $91 million, figures which could rise after a more detailed assessment in August.
The drought has also affected electricity supplies. Kenya Power said Monday daily power cuts would start later in the week, partly due to reduced water levels at hydro dams.
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