THE UNITED NATIONS WORLD FOOD

Published purpose

(12 August 2011) 2011 is proving to be the driest year since 1951 in many parts of east Africa as a result of an increasingly severe drought. Successive seasons of failed rains, combined with increasing food prices, conflict, and limited humanitarian access, have resulted in food insecurity, water shortages, and acute malnutrition rates well above emergency thresholds. In Kenya, up to 3.5 million people have been affected by the drought and their plight has been worsened by high food prices resulting from both local and global factors. With CIDA support, the World Food Programme (WFP) is helping to meet the food assistance needs of those affected by the ongoing drought. In addition to blanket food distributions, WFP is also providing food for assets programming, emergency school feeding, supplementary feeding and mother and child health care programmes.