Team asks for Sh4.7bn for drought solution
The carcass of a buffalo that died in Ijara, Garissa after getting stuck in muddy water in September, 2016. PHOTO | ABDIMALIK ISMAIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Families facing hunger will continue to suffer as National Treasury handles request for money to buy relief food.
- Kenya is grappling with severe drought that has affected 1.3 million people.
A team of top government officials tasked with coming up with a solution on the effects of the drought that has hit parts of Kenya has asked for Sh4.7 billion, the National Treasury has said.
But the families facing hunger will continue to suffer as the National Treasury handles the request for money to buy relief food.
“We received the request yesterday (Monday) and we will move with speed. But it will have to go through the normal processes, including getting approvals from the Controller of Budget,”
Kamau Thugge, the Principal Secretary for the National Treasury, told the National Assembly Committee on Agriculture.
The country is grappling with a severe drought that has affected 1.3 million people.
The request came from an inter-ministerial team which seeks Sh1.6 billion for food relief, Sh1.3 billion for agriculture, Sh743 million to tackle health concerns linked to hunger, Sh620 million for livestock uptake and Sh446.5 million for water in the affected areas.
Agriculture Secretary Willy Bett and his Devolution counterpart Mwangi Kiunjuri also appeared before the committee.
The government needs to buy maize from farmers currently harvesting their crop or import grains, given the strategic food reserves are depleted. The process might take weeks.
The government has issued a hunger alert and named Kilifi, Kwale, Tana River, Taita-Taveta, Garissa, Wajir, Mandera, Isiolo, Marsabit, Makueni, Kitui, Samburu and Kajiado counties as the most affected.
