Kenya is among 22 countries predicted to witness acute food insecurity between June and December in the latest UN report.
The June to November 2023 outlook was released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
The report warns that acute food insecurity is likely to deteriorate further during the outlook period.
The WFP and FAO are issuing an early warning for urgent humanitarian action in 18 hunger hotspots comprising a total of 22 countries.
The report lists Kenya as a hotspot with very high concern alongside Pakistan, the Central African Republic, Ethiopia, DRC, and Syria.
“All these hotspots have a high number of people facing critical acute food insecurity, coupled with worsening drivers that are expected to further intensify life‑threatening conditions in the coming months,” the report warns.
According to the report, parts of the population in the hotspots will likely face a significant deterioration of already high levels of acute food insecurity, putting lives and livelihoods at risk.
The report lists multiple overlapping drivers, interlinked or mutually reinforcing which include economic shocks, dry climatic conditions, and in some instances floods.
It calls for urgent and scaled-up assistance in all identified hunger hotspots to protect livelihoods and increase access to food which is likely to be worsened by animal and plant pests and diseases.
“This is essential to avert a further deterioration of acute food insecurity and malnutrition,” it says.
The report notes that early signs for the October–December short rains season in the Horn of Africa suggest above-average rainfall in large parts of the country, bringing with it the risk of flooding.
However, this would provide some relief for vulnerable populations in rural and pastoralist areas, even though full livelihood recovery will take years.