The ongoing rains have turned out to be a curse for thousands of drought-stricken families in the country, the National Drought Management Authority has said.
Flash floods have displaced hundreds of families even as the drought situation remains critical in 21 counties, with more than four million people still in need of assistance.
In its monthly bulletin, the authority said the condition of pastures and distance to water sources was improving due to the rains.
Marsabit and Turkana counties are still in the emergency drought phase while Isiolo, Mandera, Kajiado, Samburu, Tana River, Wajir, Kilifi and Kitui were in the alarm phase, the bulletin said.
“Despite the reported rains in most parts of the country in the last part of March, the rains are yet to impact production systems,” the authority said.
The assessment indicated that acute malnutrition had been reported in 21 counties, with 970,214 children aged six to 59 months and 142,179 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers malnourished and in need of treatment.
“The number of people in need of assistance still stands at 4.4 million, with minors, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers being the most affected,” read the report.
On the impact of the rainfall, NDMA said flash floods had been reported in Marsabit, Mandera, Garissa, Isiolo, Samburu, Narok, Taita Taveta and Wajir counties.
The authority said the floods had displaced families and swept hundreds of livestock, further impoverishing the affected households.
“In River Tana, water levels are on the rise raising probability of flooding and thus the need for monitoring and sensitisation of communities along the river belt to move to safer grounds,”
The authority noted that pasture remained poor in 65 per cent of arid and semi-arid counties, with a rise in cases of livestock diseases reported.
The diseases include Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP), Contagious Bovine Pleuropneumonia (CBPP) and Pest Petis Ruminantes (PPR) and foot and mouth diseases.
Earlier, EAC and ASALs CS Rebecca Miano said the government had released an additional Sh2 billion to secure relief food and distribution for affected counties.
She said NDMA would provide livestock feed supplements and implement water-related interventions with funding from the National Drought Emergency Fund (NDEF) and the European Union.
Miano added that the ministry was in the process of dispatching 60,480 bags (50kgs) of livestock feed supplements worth Sh145 million to 8 ASAL counties.
“We have already dispatched feeds to Kitui, Makueni, Kajiado, Marsabit and Isiolo, and finalising logistics for dispatch to Mandera, Wajir and Nyeri counties,” she said.
