President says Kenya food shortages amount to 'famine'

KENYAN President Mwai Kibaki has declared food shortages ravaging parts of the east African country a "national disaster" and for the first time used the word "famine" to describe the crisis.

"To ensure that we have adequate interventions on the ground, I am declaring the famine a national disaster," Mr Kibaki said in a New Year's Day speech to the country.

Some 2.5 million people in the country's north-eastern, eastern and coastal regions are in need of food aid, which the government estimates will cost some 11 billion shillings (€130m).

"I renew my appeal to both our local and international friends and partners to join the government in extending a helping hand to our brothers and sisters who are experiencing this difficult situation," Mr Kibaki said yesterday.

Declaring a national disaster "is a wise move by the government as it gives it the power to utilise all the available resources", said Farid Abdulkadir, chief of disaster operations of the Kenyan Red Cross Society (KCRS), which is co-ordinating the relief distribution.

Relief efforts have intensified in the drought-affected areas with the government dispatching the army last month to help distribute supplies.

"So far the distribution is going on well," Mr Abdulkadir said, adding that more people were responding to appeals with cash and other donations.

He said food had been distributed in 17 districts in Wajir, Mandera and Marsabit in the north and that these areas had received some 100 tonnes of food as well as €315,000 from local and international donors.

Meanwhile, some 2,000 inmates in Naivasha Maximum Prison, Kenya's largest detention facility, made good their promise to skip lunch to save money as part of a nationwide agreement by the country's prisoners to help those facing hunger.

"The inmates have agreed as a block to assist those suffering by skipping their meals on selected days until they hit their target," said Ambrose Ngare, the officer in charge of the prison.

"Though our efforts are like a drop in the sea, we are sure our small donations will save a life if not two," said Bonaventure Mutali, another official at the prison.

At least 20 people and hundreds of livestock have died as a result of the drought and severe food shortage.

Other east African leaders have also said that millions in the region faced hunger because poor rains had affected vital crops and pasture, giving their new year messages a sombre tone.

In tiny coffee-growing Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza lowered taxes on food imports to help feed thousands of poor rural farmers.

In neighbouring Tanzania, newly elected President Jakaya Kikwete described the food situation as precarious and urged Tanzanians to use the available food wisely.