The government has rolled out an early action plan to address looming food and nutritional challenges affecting an estimated 2.1 million Kenyans across 32 counties, following the underperformance of the October to December short rains.

At a high-level consultative meeting at Harambee House Annex on Monday, Deputy President Kithure Kindiki stressed that urgent, unified measures are essential to protect human and livestock populations.

“The October to December short rains have underperformed, exposing an estimated 2.1 million people across 32 counties to food and nutritional insufficiency,” Prof. Kindiki said.

According to the Deputy President, the Kenya Meteorological Department has projected that the affected counties will need continuous human and livestock food, nutritional, and health support for the next six months, until the harvest from the March to May long rains is nearly ready.

The consultative session brought together Cabinet and Principal Secretaries, Chief Executive Officers, and Heads of relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies, alongside the Council of Governors.

Discussions focused on the scale and cost of interventions necessary to mitigate the drought’s impact and ensure the timely delivery of essential support.

“We discussed the extent and cost of the interventions required to provide human and livestock food and non-food support to mitigate the effects of the prevailing drought situation,” Prof. Kindiki said.

Prof. Kindiki said a follow-up meeting, including representatives of development partners, non-governmental humanitarian institutions, and the private sector, is scheduled for Tuesday.

“A follow-up meeting incorporating representatives of development partners and non-governmental humanitarian institutions as well as the private sector will be held tomorrow after which the Government will announce a comprehensive roadmap for mitigating the drought situation,” he said.

A Cabinet dispatch released on Monday further highlighted the government’s long-term strategy to strengthen food security.

“The government will undertake large-scale modern irrigation, constructing 50 mega dams, 200 mini-dams, and more than 1,000 micro-dams, bringing an additional 2.5 million acres into production,” the dispatch read.

“These investments will reinforce food and water security, support agroindustrialisation and uplift rural livelihoods,” it concluded.

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