Some Kenyan kids
The
rate of malnutrition and death among children in Kenya is projected to
escalate, according to the projections made by aid organisations.
Aid Organisations on Monday warned that 73,000 children in Kenya
are severely malnourished and are at risk of dying from hunger due to a
severe drought. The warning comes as results from joint nutrition
assessments conducted by the County Departments of Health and UNICEF,
and nine aid organisations working on the ground, including Save the
Children.
The survey shows that in Turkana alone, severe acute malnutrition
rates, the most life-threatening form of hunger, are up nearly four-fold
in just one year, from 2.3 per cent to 8.3 per cent.
It also shows that an Turkana South, an unprecedented 12 per cent
of children under five now suffer from severe acute malnutrition. The
assessments also reveal alarmingly high severe acute malnutrition rates
in East Pokot (5.8 per cent ), Mandera (5.2 per cent), Samburu (3.8 per
cent), and West Pokot (3.2 per cent).
These counties have also witnessed extreme deterioration in
nutrition and food security Following the general electionon Aug. 8, the
aid organisations are urgently calling on the national and local
governments, who are leading on the drought response, in coordination
with aid agencies—to prioritise critical funds and support for the
response.
This includes food programmes to reach the most vulnerable and prevent needless deaths. “The
drought has left tens of thousands of children and families, including
the most vulnerable under five, pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, in a
life-threatening situation,” said Francis Woods, Save the Children’s Interim Country Director in Kenya.
‘’The overall nutrition situation continues to be of great concern including deteriorations recorded in some counties.
“The situation is likely to worsen as we enter the lean and
short rains season’’ said Patrick Mweki, Action Against Hunger Country
Director for Kenya and Somalia.
“The just concluded general elections must be used as an
opportunity to reverse the hunger tragedy unfolding in many parts of the
country. “We urge the new national and county governments to act now to
prevent children from dying.”
The survey also reveals that nearly 40,000 pregnant and nursing
women across Kenya are malnourished, a 20 per cent increase from 2016,
leaving their and their children’s lives hanging in the balance.
“Families in some of the hardest-hit areas have been pushed to
the brink with the loss of their livestock, which they depend on for
their livelihood, food and milk.
“Many of them are now barely surviving on just a meal a day,
when they can find it. Many mothers can no longer breastfeed their
babies because they’re too starved to produce enough milk,” added Woods.
In spite of government cash transfers, many households in the
country’s northern region aren’t meeting their daily recommended food
requirements.
A recent cost of diet assessment in Turkana County by Save the
Children and UNICEF shows that even households classified as better off
can no longer afford three meals a day.
“The international community must make more funds available to support the Kenyan government.
“Aid agencies working on the ground to stop this already
critical situation from spiralling, which would worsen an already
extremely dangerous situation for Kenya’s children and mothers,” said François Batalingaya, World Vision’s Country Director in Kenya.
As experienced in neighbouring Somalia, the risk is that once the
high rates of malnutrition combine with disease outbreaks prompted by a
lack of clean water, large numbers of young children will start to die
from hunger and related complications, like diarrhoea.
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