Some stats on the Kenyan food shortage

A Kenyan government report gives some numbers to the shortfalls in food that could be experienced in the country. The report says that the food staple maize could be completely gone by September.

From this IRIN story that we found at Relief Web, we receive some quotes from the report.

"At the beginning of August 2009 the country had about 500,000MT of maize against a monthly requirement of 300,000MT, suggesting possibilities of serious shortfalls by the end of September," the Kenya Food Security Meeting (KFSM) said on 20 August in its 2009 Long Rains Assessment (LRA) Report.

According to the KFSM, 9.9 million Kenyans are food insecure: of whom 3.8 million are drought-affected, 1.5 million vulnerable school-children, 2.5 million urban food-insecure, 2.5 million affected by or living with HIV/AIDS and some 100,000 internally displaced (IDPs).

The LRA report was prepared by the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG), which comprises representatives from various government ministries, some UN agencies, the Famine and Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS Net), Oxfam GB and World Vision.

The KFSSG conducted the long rains food security assessment in late May and July 2009, covering 30 districts, most in the drought-prone arid and semi-arid (ASAL) areas of northern and northeastern Kenya. It was a follow-up to its short rains food security assessment in February.

"Continued export bans in neighbouring countries of Tanzania and Uganda are likely to reduce cross-border maize inflows by 46 percent. The reduced levels of production and imports are likely to compound the tightening maize supply situation," the report stated.