UNICEF: Kenyan Children Suffering From Acute Malnutrition Due To Drought

UNICEF, the United Nations children agency has said that the number of Kenyan children in need of life-saving aid due to the poor rains that have created a nutrition crisis has reached alarming levels.

According to the agency, hundreds of thousands of Kenyan children are suffering from acute malnutrition.

Read Also: Kenya Declares The Ongoing Drought A National Disaster

It says that almost 370,000 children now require treatment for acute malnutrition, including 72,600 who are suffering from the most severe form which will require specialized, life-saving care.

Kenya, despite having the highest per capita income in the region, has been ravaged by what the UN calls the worst drought since the 2011 Horn of Africa food crisis that led to famine in parts of Somalia.

The failure of the expected March-June rains, which followed the poor rainfall of 2016, has led to widespread crop failure, acute water shortages, and declining animal productivity (milk production).

Kenya’s northern Turkana and Marsabit counties, home to pastoralist communities, are the hardest hit areas with one in three children there acutely malnourished. This is because the milk in which pastoral children heavily rely on for protein is at its lowest production rate in years.

UNICEF, who is currently assisting the Kenyan government with aid to overcome the effects of the drought has, however, said hunger is spreading faster than its humanitarian assistance.

Read Also: EU Donates Sh11 Billion To Kenya For Food Security, Drought

Werner Schultink, UNICEF’s Representative in Kenya said:

“We have reached 60 percent more children with life-saving assistance in the first half of 2017 compared to 2016, yet more and more children are becoming malnourished.”

UNICEF is calling for more resources not only to keep Kenyan children healthy and nourished but also to tackle knock-on effects of the food crisis, such as children being pulled out of school as their families fleeing the drought and others being sent to work.

“We need to make nutritious food, safe water, and basic health care far more accessible to vulnerable children and families so that malnourished children can recover, and so that those at risk do not fall sick.”

UNICEF is appealing for $24.7 million to fund its drought response.