Kenya is staring at a failed crop this season as the weatherman forecasts below-average rains for the March-April-May period. The announcement of depressed rainfall by the Kenya Meteorological Department has dampened the hopes of a good harvest. The region covers Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu counties, which contribute a large share of the country’s maize production.
“The depressed rainfall over most parts of the country is likely to negatively affect agricultural production, especially over the high potential areas of the highlands west and east of the rift valley, central, and south rift, as well as the southeastern lowlands,” said the Met. Depressed rainfall will worsen food security and nutrition in the arid and semi-arid regions, but the problem is expected to spread to other parts of the country.
Food prices are expected to rise further, and accessibility to food is also expected to be poor, exacerbating the country’s high cost of living. The depressed rains will also inflate power bills as falling water levels in dams will see the country turn to expensive thermal power to meet the demand for electricity.
The absence of buffer stocks in the national reserves will hamper humanitarian assistance to affected families as Kenya depleted emergency stocks in the Strategic Food Reserve nearly five years ago when the government stopped buying stocks to refill them. The sharp rise in the cost of food has been occasioned by another season of failed short rains between October and December last year, which marked a record fifth season of failed rainfall in the country.
The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said last month the number of Kenyans in need of food aid increased to six million in 32 counties as the country battles the effects of the drought. The worsening of the drought means that the government will be forced to set aside more funds to offer assistance to affected households to mitigate deaths from starvation.
This will squeeze the government further as it is already operating on a shoestring budget. The President has directed state agencies to cut expenditures, and the National Treasury has cut development spending by Sh106.3 billion, with a substantial chop being from the state departments of Infrastructure and Water and Sanitation.
