Kenyan government has began distributing over 2,000 bags of relief food to more than 5,000 families, 39 primary schools and 15 secondary schools in Nyeri town.
The bags of food donated by the Ministry of Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action includes 1,120 bags of beans and 1,120 bags of rice and will be distributed through local chiefs manning the five wards in Nyeri town constituency.
As the government continues to put in place policies to lessen the consequences of the prolonged drought, the food will therefore be given be in two phases, the local member of parliament Duncan Maina said.
Those to be given high priority include People Living with Disabilities, the elderly, those affected by HIV and households that are affected by the drought due to loss of livelihood.
“The chiefs have been able to identify those most affected by the drought. We have equally received a substantial amount of aid so it will be able to sustain these families for a considerable number of days,” said the MP’s aide Moses Munene who oversaw the distribution at the Nyeri Deputy County Commissioner’s office.
A 50-kilogram sack of beans and an equivalent amount of rice will also be given to each of the 39 elementary schools’ school heads. Their high school counterparts will each receive 150 kilograms of rice and 100 kilograms of beans. Their high school counterparts will each receive 150 kilograms of rice and 100 kilograms of beans.
The comfort meal, according to Munene, was intended to prevent candidates who would take this year’s national tests from missing them owing to hunger.
According to the county administration of Nyeri, more than 130,000 people, including school-age children and residents of informal settlements, require humanitarian aid.
The data from the county also shows that Kieni constituency is the most affected part of the county. On the overall, the county is in need of food aid worth over Sh 300 million.
The County Famine Relief Coordination Committee is now reviewing bids for the procurement of relief food worth Sh 12 million in order to ease the burden on the families suffering from hunger.
