KENYA: Bishops in Kenya Launch Drought Appeal Campaign in Support of Millions Facing Food Insecurity
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
Members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) have in their collective statement launched a drought appeal campaign calling on well-wishers and all people of good will to support millions of Kenyans who are facing food insecurity and are in dare need of humanitarian assistance.
In the Friday, May 27 press release, bishops disclosed that the “worst drought ever in 40 years,” has affected millions of families in various dioceses in the country pushing them to “brink of hunger.”
“Currently, 3.5 million people are food-insecure and in need of humanitarian assistance in Kenya…To prevent loss of lives and livelihoods, today, the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops is launching a drought appeal to raise a target of Kshs.285,000,000/= (US Dollars, 2850000/=) to provide families affected by drought in Marsabit, Isiolo, Lodwar, Garissa, Kitui, Kilifi, Mombasa, Machakos, Malindi, Maralal, Ngong, parts of Nyahururu, Kitale, Nyeri and Nakuru, with cash transfers, water and sanitation, agricultural inputs and fodder and veterinary services for livestock for the next six months,” the prelates appealed in their statement highlighting the affected dioceses.
According to the bishops who are “deeply concerned” with the situation, the prolonged drought has been caused by “three years of below average rainfall and the situation continues to deteriorate leading to food and water shortage, the death of livestock and loss of livelihoods for the affected communities.” Besides, “the situation was compounded by the desert locust invasion at the beginning of last year and the COVID-19 pandemic.”
They went on to explain during the Friday press release that the number of affected families have highly increased since August 2021 and due to lack of water and forced migration where “1.5 million livestock have died, there have been poor harvests and reduced livestock production resulting in households facing food insecurity at a crisis level (and) the situation has been worsened by an increase in the prices of specific staple foods.”
The Church leaders have highlighted that many Kenyans live below the poverty line while others are still recovering from loss of livelihood due to Covid-19 lockdowns yet amidst these challenges, “The prices of essential commodities such as flour, cooking gas, cooking oil, rice and bread have skyrocketed in recent days making them unaffordable to most families.”
Calling upon the intervention from the government the Prelates said, “We call on the Government to make a deliberate policy intervention to cushion Kenyans by way of reduced taxes on basic commodities until such a time that the economy will have improved.”
They added in the message read by the KCCB chairman Archbishop Martin Kivuva Musonde of Mombasa Archdiocese, “The high cost of fuel continues to be a concern because it has a ripple effect on the prices of essential commodities.”
The bishops were further disclosed that the international debt burden is equally affecting the lives of Kenyans, contributing to high cost of living.
“We urge the Government to come out in a more transparent manner to address the issue of International debt,” the bishops said and continued, “Let the Government open up space for candid discussions around this matter so that the nation can find lasting solutions to this problem which is now threatening the economy of this country.”
