World Food Programme(WFP) has scaled up emergency response to support hundreds of thousands of Kenyans that have been affected by the impact of 3 years drought.

The drought is the longest to ever be recorded the the Horn of Africa region having left 4.4 million people in Kenya facing crisis levels of hunger and death.

More than 1.5 million young children and women are acutely malnourished and nearly 3 million livestock have perished.

WFP is ramping up to support more than 940,000 drought affected people an increase from almost 600,000 people supported by WFP in 2022.

The United States Government, through the United States Agency International Development (USAID) has contributed 390 million dollars in 2022 and 2023 the largest contribution by a single donor to the WFP emergency droughts response in Kenya.

"The hunger emergency in Kenya is far from over. Years of drought has given way to rain, but flash flooding has washed away livestock and destroyed farms, bringing yet more anguish for families," says Lauren Landis, WFP Country director in Kenya.

The Programme dubbed "Lisha Jamii" WFP's response is providing families with cash transfers and food as well as treating malnutrition in pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 5 years of age.

"The generosity of the American people has enabled WFP to support the most vulnerable Kenyans through three years of drought and helped to prevent more people from falling into hunger and malnutrition – especially women and children,” says Landis.

The Lisha Jamii initiative will support families for the next 6 months or until the next harvest season, in 10 of the most drought-affected counties.

The U.S government is also supporting more than 600,000 refugees in Kenya with food and cash assistance in Kakuma, Kalobeyei and Daadab refugee camps.