Les toits en tole ondulees de Maralal, dans un decor de plus en plus sec....

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Photographie explicative car certains n'ont jamais retrouve l'endroit sur le site de Google Earth...

Kenya hit by drought, food prices and grain shortage

WFP in Kenya is preparing to scale up rapidly its operation in Kenya as drought, high food prices, a national grain shortage and regional trade barriers have combined to push the country to crisis point. WFP is facing a 166 percent hike in those likely to need emergency assistance.

.../... SOURCE ET ARTICLE COMPLET:

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-7NYJXL?OpenDocument

Country’s high fertility rate worries planners


The government’s multi-billion shilling budget for a national population and housing census on the night of August 24 comes hot on the heels of a report warning that Kenya’s uncontrolled population growth would hurt the country’s economic blueprint, Vision 2030.

The report by the National Coordinating Agency for Population and Development — a government body which coordinates population programmes, says the country’s population will grow to 37.4 million people by next year from 28.7 million people in the last census of 1999 — and this could strain the country’s resources and make it difficult to achieve the set goals.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says Kenya’s population will reach 84 million people by 2050.

“To achieve the objectives of the Vision 2030, population issues must be addressed squarely. The government and other stakeholders must invest in programmes aimed at reducing fertility and improvement of the quality of life,” says the National Co-ordinating Agency for Population and Development in its report, State of Kenya’s Population 2008.

The agency formulates population policy, co-ordinates the implementation of the guidelines, and advocates for family planning.

Kenya experienced very high population growth rates in the 1970s and 1980s. In 2005, the birth rate was estimated at 40 per 1,000 and death rate at 15 per 1,000. The average life expectancy at birth in Kenya is 48 years, which low figure and years of high birth rates have combined to give the country a young population.

Experts are now urging the government to invest more in population control if it was to reduce poverty and improve the quality of life, mostly reflected in healthcare and quality of education.

SOURCE :

http://www.bdafrica.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=12624&Itemid=5813

Update on the current Kenya food security situation

This brief has been prepared by the FAO Regional Office for Africa in cooperation with the FAO Representation in Kenya

Kenya is currently facing a serious food security situation due to a combination of factors: Displacement, insecurity, poor rainfall, rising food and other commodity prices, reduced cereal production and livestock diseases; these have combined to increase food insecurity among many vulnerable populations, including pastoralists in arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) of northern Kenya, vulnerable population in Eastern Kenya and coastal lowland areas, as well as amongst the urban poor.

Following the post election violence that hit the Rift Valley in January-February 2008, displaced farmers have seen their access to land dramatically reduced; high input prices (in particular fertiliser and fuel) have forced low income farmers to reduce the surface under cultivation and the use of inputs; erratic rainfall has reduced maize yields in eastern and northern Kenya. All the above has contributed to a marked decline of maize production during the 2008/09 farming season. Current estimates, taking in full consideration the results of the "short rain" planting season, are now pointing towards an overall output of 2.16 million tons instead of the 2.6 million tons initially anticipated. Considering current levels of consumption and draw down from stocks (largely in the hands of private traders), an overall deficit of some 190,000 Mt is expected and current stocks should last until May, well before the onset of the new harvest in the middle of July 2009.

At the same time, the Strategic Grain Reserve (SGR) cannot play its institutional role injecting grains in the market as stock was drawn down during the summer in anticipation of a good long rains harvest. However, the season was mediocre and the remaining SGR stock was released on to the market in October-November in a bid to moderate the sharply rising prices. Due to the limited quantities injected and mismanagement of the operation, no positive effects were observed.

The shortfall of maize combined with very high prices prevailing in the international markets in the first half of the year have pushed the internal price of maize to a very high level, thereby reducing access to food by the most vulnerable section of the population. At the end of 2008, the retail price of maize flour (staple food) was Ksh. 60/Kg or some 50% higher than in the same period last year. Wholesale maize prices equally went up some 50% from Ksh. 1,350 to Ksh. 2,100-2200.

At the end of November, the Government of Kenya took the following measures in order to reduce the market price:

Reducing Maize flour price from Ksh.60/Kg to Ksh.36/Kg for middle income citizens and Ksh. 26 for the most vulnerable.

The National Cereals and Produce Board has been ordered to release at least 27,000 Mt of maize grains to the millers for processing with immediate effect.

The Government has increased the Cereal Board of Kenya's (CBK) buying price to Ksh.1,950 per bag from Ksh.1,750 in order to encourage farmers to sell their maize. Under this arrangement the National Corn Producer Board (NCPB) would buy maize directly from the farmers at Ksh. 1,950 per bag (USD 277/MT) and re-sell the same to the millers at Ksh. 1750/bag (USD 250/MT).

With the anticipation of a good harvest, importation has been put on hold until after the short rains harvest was finalized.

These measures have not had any significant impact on the retail price of maize flour, which continues to remain very high. Only reduced quantities of maize were commercially imported from Tanzania and Uganda (on average 15,000 Mt/month). It is to be noted that Tanzania has still a ban on maize export and prices in Uganda and Tanzania are very close to the ones recorded in Kenya.

The situation is further complicated by reported poor handling of the Strategic Grain Reserve, of market interventions and decisions on imports. Several sources are also suggesting that big producers and traders are holding on to their stocks in order to create an artificial dearth of maize on the market and keep prices at a high level.

At the beginning of January 2009, the President of Kenya declared the food shortage a national disaster. As a short term measure, the Government has approved the importation of 900,000 MT (10 million 90kg bags) duty free maize grains into the country in order to boost supply. This will be done by both the Government and the private sector. The Government will import seven million bags (630,000 Mt) for its strategic grain reserves, while the millers and traders will import three million bags (270,000 Mt). In addition and in order to keep the local domestic production within the country, exports of maize grain and flour have been banned. It is not expected that new imports of Maize will reach the country before February/March 2009.

For the time being, the Government has indicated that 10 million persons are highly food insecure. This number includes a provisional estimate: (i) of 3.2 million drought affected marginal farmers, agro pastoralists, and pastoralists in the arid and semi arid districts of northern and eastern Kenya; (ii) about 150,000 IDPs; (iii) 850,000 school children that will be incorporated into an emergency school feeding programme; (iv) 3.5 million urban slum dwellers, and (v) about 2.2 million persons affected by HIV/AIDS, including HIV orphans. These numbers need to be verified, therefore, it is still early to make a final judgement and a much better picture will be provided by an interagency assessment planned to start at the end of January 2009.

Kenya's difficult situation was anticipated by the Emergency Humanitarian Response Plan (EHRP) issued in November 2008. Among other needs, EHRP appealed for US$ 173 million of food aid for 1.3 million people and US$ 17 million for livelihood support interventions. Nevertheless, these figures were based on the initial more optimistic estimate of a national production of some 2.7 million MT. The appeal is currently under revision and the forthcoming assessment will provide essential information in terms of updated figures on population in need of assistance.


SOURCE:

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MCOT-7NQJWC?OpenDocument

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/CJAL-7NRRYZ?OpenDocument

A la une de la presse Kenyane de ce jour....sachant qu'une partie importante de la population de ce pays vit avec un revenu journalier inferieur a 1$ (1$=75 Kshs), soit en dessous du seuil de pauvrete...


SOURCE:

http://www.nation.co.ke/

Bandits attack Minister's aides

Internal security minister George Saitoti says the government will come down heavily on criminals that have caused rampant insecurity in Samburu and Turkana districts.

Saitoti spoke in Samburu after holding a security meeting in Baragoi town.

But perhaps in a blatant show of defiance, armed bandits ambushed the Minister's driver and personal assistant at Naibor near Maralal on their way back to Nairobi and robbed them.

The two however escaped with minor injuries.

Samburu and Turkana districts have the dubious reputation of being in an almost perpetual state of insecurity.

Residents are predominantly pastoralists and have to shift locations in search of pasture for their livestock.

The search for greener pastures and water results to bloody confrontations between the Samburu and Turkana communities both who have honed guerilla warfare tactics and armed with automatic weapons.

Saitoti blamed the local leaders for fanning violence for selfish political gain and appealed to the residents to play a more active role in supporting the government's efforts to ensure peaceful co-existence.

The Minister deployed 70 anti stock theft personnel to tackle the cattle rustling menace in both Samburu and Turkana districts, which have been in almost a perpetual state of insecurity.


SOURCE:

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=55153

Initiation des enfants Samburus a la technologie moderne

On 16 January, the President of Kenya declared the severe drought and livelihood crisis a national disaster. He appealed to development partners for emergency food and non-food assistance. According to the appeal, 10 million people are facing acute food shortages as follows: 3.2 million in the drought-affected traditional EMOP areas; 850,000 children who require emergency school feeding; 3.5 million urban poor; and, 2.5 million people affected by HIV/AIDS, including orphans and children.

The main causes of the severe food insecurity include the poor performance of the recent rainy season, decimation of goats and sheep by peste de petits ruminants (PPR) in pastoral areas, the continued increase in food prices and escalating resource-based conflicts in pastoral areas. In addition, there is reduced resilience due to the cumulative effects of consecutive years of eroded coping strategies caused by drought, floods and conflicts.

WFP is preparing for a massive scale up of the EMOP from the current 1.4 million beneficiaries to 3.2 million from March. However, as the current figures are based on early warning information, food security assessments will be carried out in February to clarify the exact needs. Also, the appeal document included needs up to August 2009 but the marginal agricultural areas, which are worst affected, do not expect significant harvests until March 2010.


SOURCE :

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7NKSTM?OpenDocument


VOIR AUSSI :

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-24-voa12.cfm

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=55140

http://www.kbc.co.ke/story.asp?ID=55173

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/dwhhde/123306196220.htm : Drought in Kenya - Welthungerhilfe releases 100,000 euros

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/LSGZ-7NPGCG?OpenDocument : IFRC finalizes Horn food aid plan as famine stalks "10 million" Kenyans

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/522638/-/u1tv4f/-/ : Australia offers Kenya Sh150m food aid

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/284081/123358807955.htm : Kenya famine: NGO survey warns 'Starvation will become deadly reality' without immediate intervention

The country will lose an estimated Sh10 billion if the current drought leads to the massive deaths of livestock in the Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASAL) Districts.

SOURCE ET ARTICLE COMPLET :

http://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/Local/Gloomy-forecast-for-Kenya-livestock-sector-1504.html

DEVELOPMENT-AFRICA:
Sanitation: 'This Is the Way We Live'

In 1925, Mahatma Gandhi remarked that "Sanitation is more important than political independence." More than 80 years later, access to basic sanitation remains out of reach for 546 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.

In East Africa, not one country is on track to meet Millennium Development Goal Seven, which aims to reduce by half the number of people without access to clean drinking water and decent sanitation by 2015.

Despite governments in the region being signatories to several declarations on improving sanitation, many East African households still lack access to flush toilets or pit latrines. Open defecation is widespread, and 'flying toilets', where people defecate in plastic bags and throw them away at night are the rule rather than the exception in many informal settlements.

"This is the way we live. We do not have toilets, and no place to safely dispose of our waste," said Nicholas Ambeyo. "Because of this, and the lack of sufficient water, and the open sewers that run through our houses, we are at a risk of contracting diseases."

Ambeyo spoke to IPS in his home in Kibera. With a population estimated to be close to a million people, Kibera is one of Africa's largest slums. It is approximately seven kilometres from Nairobi city centre.

"In fact as we are talking, my wife has just arrived home from that hospital with my two children who have been treated for cholera," he said, pointing at a run-down health centre a stones' throw away.

Poor sanitation facilities often lead to ill health. For instance 30 percent of Kenya's disease burden is sanitation-related, with many children dying from diarrhoeal diseases including dysentery, cholera and typhoid, according to the Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation. The U.N. says that such deaths could be prevented through investment in toilets, water and hygiene.

Even so, toilet cover in Kenya is still low, with latrines available to less than 50 percent of the population, according to James Gesami, the country's assistant minister for Public Health and Sanitation.

Although Kenya and other eastern African countries committed themselves to increased financing for sanitation at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002 -- promising to reduce the proportion of people without basic sanitation facilities -- the issue has not been prioritised in national budgets since then.

"Sanitation is a newly thought-out issue and we have not given adequate resources to that sector, but things are changing now," Gesami told IPS. Government statistics show that budgetary allocation to sanitation in Kenya currently stands at 13 million dollars per year, too little for the country to reach the sanitation MDG. It is estimated that the country will require about 40 million dollars per year if is to achieve the MDG by the set deadline of 2015.

"There are cases where development agencies have provided material to communities to dig latrines, but [beneficiaries] sell them and continue defecating in the bush. Often times the people have said: "give us food first, there is no need to construct pit latrines when we do not have anything to put in them,"" Hakizimana, said.

In addition, there are social obstacles to providing sanitation to all. For instance, in several parts of East Africa, it is taboo for fathers-in-law to share a latrine with his daughters-in-law or mothers-in-law to share with sons-in-law. Usually because there is only one latrine in a home, those who cannot share the facility opt for open defecation, polluting the environment.

Constructing separate latrines for different family members is far too costly. Sanitation experts say communities need to be informed in order to change their attitudes, and accept that it is in order for relatives to share a toilet to avoid environmental contamination.

According to the UN, the sheer volume of human waste is also something to be concerned about. "Without effective sanitation systems, human waste flows directly into water courses and contaminates groundwater. Water supplies are compromised, rivers become stinking sewers and fisheries are threatened," says a UN-WATER report published recently.

Speaking as the host of a regional review of sanitation held in Nairobi in November, Edward Kairu, chairman of the African Civil Society Network on Water and Sanitation, said, "Our governments must take the lead. A lot needs to be done. If we continue with business as usual, the sanitation MDG risks not being met at all in our countries."


SOURCE :

http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=45180