World Vision Kenya - Situation Report 9

World Vision's response to the ongoing hunger crisis in Kenya has now reached more than 400,000 people with assistance. 

There is more work to do. We're continuing to draw attention to: 

• Rise in need: Humanitarian support is still needed to respond to 3.4 million people including 700,000 children under age 5 who are facing starvation due to lack of food and water in Kenya. The number has risen from the previous 2.7 Million recorded in February 2017. 500,000 people are reported to have fallen into emergency phase (IPC4), with some parts of the country having now experienced three consecutive failed rains.
  
  
• Acute malnutrition rising: Compared to February 2017, the overall nutrition situation remains of great concern. In some counties, the rates are still deteriorating. A July 2017 assessment report recorded 420,674 children ages 6 to 59 months requiring treatment for malnutrition, up from 344,000 reported in February 2017. The highest global acute malnutrition rate of 37% was recorded in Turkana South.
  
  
• Food security situation worsening: Low annual maize yields were recorded, due to drought conditions and the fall army worm invasion, leading to an increase in food insecurity for families reliant on agriculture. The outlook for the next three months is worrying. Livelihoods are already under significant stress which will only deepen as the dry season unfolds. Conditions are likely to deteriorate. Drought is particularly severe in the counties of Isiolo, parts of Wajir (West and South), Turkana and Tana River.

• Drought interventions must be scaled up: Due to rising needs, humanitarian and government responses must increase to protect people from starvation. Currently, more than 200,000 people are benefiting from World Vision’s activities related to food assistance, nutrition, child protection, education and water and sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services. World Vision is appealing for an additional $19 million US to scale up its response to meet the needs.

Learn more about World Vision's programming, and the number of people reached, by downloading the Situation Report