NAIROBI (Jan. 21) XINHUA - The drought in Turkana District in northwestern Kenya is worsening with more areas reportedly in need of emergency relief supplies, the Daily Nation newspaper reported Friday.
An early warning bulletin by the World Bank-funded Arid Lands Management Project said that dry weather conditions continued into December and the rains in November did not have any significant impact on rangeland conditions in most parts of the district.
As a result of the worsening drought situation, more than 250,000 people were in need of food aid and the number was likely to go up, the report said.
It added that 75 percent of the local population will be in need of emergency relief aid if there is no improvement in weather conditions in the next two months.
The nutritional condition of livestock in the affected areas had deteriorated with deaths, especially of sheep and goats, the report said.
Turkana District Commissioner Peter Mooke said that there was little hope of the situation improving in the next one year unless the rains come.
The Kenyan government, the U.N. High commissioner for Refugees and non- governmental organizations are taking steps to help the local population in fighting the drought.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 01/21/2000 03:32:24