NAIROBI (May 29) XINHUA - At least six people and thousands of livestock have perished due to famine in Wajir District in northeastern Kenya, the Daily Nation newspaper said on Monday.
A drought assessment report from the Arid Land Resource management project run by the Office of the President said that more than 22,000 malnourished children in the district are in need of an urgent supplementary feeding program.
"The situation in Wajir had developed into a full blown drought. The long rains have failed and almost the entire surface water sources are dry," the report said.
The report was released in the wake of an international appeal sent out by Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi last week when he disclosed 23 million Kenyans are likely to face hunger because of the failure of the March-May long rains in the country.
Worst hit by the drought are the northern and northwestern parts of Rift Valley, North Eastern, Eastern and Coast provinces as well as large parts of Central Province.
Oxfam, a British aid organization, said that the World Food Program had accepted to provide relief food supplies in the next six months for 265, 000 residents threatened by starvation in Wajir.
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Received by NewsEdge Insight: 05/29/2000 03:05:53