WFP Kenya Country Brief, September 2018

In Numbers

4,505 mt of food assistance distributed

US$ 1.6 m cash-based transfers made

US$17 m six months (October 2018–March 2019) net funding requirements

265 800 people assisted in September 2018

Operational Updates

• According to the latest food security outlook released by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWSNET), the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) and WFP, above average October-December short rains are expected. Staple food prices are expected to be below those in the same period last year and the five-year average due to increased crop production. However, high levels of acute malnutrition will be sustained from September 2018 to January 2019, due to ongoing challenges such as poor child feeding practices and limited access to health care facilities.

• On 27-28 September 2018, WFP, supported by the Council of Governors, hosted a high-level consultation with county governors, deputy county governors and county executives and officers from 14 arid and semi-arid counties. These counties will be supported as part of WFP’s five-year strategy. The objective of the meeting was to present the approved Country Strategic Plan for WFP in Kenya and deliberate on modalities to ensure its successful implementation at the county level. The meeting yielded a set of commitments and principles for engagement between WFP and the county governments. These commitments will aid the formulation of agreements and plan of operations between the parties.

• Preliminary results of a nutrition survey conducted in Dadaab refugee camps by UNHCR and WFP from 20 August to 8 September 2018 showed that the prevalence of malnutrition reduced from 9.7 percent to 8 percent. Promotion of optimal maternal, infant and young child nutrition remains a key recommendation to further improve the nutrition outcomes for children in the camp.

• WFP closed operations in two make-shift camps in Moyale that had been established to meet the needs of asylum seekers fleeing political unrest in Ethiopia. Initially, 10,500 asylum seekers were hosted at the camps in March 2018, but the number reduced gradually to below 3,000. UNHCR relocated 300 asylum seekers to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya’s northwest, while the rest opted to return home to Ethiopia.