WFP Kenya Country Brief, September 2023

In Numbers

• 10,307 mt of food commodities distributed

• USD 6.18 million cash-based transfers made

• USD 117.2 million net funding requirements across all activities for the next six months (November 2023-April 2024)

• 1.79 million people assisted in August 2023

Food Security Situation

• Food insecurity remains high with 2.8 million Kenyans still facing acute food needs. Similarly, over 1 million pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls (PBWGs) and children aged 6-59 months are affected by acute malnutrition.

• In October, many regions across the country are expected to receive above-average rainfall. With this increased rainfall, farmers are ready to expand crop cultivation and pasture production. However, challenges such as soil erosion and waterlogging are likely to affect agricultural activities. The Government is encouraging farmers to adopt sustainable land management practices to mitigate such challenges, while fully leveraging the projected precipitation increase.

• There is a possibility of flash floods and lightning strikes, posing dangers to communities in various regions. The Government and humanitarian actors are putting in place flood mitigation measures.

Operational Updates

Refugee operations

• In September, WFP provided food assistance to a total of 627,325 refugees and asylum seekers residing in the Dadaab and Kakuma refugee camps as well as the Kalobeyei settlement. The food assistance included in-kind food and cash-based transfers. Among the beneficiaries, 65,066 pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls (PBWG) and children aged between 6 to 59 months received critical nutrition support to prevent and treat moderate acute malnutrition. This support was complemented by social behaviour change communication, which promoted healthy practices and empowered families to make informed choices regarding nutrition and well-being, such as Infant and Young Child Feeding. As a safety net, WFP also provided hot meals to 96,221 school-going boys and girls, helping them to address their nutritional needs and promote their education and overall development.

Emergency food assistance and nutrition support to drought-affected Kenyans

• Through drought response “Lisha Jamii” Phase II, WFP provided food assistance to 953,226 Kenyans in 10 ASALs.
  The food assistance was through in-kind food and cash-based transfers. WFP distributed 7,131 mt of in-kind food were distributed including sorghum, pulses, and vegetable oil, while USD 4 million cash transfers provided vulnerable households with the flexibility to meet their diverse food needs. As part of WFP’s commitment to addressing malnutrition, another 119,806 children aged 6 to 59 months and 84,657 PBWGs received their monthly nutrition support to treat and prevent MAM.

Climate Resilience and Food Systems

• In September, WFP Engaged in a 5-day collaborative monitoring exercise alongside World Vision in Kitui in three sub-counties namely Kitui East, Kitui South and Kitui Rural on the Integrated Climate Risk Rural Resilience Initiative (R4).
  The assessment revealed that farmers perceived the R4 programme as pertinent to their needs and displayed a readiness to contribute their share of premiums during the October-December short rainfall season. It was also observed that farmers Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) groups had successfully disbursed funds (share outs) and initiated a fresh savings cycle in the groups. However, it remains evident that these groups require further support and capacity building on Area Yield Insurance that helps them mitigate crop losses. In addition, Kitui County Department of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries commended the timely insurance payouts to 2,300 farmers from insurance companies, a move that would enable farmers to prepare their land and buy seeds for the short rainfall season. It is anticipated that the smallholder farmers in Kitui will benefit from WFP support on all the components of R4 namely Risk Reduction, Risk Transfer, Risk Diversification and Risk Reserves.

Innovation revolutionizing healthcare data accessibility in remote Kenyan clinics

• Given the current state of the healthcare system, where critical patient data is locked away in paper-based archives, far removed from the digital age, and where health workers are burdened with manual data entry, consuming 60 percent of their valuable time, a digital transformation is necessary to improve patient outcomes and increase efficiency. This has been the reality in the remote healthcare facilities in Kenya, where understaffed clinics struggle to provide necessary services while battling the challenges of manual data aggregation.

• Recognizing the need for transformative change, WFP has introduced MEZA, an Artificial Intelligence-powered innovation. MEZA captures photos of handwritten patient encounter forms and converts them into digitized records.
  Health workers in remote clinics use a mobile application to submit these photos to the cloud server, even with limited internet connectivity.

• The impact has been profound. Seventy-nine healthcare facilities have joined the MEZA network, digitizing over 3,000 patient records and processing over 6,000 clinical encounters. The benefits are far-reaching. The innovation has streamlined data flow, improved reporting timelines, enhanced data accuracy, and improved patient care and overall healthcare delivery.