Food Reserves Set to Plummet in Central Province

Posted to the web 13 August 2008 Nyeri Poor rains and the presence of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Central Kenya, a traditionally food-secure region, have stretched available resources with government and humanitarian officials predicting a sharp drop in food reserves. "This year has not been normal because of the internally displaced persons who took refuge in the province and also due to unfavourable climatic conditions that adversely affected our food crops," Japhter Rugut, the Central Province commissioner, told IRIN. Rugut said the province, with an estimated population of 4.2 million, had hosted 70,000 IDPs during the post-election crisis, overstretching available food resources. He said the proportion of harvested food stored, rather than consumed immediately, would probably be less than half the usual... [read full story]