A Masai man passes a zebra carcass in Kenya, which is in a region where hundreds of people have died from hunger and thirst recently. Photo: Reuters

By Barney Jopson in Nairobi The number of Kenyans in urgent need of food aid has jumped by more than 50 per cent to nearly 4m, according to official figures, as the country is hit by mass hunger as well as shortages of power and water. The immediate cause of the three-fold crisis is a prolonged drought, but critics of Kenya’s dysfunctional coalition government blame it for failing to mitigate the drought’s effects, in spite of clear warning signs. … New figures released yesterday by the government, the United Nations and aid agencies showed that the number of Kenyans needing food aid had risen to 3.8m from 2.5m due to the failure of the “long rains”, which normally begin in April. The UN’s World Food Programme says it is the worst food crisis since a drought in 2000 and is appealing to international donors for more funds. Water available for domestic and industrial use is limited, and due to Kenya’s dependence on hydro power the drought has forced energy rationing in Nairobi, where many residents do not have electricity more than half the time. Kenya’s grain reserves are set to run out in the next two months because the country has an estimated 500,000 tonnes but its monthly requirement is 300,000 tonnes. In pastoral regions more than 20 per cent of children under the age of five are already suffering from acute malnutrition, according to the WFP. In Isiolo, a town in northern Kenya, cash was disappearing from the local economy due to the failure of three consecutive rainy seasons, said Yusuf Hussein, an official with Friends of Nomads International, an aid agency. …

Kenya coalition under fire as drought leaves 4m starving via Apocadocs