KENYA: Food situation could get worse in Coast Province - FEWS Net

NAIROBI, 24 May 2004 (IRIN) - An estimated 240,000 people in the coastal districts of Kilifi, Kwale, Malindi and Taita Taveta are experiencing moderate food shortages as a result of successive poor harvests, rising food prices and reduced income-earning opportunities in a declining tourism sector, a famine alert network reported. The start of the critical 2004 long-rains season was poor in several coastal districts, after an uncharacteristic extension of the generally moderate short-rains season into February, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWS Net) said in a report dated 11 May. It said that coastal farmers were unable to interpret the implication of the January/February rains. A significant number had opted to plant crops, most of which wilted during an extended dry spell that lasted from mid-February until the first week of April. Only Taita Taveta district had experienced a fair start to the 2004 long-rains season and crop conditions there were mostly good, the report said. In Kilifi, Kwale and Malindi, rainfall distribution had been poor. According to FEWS Net, the Kenyan Ministry of Agriculture anticipates yet another poor season unless rains continue into June. The report noted that maize prices had remained substantially higher than normal, a reflection of poor local production, national shortages and reduced cross-border imports from Tanzania. The price of a 90-kg bag of maize, for example, was exceptionally high at Ksh 2,250 ($28.37) in Malindi market. In April the same bag cost Ksh 1,300 ($16.39). FEWS Net called for immediate "implementation of drought-mitigation activities, so as to stem potential food shortages in the near future". It added: "Already, the purchasing capacity of coastal households is under severe pressure, due to the rapidly increasing food prices. In addition, the anticipated maize shortfall will only exacerbate food insecurity." Kenya's tourism sector, on which many coastal residents depended for employment, has declined since late 2002 when the bombing of a hotel near Mombasa city prompted a terror alert that grounded flights to Kenya, sparked travel warnings from various countries and scared away tourists.