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Photo: John Nyaga/IRIN

Livestock that have died of hunger and thirst in Kenya's drought-stricken Mandera district

NAIROBI, 6 March 2006 (IRIN) - Millions of vulnerable people in Kenya and Somalia could face a catastrophe if sufficient food donations are not delivered to them in the coming months, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Addressing a news conference at the end of an 11-day visit to eastern Africa, WFP Executive Director James Morris described the situation in the two countries as "serious - very, very serious". "This is a part of the world where they have had very little rainfall over five, six years. This year the forecast is, again, not good," Morris said. "I visited El Wak [in Mandera District, northeastern Kenya] and I have never seen anything like this," he added. "This is a harsh environment, and the pastoralists need food to stay alive." According to WFP, a donation from the Kenya government of 60,000 tonnes of maize and rice will cover cereal requirements for March and April for some 3.5 million Kenyans in drought-affected areas, but WFP only has half the quantity of beans needed for March and no vegetable oil. In addition, stocks of highly nutritious corn-soya blend - used to boost the dietary status of vulnerable children and pregnant and nursing women - were extremely low. "I saw thousands of pastoralists barely existing El Wak," Morris said. "They have lost their animals, and with them, their means of survival. They are forced to share the food aid they receive with new arrivals who are showing up each day. "So far the human death toll is fairly limited," he said. "But we fear that any break in food supply to the most vulnerable people will lead to suffering and death on a much larger scale. "The situation is equally serious in Somalia, where 1.4 million people are at risk in the south," Morris said. Morris urged Somali leaders to set aside their differences and guarantee safe passage of aid to those in need. A spate of ship hijackings off the coast of Somalia in 2005 closed WFP's normal supply routes for food aid by sea. Security issues have hampered overland convoys, prompting WFP to use both the slower and more costly land routes and limited shipping. The number of those in need of food aid in Kenya was arrived at following a joint assessment in January by the government and aid agencies. "Nothing has changed in the last 60 days to suggest the situation has changed," the WFP head said. WFP still requires an additional US $189 million for its Kenyan operations and $34 million for emergency work in Somali. Morris praised donors for the contributions they have made so far. "Donors have been very generous," he said. "But they will need to do more. If there is a break in our pipeline, casualties may occur."