WFP receives record funding from US to fight hunger in Kenya

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received record funding from the US government to mitigate the biting hunger in Kenya.

The Ksh23.5B grant is the largest ever by a single donor to WFP’s operation in Kenya. Welcoming the contribution of US$194.5 million through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID),  the humanitarian organisation in a statement said it will be used to provide critical food and nutrition assistance and resilience-building initiatives for thousands of people facing the worst drought in four decades.

The funding comes just a week after the World Health Organisation Foundation launched a fundraising campaign to raise funds to respond to the drought crises in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region in Africa.

28 million people in the greater Horn of Africa are acutely food insecure. These countries include parts of Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, and Uganda.

The support will enable WFP to scale up its drought response by providing food and cash assistance to 535,000 people facing emergency levels of hunger, treat malnutrition in 570,000 young children, pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers.