Country: Kenya. Highlights in numbers. Food Security & Nutrition Situation. Kenya 1st Quarter 2014 Report :: 17 April 2014

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1 Country: Kenya This report covers the first quarter of The beneficiary numbers shown in the table below (and in annex 1) indicate the highest number that WFP reached during the reporting period. Highlights in numbers Number of food insecure Kenyans according to the latest assessments for April- September 2014 Number of drought-prone Kenyans who received WFP food assistance in January- March 2014 Number of refugees provided with WFP food assistance Number of new asylum seekers from South Sudan who had arrived in Kakuma by end of March Number of school children in food-scarce areas in Kenya and in the refugee camps provided with hot meals Number of women and children reached through supplementary feeding programmes (prevention and treatment of acute malnutrition) Number of smallholder farmers linked to markets through Purchase for Progress Funding required to meet WFP shortfalls over the next six months 1.29 million 892, ,000 32, , ,000 15,000 US$62 million Food Security & Nutrition Situation The Government supported by WFP and other partners, conducted food security assessments in arid and semiarid lands (ASAL). Assessments analysed the impact of the short rains season (October to December 2013) on food security, taking into account the cumulative effects of the previous seasons. The assessments found that the situation remains stressed in many parts of Kenya, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC). Some pockets in Marsabit and Turkana counties were in crisis, indicating a more food insecure situation. The causes of food insecurity at household level include poor rains performance, intercommunity-conflicts and a gradual seasonal increase in dependency on the market for food. Compared to August 2013, the population facing food shortages due to recent shocks increased from 850,000 to 1.29 million people. The percentage of children `at risk of malnutrition, with a mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) of less than 13.5cm, remained stable and below-average nationally. Admissions to supplementary feeding programmes were lower than the seasonal average. Nevertheless, areas of concern include Isiolo, Marsabit, Mandera, Turkana and West Pokot. The assessment identified short- and long-term multisectoral interventions that should be implemented to meet immediate needs and build the resilience of the households in combating climatic shocks. Most recommended interventions are in crop farming, livestock, water, health and nutrition and education. The full assessment report can be found at kenya. The forecast for the ongoing long rains season (March- May) is positive. The rains started in a timely manner, and are expected to have a normal to above-normal distribution in most parts of the country with the exception of Marsabit and Mandera, where low rainfall is expected.

2 Building Resilience to Food Security Shocks WFP, together with national and county governments, will continue to respond to the needs of the most food-insecure people mostly through food assistance for assets (FFA) as part of interventions that support resilience of communities and households to food security shocks. Where hunger is acute and no FFA activities are on-going, WFP and the Government will provide short-term support to fill the food gaps and protect livelihoods through general food distributions. WFP is studying and assessing the contribution of FFA towards strengthening resilience of poor rural households. The study will propose an approach to evaluating households or communities that have attained significant levels of food security and could be ready to graduate or to be phased-into other longer-term development programmes. Data was collected in four counties in the marginal agricultural livelihood zone: Kilifi, Kitui, Kwale and Taita Taveta. WFP and the World Bank have been exploring possible areas of synergy and opportunities for graduating FFA beneficiaries to longer-term development projects. As a start, two FFA groups in Kwale were awarded loans from the World Banksupported Kenya Coastal Development Project (KCDP). KCDP has trained the project committee members on procurement and financial management. coherence and alignment of multi-sector investments in the ASAL. It is supporting the Government s resilience-building agenda in a process that started after the 2011 drought crisis in the Horn of Africa, when governments and development partners pledged to work differently to end drought emergencies. Capacity Strengthening of National & County Governments At the request of the Turkana County Government, WFP and 10 other United Nations agencies joined the county government in planning and conducting a rapid assessment on development projects and programmes in the county. The assessment teams visited the seven sub-counties between 13 and 17 February. The mission reviewed secondary sources of information to generate baseline data and held community consultations to guide planning and investments. The mission concluded that there was a need to revise the County Integrated Development Plan to include the people s aspirations, and to ensure coherence with MTP2. Turkana is one of the driest, poorest and chronically food-insecure counties in Kenya, lagging behind in almost all human development indicators. However, the county has huge growth potential from recently discovered natural resources - oil and water. The United Nations hopes to develop joint programming for Turkana. A maize farm in Kilifi in the coast region where poor farmers were taught how to harvest rain water and conserve soils through FFA. PHOTO/WFP The ASAL donor working group is preparing joint programming documents on key themes (including sustainable livelihoods, human capital, and disaster risk reduction) in the drought-prone areas of Kenya. The common programme framework aims to align programmes, policies and funding with national and county priorities as outlined in the second medium term plan (MTP2) of Vision The working group is an informal partnership of development partners in Kenya that is striving to improve coordination, 2 Refugees By the end of March, 32,000 asylum seekers had been received in Kenya from South Sudan since violence erupted in mid-december, bringing the total in the UNHCR register in Kakuma to 148,000. UNHCR and the Government are still negotiating with local communities for a new camp site 70 km north of Kakuma. In Dadaab, there were 357,000 refugees in UNHCR s registration database. There was a difference between the number of refugees in the registration database and those receiving food from WFP in March (133,000 in Kakuma and 339,000 in Dadaab). This is because food ration cards are invalidated for households who do not turn up to collect food for three consecutive distribution cycles. Refugees can re-activate their cards at the food distribution centres or the UNHCR field offices if they are physically present. WFP and UNHCR continued capturing the fingerprints of all new arrivals not yet fully registered, and set up biometrics at the temporary food distribution centre in Kakuma camp 4. Refugees not fully registered use tokens to collect food: fingerprinting token-holders ensures that each household receives only one token and prevents

3 already-registered refugees from posing as new arrivals. Linking unaccompanied children s fingerprints to their tokens means no-one else can collect food on their behalf, thereby reducing the risk that they will be exploited or have their tokens stolen. Newly arrived refugees from South Sudan being served meals in Kakuma. PHOTO: WFP/ Rose Ogola WFP is conducting an external evaluation of its operation assisting refugees in Kenya. The evaluation will serve the dual and mutually reinforcing objectives of accountability and learning to inform decision-making. The final report with findings and recommendations is expected in mid UNHCR and International Organization for Migration are conducting a comprehensive return intention survey in Dadaab. The purpose is to understand the needs and concerns of Somali refugees and to prepare for eventual interests in voluntary returns. In late March, the Ministry of Interior & Coordination of National Government designated the refugee camps in Dadaab and Kakuma as the only areas where refugees in Kenya should reside and directed all refugees to return to the camps, immediately closing all registration centres in urban areas. The majority of the urban refugees are from Somalia, making it more likely for them to return to Dadaab rather than to Kakuma, meaning there is less risk of the directive causing increased congestion in Kakuma. health centres after being referred at reception centre. WFP continued providing emergency food assistance to the new arrivals at the border point, reception centres and in the settlements. This included high-energy biscuits at the border and specialised nutrition products, such as Super Cereal Plus, for all children aged 6-23 months at the camp. For WFP Kenya nutrition activities generally, WFP participated in a Vitamin A Supplementation Behaviour Change and Communication Strategy workshop convened by nutrition unit at the Ministry of Health. WFP plans to roll out micronutrient powder supplementation for children aged 6-23 months and schoolchildren. The workshop helped WFP to assess the overlapping synergies in the methods used for behaviour change communication in the roll out of vitamin A supplementation. In 2014, WFP is targeting 3,000 people affected by HIV by providing a monthly ration of Super Cereal. WFP is supporting the Government to revise nutrition guidelines for people living with HIV, scheduled to be completed WFP is also supporting the Government to conduct a national nutrition vulnerability profiling survey and the survey report is being finalized. School meals The new school year started in January. WFP continued to provide hot school lunches to 770,000 children in 10 arid counties under the regular school meals programme. The meals not only as serve as an incentive for children to enrol, attend and complete school, but also to improve their dietary intake. This included the 40,000 pupils in Isiolo County that received meals through the use of cash transfers to schools; this is part of the handover process, using improved business systems and processes for the government home-grown school meals programme (HGSMP). The HGSMP, which was started in 2009, has already taken over most of the schools in marginal agricultural (semi-arid) areas, currently supporting 760,000 children. Nutrition Support In Kakuma, nutrition screening of new arrivals by the end of February showed a Global acute malnutrition (GAM) for the children was about 13 percent and that 3 percent of the pregnant and lactating women had a MUAC of less than 21cm. International Rescue Committee, WFP s partner for nutrition activities in Kakuma, plans to conduct a mass MUAC screening in the camp area where the new arrivals have settled to identify children who may not have turned up in 3 Children in Atan Primary School taking lunch. This is one of the schools in Isiolo that received cash from WFP to purchase food from local traders. PHOTO: WFP/ Rose Ogola

4 WFP and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology conducted an evaluation of HGSMP. The evaluation aimed to showcase progress made and provide an objective assessment to determine whether the programme is achieving its intended objectives. Preliminary results presented to stakeholders in March indicate that HGSMP is highly relevant in Kenyan context where poverty, food insecurity, malnutrition and insufficient agricultural production are prevalent. The evaluation will inform the Government, WFP and other stakeholders on areas that require further capacity development and the kind of investment necessary to make the HGSMP more effective and efficient. A comprehensive report is expected in April WFP hosted a delegation from The Gambia, comprising the Government of The Gambia and WFP staff, to learn about the HGSMP in Kenya as part of South-South learning. Specifically, the Gambian delegation sought to: understand programme management processes in Kenya, stakeholders involvement, roles and responsibilities; study the linkage between Kenya s school feeding programme and local agricultural production and how this process is coordinated; have a better understanding of the value chain around the production of food for school feeding, local procurement models and mechanisms being used in Kenya; and learn best practices in financing, production, processing, marketing, storage and logistics of linking school feeding to local agricultural production. The lessons drawn from the visit will be used to inform a local procurement feasibility study and home-grown school feeding pilot in The Gambia. South-South learning has been recognised widely as an important capacity development tool through sharing experiences and arriving at solutions to shared development challenges. In the refugee camps, WFP provided school meals to 120,000 children in Kakuma (20 schools) and Dadaab (31 schools). A temporary school for newly arrived children in Kakuma is being set up. WFP continued to support food-for-training by providing lunch to vocational learners from refugee and host communities attending courses such as dress making and computer lessons. Linking Smallholder Farmers to Markets WFP is supporting 15,000 farmers through the Purchase for Progress (P4P) initiative in Kenya. In February, WFP issued tenders for farmer organizations and small-scale traders to supply 1,695 mt of maize worth US$680,000 (KES 58 million) for WFP s Forward Purchasing Facility. The contracts will directly benefit smallholder farmers in four counties in the North Rift region by providing a market for their produce. Being immediately after the harvest, this should be the right period to purchase from local farmers. WFP and quality assurance companies trained contracted groups on stacking, sorting, cleaning, grading, and storage in order to improve the quality of the grains. WFP will continue to invest in capacity building of farmer organizations to access structured markets and also meet the quality standards demanded. WFP will continue to support farmers to sell surplus produce to HGSMP schools and other structured markets. Dried foods being sold by small-scale traders in a market in Eldoret town, one of the high potential farming areas in Kenya where WFP is supporting small holder farmers and smallscale traders to engage in formal trade PHOTO: WFP/ David Orr One of the biggest achievements of P4P has been bringing together diverse partners to assist smallholder farmers improve production and engage formal markets. WFP is exploring a possible partnership with the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), one of the leading agricultural research organizations in Kenya. WFP hopes to engage KARI to hold on-farm demonstrations on new farming technologies and seeds to smallholder farmers in the semi-arid areas to cushion them against heavy losses incurred because of low and erratic rainfall, land degradation and water depletion. 4

5 Donor Missions to WFP Operations During the first quarter of 2014, several donors visited WFP operations, as follows: On 11 January, a joint technical mission from the embassies of France, Switzerland and Sweden as well as the EU s Humanitarian Aid & Civil Protection (ECHO) visited Dadaab refugee camps. On 24 January, the Canadian High Commissioner to Kenya, together with Assistant Deputy Ministers Lise Filiatrault and Nadir Patel visited small holder farmers organizations in Machakos County, who have been assisted by WFP through Canada s financial support. On 3 February, the Swedish Ambassador to Kenya H.E. Mr. Johan Borgstam, Finland Ambassador H.E. Mrs From-Emmesberger and the South African High Commissioner H.E. Mr. Ratubatsi Moloi visited Dadaab refugee camps. Officials from the Swedish and Finland embassies were also part of the mission. On 7 February, the United States of America s Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Mr. Robert F. Godec visited Stara Rescue Centre and School in Nairobi accompanied by staff from US State Department of Agriculture. The purpose of the visit was to celebrate 50 years of Kenya-USA partnership and 10 years of support to school feeding in the Kenya. Between 11 and 13 February, a delegation from Canada s Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFTAD) visited Isiolo, where WFP is piloting cash transfer to schools. Another mission from DFTAD visited Turkana (including with Australia for the Kakuma section of the mission) between March. On 20 February, a joint mission with H.E Mr. Tatsushi Terada - Japanese Ambassador to Kenya, Ms. Tina Dooley-Jones, Deputy Mission Director USAID Kenya and Mr. Erik Habers, Head of European Cooperation toured Baringo County. They visited FFA projects and a health centre, accompanied by senior government officers from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries, and National Drought Management Authority. County government officials were also part of the mission. On 28 February, the German Ambassador to Kenya, H.E Andreas Peschke visited UNHCR and WFP operations in Kakuma refugee camps. Between 27 and 28 March, a technical team from UK s Department for International Development (DFID) and ECHO visited Kakuma refugee camp for regular monitoring of programmes. Pipeline & Resourcing As of 31 March, WFP s six-month shortfall (through September 2014) for operations in Kenya as US$61.6 million, as follows: PRRO Drought Recovery operation: the operation has a gross shortfall of US$34 million, including cash transfers, capacity development and outstanding advances. The amount of Super Cereal available is low and available stocks are being prioritised to targeted supplementary feeding programme for pregnant and lactating women. Funds available for cash transfers will only cover needs through April PRRO Refugee operation: The sixmonth funding shortfall is US$18.9 million including outstanding loans. The most immediate requirements are Super Cereals and vegetable oil. The food stock levels in the camps are low but food is being delivered. Any logistical constraints due to poor road conditions as the rainy season approaches could affect food distributions particularly in Kakuma where there are daily food distributions to newly arrived South Sudanese refugees. CP Country Programme: As of 31 March, the HIV programme had a long outstanding loan of 1,500 mt of food valued at US$1.2 million which needs to be cleared before the project end in June. The new Country Programme (CP ) is planned to start in July 2014, after approval by the WFP Executive Board in June. The shortfalls are as follows: Components 1&3 US$1.3 million for capacity development of devolved structures and smallholder farmers while Component 2 (school meals) has a shortfall of US$6.2 million for the third school term that starts in September, of which US$724,000 is for cash transfers. 5

6 Annex 1: Food and Cash/Voucher Distributions: January-March 2014 PRRO : Protecting & Rebuilding Livelihoods in ASAL Beneficiaries Tonnage (mt) Cash Transfers (US$ Planned Actual Planned Actual Planned Actual General Food Distributions (GFD) Food Assistance for Assets (FFA)* Food 347, ,235 7,672 5,087 Cash 1, ,212 6,127 Food 260, ,609 6,255 4,162 2,158,333 8,205,528 Cash 370, ,742 Targeted Supplementary Feeding (TSFP) Food 26,100 23, TOTAL 1,005, ,240 14,512 9,559 2,170,545 8,211,655 *During the reporting period, WFP completed paying off all cash arrears owed to households in marginal agricultural areas that have been participating in FFA in 2013.This explains why more cash was disbursed to beneficiaries compared to the plan. PRRO : Food Assistance to Refugees in Kenya Beneficiaries Tonnage (mt) Voucher Transfers (US$ Planned Actual Planned Actual Planned Actual General Food Distributions (GFD) 520, ,506 26,208 23,340 Nutrition Support children aged 6 to 59 months, pregnant and lactating women (prevention and treatment) 77,500 66,076 1, , ,400 School Meals Progamme 120, , HIV and TB Clients (including feeding of inpatients) Food for Training (youth from host and refugee communities) Food Assistance for Assets (host communities) TOTAL (Refugees +Host Community) 1,800 2, ,600 1, ,000 13,590 1, , ,096 29,622 25, , ,400 CP Country Programme Kenya (January June 2014) Beneficiaries Tonnage (mt) Cash Transfers (US$ Planned Actual Planned Actual Planned Actual School Meals Programme 770, ,221 9,853 9, , ,000 HIV & AIDS Programme 3,000 2, TOTAL 773, ,273 9,840 9, , ,000 The Ministry of Education provides termly (not monthly) reports for the school meals programme. Because of the expanse geographical coverage and remoteness of the arid region, delays are experienced in receiving consolidated county reports. Actual achievement in the first school term of 2014 (January to April 2014) have been estimated. 6

7 Annex 2: Pipeline summaries - April to September