The first consignment of relief food for distribution to households across Turkana, to reduce vulnerability to the worsening drought situation has been received in Turkana, Moses Nawoton the Deputy Director for Disaster Risk Management has confirmed.

“The supplies received were procured by the County Government of Turkana for the FY’2023/2024. It will be distributed to the people through various Food Distribution Points (FDPs) as soon as safety inspection is concluded,” he said.

On reception, the Director noted that the move to procure the relief food had been initiated by the County Governor, as a response to the worsening hunger situation, as well as an intervention against household food insecurity in Turkana.

Further, he also explained that the full consignment for this phase will be 5,100 metric tonnes of maize supply equivalent to 102,000 bags of maize in 50 kg bags and vegetable cooking oil of 3,073 cartons.

Noting that a team had been constituted to examine the supplies for health and safety standards, as well as quality concerns, Director Nawoton warned staff against diverting the relief supplies and said that stern measures to avert such mischief would be taken.

He also clarified that the county would rely on the existing food distribution channels and make use of vulnerability index data to ensure that all the most deserving households are prioritized.

The relief food supply comes at a time when residents of Turkana need a humanitarian response, for example, residents living along Lake Turkana require immediate intervention on the backflow of the Lake water causing fish insufficiency, hence increasing the rate of starvation for the people residing along the shores of Lake Turkana.