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Extra households benefitted from food aid in Kenya
Food packages including maize, beans and cooking oil have been distributed to 1,360 households during the last 3 months. 160 more households received food than was initially planned. In total almost 10,000 people benefitted from the food aid, including child-headed households, disabled-headed household and people living with HIV/AIDS. Nduku, a mother of two, says: ‘The food made a huge impact in the family. With supplements from other sources, we could go through the month.'
The relief aid had also positive effects beyond the immediate reduction of hunger. People started to invest their efforts in preparing land for planting during the short rain season that came at the end of 2011. Nduku: ‘I hope that the rain will be sufficient to ensure that the crop matures.' The government provided the beneficiaries with planting seeds at the onset of the rains last November.
People became less dependent on environmental unfriendly practices such as charcoal burning to sustain the family. They concentrated on their farms, which will sustain the family in a more sustainable manner. And Tabitha, a single mother with seven children, tells about the influence of the food aid on her family: ‘My children were able to attend school regularly thanks to the assistance. Before the food distribution one of my children had to look for casual jobs to supplement income for the family with all the earnings being spent on food.'
The 3 months of food distribution in Kenya have ended. Rain has fallen and people are growing crops now. Dorcas continues to provide relief aid to Somaliland, where hunger and drowth persist.
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| Wednesday, 18 January 2012 |
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