Drought To Hit Kenya After Floods
Drought To Hit Kenya After Floods
Drought To Hit Kenya After Floods
Experts are warning that before the year ends, the pendulum may quickly swing towards a devastating drought, as Kenyans struggle to recover from the devastation caused by unrelenting rains that have devastated the entire country.
The UN Resident Coordinator, Dr. Stephen Jackson, has issued a warning about the impending drought, emphasizing that the current floods have left farmers with substantial losses due to washed-away crops and flooded farmlands. A growing number of people are worried that the nation may experience a food shortage as important agricultural regions struggle with flooding.
During a Wednesday interview with Citizen TV, Dr. Jackson emphasized the need to improve the nation’s disaster readiness. In order to address the growing frequency of natural disasters, he urged the National Assembly to expedite the passage of the proposed National Disaster Risk Management Bill.
Dr. Jackson stated in the interview, “We’re going to be doing this for a long time to come, so it’s critical that we get that right.”
He further warned of the likelihood of a swift transition from floods to drought, citing forecasts indicating a potential return to drought conditions by the year’s end.
He stated, “The bad news for Kenya and for Kenyans is that if we together and we will get through this flood emergency, we’re going to be back in a drought, the swing, the pendulum is going to go back the other way very quickly. Some of the forecasts are already showing we might be in drought again by the end of the year. So this whiplash, this pendulum between feast and famine, flood and drought is going to not only continue, it’s going to intensify.”
Dr. Jackson emphasized the need for concerted efforts to lessen future crises by highlighting the spiraling cycle of floods, droughts, and feast and famine.
Dr. Jackson did, however, issue a warning regarding the predictions’ lack of absolute certainty, pointing out that although long-term forecasts highlight important risks, they do not imply an impending drought.
“I don’t want Kenyans to be depressingly certain that the UN has declared there will be a drought by the end of the year. Long-term forecasts that I’ve seen indicate that there’s a considerable risk of that happening, so while it’s not a given yet, it’s alarming,” he said.
While praising the increased cooperation between the federal and local governments, Dr. Jackson advocated for more improvements in order to properly handle the problems brought on by natural disasters.
As of Tuesday evening, 238 people had lost their lives and nearly 300,000 people had been affected by the floods, adding to the already high toll. Food security is in jeopardy due to the floods’ severe damage to agricultural areas, especially in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, coastal regions, and the area surrounding Mount Kenya.
Large tracts of farmland are flooded, infrastructure is damaged, and crops are destroyed, leaving farmers with enormous losses. Rice farms in the Mwea Irrigation Scheme have disappeared under floodwaters, leaving farmers to deal with severe losses.