Over 190,000 residents of Samburu county facing hunger due to effects of COVID-19 and locust invasion will benefit from relief food worth Sh. 27 million.
The consignment of relief food purchased by Samburu county government arrived in Maralal town and was stored at National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores.
Speaking ton Tuesday while flagging off the relief food distribution at the Maralal NCPB stores, acting County Secretary, Bosco Ole Sambu said the consignment which includes 5,000 of 90kg bags of maize and 500 of 90 kg bags of beans is set to benefit 196,066 people across the county for the next three months.
“This is the first batch of relief food that targets about 196,066 people which is more than 63 per cent of the county’s population”, he said.
Sambu added that the county government has also set aside Sh.109 million which would be used to purchase additional relief food for hunger stricken people across the county in the second phase.
He noted that the county government is working closely with partners such as World Food Programme (WFP) who are providing both logistical and quality test support.
The County’s Disaster and Special Programmes Chief Officer, Daniel Lesaigor said that national government and WFP have separately rolled out cash transfer program to support more than 50,000 families affected by effects of COVID-19 and locusts invasion across the county.
“We have national government supporting 12,000 households for cash transfer in addition to 31,000 targeted by world Food Program, we also have other partners targeting 1000 to 2000 households with a similar program”, he said.
By Robert Githu
