The Church of England Newspaper reported on August 12 that the Archbishop of Kenya blamed government incompetence for the East African famine. (See below).
Speaking to me from Nairobi on Friday August 12 , the Archbishop of Kenya told me that the Anglican Church of Kenya has a Board of Development and Social Services which oversees a number of programmes including famine relief and ensuring food security. They work in nine regions covering the whole country. It is directed from the Archbishop’s office.
He told me that to relieve the famine they were feeding 4000 families with rations. They planned to scale up and buy further food and transport it to the affected areas. It would cost £25 to feed a large family ( of eight or more) with such rations for a week.
They would be drilling bore holes for water in drought affected areas. They would carry on with their programme of water harvesting.
He noted that they would be continuing with their programme of educating and supporting farmers with seeds and fertilizer so that they do not miss the next planting season because of the famine. They would be helping in growing foodstuffs that are resistant to drought.
They also encouraging farmers in developing fish-ponds where they could.
The church is collecting money in the Cathedral for the famine relief and making a number of special grants.
Anglican International Development ( a charity) can receive and channel funds directly to the Anglican Church of Kenya to enable the church to support their work and enable their response to those hit by the famine.
Donations can be made on the website at www.interanglicanaid.org or by post to AID, 21 High Street, Eynsham, OX29 4HE, UK]
Chris Sugden (Secretary, Anglican International Development)
From the Church of England Newspaper August 12 2011
STARVATION IN East Africa was a result of drought compounded by government incompetence, the Archbishop of Kenya said last week.
The United Nations Food & Agricultural Organization reports that over 11 million people, including 2.3 million children under the age of five, are in urgent need of food and water in the horn of Africa: Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea and Kenya following two years of drought that has left over 10,000 dead. The situation is particularly acute in Somalia, the UN’s refugee agency reported, where 3.7 million people are facing food shortages.
In an account of a speech given in Bungoma last week ( the Archbishop’s own home area which is very poor. Ed.) printed by the Nairobi Standard, Kenyan Archbishop Eliud Wabukala chastised the government, saying the food shortages in Northern and Eastern Kenya were the “result of government’s failure to plan.” Drought was a
cyclical occurrence in the Horn of Africa, the Archbishop said, arguing the government should have had plans in place to deal with the threat. “Government knew from forecasts the drought would be severe and ought to have planned adequately how to deal with the food situation to save those people now starving but leaders did nothing. They have again let Kenyans down letting the situation deteriorate into massive human suffering” the Archbishop said.
On 3 August, the Anglican Church of Kenya released a pastoral letter stating the country was facing two “major challenges”: the drought and the “inconsistent manner of the constitutional implementation process.” While the rains had failed in Eastern Kenya, the drought had been exacerbated by the government’s “structural failures.” There are regions of Kenya that “currently have plenty of food eg Nyandarua, Western Kenya, Trans Nzoia and Uasin Gishu. What mechanisms are in place to ensure that this food is harvested, preserved, put in strategic reserves and distributed as needed,” the church asked. “Food insecurity is ultimately a security concern, as a hungry person is an angry person,” the church said.
