WFP Secures 22 mln USD to Enhance Climate Resilience in East Africa

NAIROBI, Xinhua: The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) announced Tuesday that it has secured 22 million U.S. dollars to strengthen climate resilience and food security in East Africa.

The UN agency said the funds will be directed toward smallholder farmers, livestock keepers and marginalized groups, including women and youth, in Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.

“Recurring climate extremes like droughts and floods devastate millions of livelihoods in East Africa, leaving families vulnerable as food prices soar, crop yields fall, and livestock numbers dwindle,” said Laurent Bukera, WFP’s regional director for Eastern Africa, in a statement issued in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.

Bukera said that the funding will enable the WFP to break the cycle of vulnerability by combining anticipatory action, early recovery, and climate-smart solutions to build resilience to crises and enhance food security.

According to the WFP, climate prediction centers forecast La Nina conditions in the eastern Horn of Africa, which could potentially reduce October-December rainfall in parts of Kenya and Somalia.

The UN agency warned that this could result in crop failures, poor harvests, deteriorating livestock conditions, and increased food insecurity for families still recovering from severe flooding and the region’s longest recorded drought.