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Kenya appeals for $406M in urgent food aid
By TOM ODULA ? 2 hours ago

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) ? Kenya's president declared the country's food  
crisis a national disaster Friday and asked international donors to  
contribute $406 million toward emergency food aid.

However, Germany's ambassador urged the Kenyan government to tackle  
corruption in its agricultural sector, saying "somebody out there is  
taking advantage of the famine to enrich themselves."

Nearly a third of Kenya's 34 million people face food shortages  
because of crop failures after drought last year.

Tens of thousands of farmers also were unable to plant crops last year  
when they were displaced from their land during postelection violence  
that saw more than 1,000 people killed, President Mwai Kibaki said.

The government has set aside 5 billion shillings ($63.4 million), but  
the country needs a total of 37 billion shillings ($469.5 million) for  
its emergency needs until August, Kibaki told diplomats and senior  
government officials.

The government will also sell fertilizer at affordable prices and cut  
the price of seed by 10 percent so that farmers can easily plant crops  
in the coming season, which begins in March, the president said.

But German ambassador Walter Lindner, echoing the concerns of other  
diplomats who spoke before the president made his appeal, said Kenya  
should pursue reports of corruption.

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger said Kenyan government policies  
such requiring farmers to only sell their produce to the government  
and targeted price controls have, "have indirectly contributed to  
shortages and in addition have inadvertently perhaps contributed to  
reports of corruption."

There have been allegations in local media that some farmers or  
companies have known ahead of time about changes in government policy  
and therefore have been able to profit.

Diamond Lalji of the Cereal Millers Association said that, for  
example, some people sold large quantities of maize in neighboring  
countries just ahead of a November ban on maize and maize product  
exports.

Kibaki acknowledged that there were "a few rogues," and the government  
had caught some of them and they will be in court soon.

"My government will not tolerate the actions of some officials and  
unscrupulous traders who seek to manipulate the food supply chain for  
their own benefit," Kibaki said.

"Therefore, let it be clear to all that under no circumstance will my  
government allow the livelihood of our people to be sacrificed at the  
altar of the private gain of a few people," the president said.

Kenya is still recovering from the postelection violence that erupted  
after the Dec. 27, 2007 presidential vote. The crisis ended with a  
coalition government between Kibaki and Raila Odinga, who was named  
prime minister under the deal.

The last time Kenya declared a food crisis a national disaster was in  
July 2004. At the time the government said 3 million people faced food  
shortages.
Hosted by  Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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