Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 389: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs the action Ireland can take to alleviate the problems caused by drought and famine in Kenya; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10281/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Kenya and neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa are in the grip of a severe drought that has brought millions of people to the brink of starvation and killed thousands of livestock, leaving pastoral communities in northern and north-eastern Kenya destitute. The impact of poor rainfall during the long rainy season of March-June last year has been compounded by the failure of the short rains in October-December. The water shortage has decimated livestock herds. Pasture for remaining animals is nearing exhaustion. Livestock is the main source of income and subsistence for the nomadic pastoralists. Without this income, they cannot buy food to survive in the immediate term or rebuild their herds in the future. The World Food Programme estimates that 3.5 million Kenyans now require food aid.

As the scale of the crisis became apparent, Ireland responded promptly. In early February, more than €5 million in emergency humanitarian funding was provided to agencies working in the Horn of Africa. The greater part of the €5 million funding for the Horn of Africa —€3 million — is being used for the regional emergency response programmes of UN agencies and the International Federation of the Red Cross, while almost €1 million has been provided to the NGOs, Concern and Trócaire for programmes specifically in Kenya. In addition, we estimate that in 2006 an additional €2 million will be delivered for development activities in Kenya through our long-term partnerships with Concern, Goal and Trócaire. While there has been some rainfall in early March, the worst-affected areas of Kenya have not benefited from this and the situation remains extremely serious. We are continuing to monitor developments closely.