John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Question 363: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs further to the worsening drought in Kenya, the fact that people living there are facing chronic food shortages and the growing fears that the situation will quickly deteriorate, the plans the Government has in place to deal with this devastating situation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14492/06]

Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Kenya and its neighbouring countries in the Horn of Africa are in the grip of a severe drought that is directly affecting up to eleven million people across the region. The drought has already killed thousands of livestock, depriving people of their livelihoods and leaving many pastoral communities destitute. It is estimated that 5 million people in Kenya alone require food aid. Over 2.5 million Ethiopians and over 2 million Somalis are directly at risk. In addition, populations in parts of Burundi, Djibouti and Eritrea are suffering the effects of the drought.

The impact of poor rainfall during the long rainy season of March-June last year was compounded by the failure of the short rains in October-December. While there has been welcome rainfall across the Horn of Africa since late March, parts of Kenya have now been affected by severe flooding, resulting in the displacement of thousands of people, damage to agricultural and grazing land and an increased risk of infectious water-borne disease.

Ireland responded promptly to this situation and to date has made emergency humanitarian funding of €7 million available to agencies working in the Horn of Africa at both regional and national levels. Of this, over €2 million has been provided to the UN world food programme and to the Irish NGOs Concern and Trócaire for emergency programmes specifically in Kenya.

The former Minister, Mr. David Andrews, is currently visiting the Horn of Africa in his capacity as Chairman of the Irish Red Cross and has kindly agreed to provide the Government with a report of the findings of his visit and his assessment of the current situation and response in the affected countries. Mr. Andrews similarly provided a report to me following his visit to Niger in August 2006. This report made a valuable contribution to programming Ireland's response to that particular emergency.

Ireland has an ongoing commitment to assist the people of Kenya in combating the causes of poverty and food insecurity. Ireland provided over €3 million in funding in 2005 to non-governmental organisations working in Kenya, including Concern, Self-Help Development International, Goal, Trócaire, Oxfam and Concern Universal. We continue to keep this situation under close review, including the effect of the recent floods on vulnerable communities in Kenya.