---

Kenya (Drought and Famine)

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point about the contribution of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy, which does very good and important work—work that is appreciated by politicians and parliamentarians across the globe, but particularly in a number of Commonwealth countries. The hon. Gentleman rightly drew the attention of the House to the issues relating to drought, famine, corruption and good governance. Those issues would challenge any state, but they are challenging Kenya in particular at the moment. He is right to highlight the fact that for millions of people living in Kenya, hunger is a harsh reality. In 2009, an estimated 3.8 million Kenyans needed emergency food aid, hence the importance of today's debate. It is perhaps worth pointing out that the real problem is not that there is no food available in Kenya, but that food is available only at a price that puts it beyond the reach of most people, particularly those living in remote or marginalised areas. There are a number of reasons for that. As the hon. Gentleman said, last year's drought had far-reaching consequences for Kenyan farmers, for other food producers and for people in Kenya more generally. El Niño rains were expected from October to December, but many areas experienced a shortfall of rain. It is a cruel irony that although rain is now falling in Kenya, it is falling at a rate that has caused harmful flooding in many areas in the past week alone. All that means that Kenyans are likely to suffer even more hunger this year than they did last year, and that is why the work of the charities that the hon. Gentleman described is so important. The second barrier to affordable food has been the post-election violence that has blighted some areas. As a result of tensions and conflict, pastoralists in north and east Kenya have had difficulty accessing land and water sources. The fear of violence also means that even those who did manage to produce food face problems supplying it to their usual markets. The third challenge has been the massive rise in food prices. The hon. Gentleman will probably remember that food prices across the world rose steeply in 2008 in line with rising oil prices. Although global prices fell later, Kenyan prices remained high last year, with maize costing about double the average global rate. That was in part due to high transport costs, but according to research recently carried out by the World Bank, domestic prices in Kenya also reflect subsidies that the Kenyan Government have offered to maize producers. By subsidising producers who sell maize to the National Cereals and Produce Board, the Government have, in effect, kept maize prices high. In addition, although the subsidies were meant to be part of the response to the food shortage, the reality is that only a minority of large farmers benefited, leaving the impoverished majority even worse off. Indeed, according to the same research, half of all maize revenues are enjoyed by just 2 per cent. of farmers. Those, then, are some of the underlying causes of the shortage of affordable food in Kenya. I assure the hon. Gentleman that the Government are committed to trying to tackle these challenges and to giving help to those who need it immediately. Let me set out how we have responded. First, on humanitarian aid, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State announced in October that we would provide £39 million of extra funding to tackle the food crisis across the horn of Africa, bringing Britain's total new commitments for 2009 to £83 million. As the hon. Gentleman will recognise, the horn covers a number of countries beyond northern Kenya, but Kenya certainly benefited. I have to tell the hon. Gentleman that Ethiopia must remain our priority, given the sheer number of people in need. In 2009 alone, however, our direct humanitarian support for Kenya reached nearly £15 million. That money is helping to provide a full emergency food ration for up to 220,000 people for three months, treatment for more than 25,000 cases of severe acute malnutrition, clean water for 200,000 households and vaccination against measles for 400,000 children.