Kenya: Food crisis prompts diet changes
A 50 percent rise in food prices in Kenya since the start of 2008 has led many people to drastically reduce their daily diets, according to the World Food Programme (WFP).
Lunch time at a school in Nairobi's Mathare slums: Many Kenyans are facing food insecurity following sharp food prices, drought and post-election violence in January and February. (Image: Julius Mwelu/IRIN)
"There has been a sharp increase in food prices, especially of the staple, maize," WFP information officer, Gabrielle Menezes, told IRIN.
A two-kilogramme packet of maize flour, currently retailing at Ksh80 (US $1.3), cost just Ksh50 earlier this year.
"The situation in the arid districts of Turkana and Mandera [northern Kenya] has especially deteriorated, with pastoralists migrating to neighbouring countries in search of pasture," said Menezes.
