Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi distributes food to residents at a past event. [Photo: Amason Kingi/ Facebook.com]
The Kilifi County government on Friday came to the rescue of famine-hit residents in the county by donating food stuffs, fertilizer and maize seed for planting.The devolved unit distributed 1,000 90-kilogram bags of maize and 120 bags of beans.It also gave out 3,500 bags of fertilizer in aid of small holder maize growers and maize seed for planting worth Sh15 million.Governor Amason Kingi said the fertilizer will help spring-up agricultural production and subsequently fight food insecurity.The World Food Programme (WFP) recently reported that residents in 23 out of the 47 counties- Kilifi among them- faced starvation following prolonged drought particularly in Coast, Eastern and North Eastern regions.Over 480,000 children were also at risk of dropping out of school due to famine, the UN agency reported.The national government and county governments in the affected areas disbursed Sh7.3 billion and Sh 2 billion respectively to help fight drought although WFP said the amount was insufficient.Kingi blamed the national government for failing to fully support the agricultural sector.He said Agriculture is now devolved but the money allocated to it was insufficient to support all its activities.The maize, beans and fertilizer Kingi distributed cost Sh13 million.