The government has been urged to come up with innovative ways to prevent drought that is affecting the country.
Kenya Red Cross Secretary General Abbas Gullet said in the past, drought occurred every five to six years but the cycle has now become shorter, more frequent and intense.
Gullet said the only way to break the drought cycle is through innovative solutions that will enhance food security especially in drought prone areas.
“The ongoing drought threatens the lives of millions of people and livestock and the drought cycle can only be broken through innovative solutions,” he said.
Speaking at the KRCS headquarters, Gullet said more than 340,000 children under five years are malnourished and about four million Kenyans are starving.
The secretary general said due to the prolonged drought, KRCS has been forced to revise the Sh1 billion appeal which targetted 340,786 people early this year to Sh2.5 billion.
He said malnutrition is above the emergency threshold of 15 per cent in many counties, with Mandera climbing to 32 per cent.
“The situation is getting worse every day. Malnutrition among children is steadily climbing, children are getting sick, livelihoods of families are decimated.”
“We are targetting 14 counties with emergency interventions, with those generally considered hard to reach or having limited humanitarian space being prioritized,” said Mr Gullet.