Save the Children warns today that two million Kenyan children under the age of five are now in urgent need of emergency food aid as the hunger crisis in the country worsens.

Young children are being hit hardest by the lack of food, which has left 10 million people in need of urgent assistance. Children are most vulnerable to the effects of hunger, which leave them weak and at greater risk of life-threatening diseases. The drought has destroyed crops, killed livestock and made access to clean water extremely difficult. 
 
In Wajir in north east Kenya, people are walking an average of 45-55 km to reach water or land to graze their livestock. As the situation worsens families are facing a desperate struggle to find enough nutritious food to meet their children’s needs.  In Mandera in North East Kenya where Save the Children operates a nutrition programme, one in every three children is acutely malnourished.  

Save the Children is also warning that conditions in Kenya are set to deteriorate further with the arrival of seasonal El Nino rains in these severely drought affected regions. The heavy rains are predicted to bring severe flooding that could trigger large - scale landslides,  making thousands homeless and cutting off remote areas from receiving much - needed aid. 
 
The rains are also likely to cause a sharp rise in the number of malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoeal diseases, due to the build-up of stagnant water and the contamination of wells and water sources as a result of the flooding. This will be particularly dangerous for children who are already malnourished, as they are far more susceptible to disease.

Hannah Reichardt, a Save the Children emergency worker who has just returned from Kenya, said: “Kenya is at the height of an acute crisis and children are suffering the impact more than anyone.  Repeated droughts mean the numbers of malnourished children have rocketed, and their lives will be at even greater risk from disease as the rains come. We urgently need to get more food into the region as once flooding begins the area will be cut off and our job will get even more difficult.  Children are in danger and world leaders and international donors must act now if we are to stop thousands of unnecessary deaths.”

Save the Children is appealing for urgent funds to support our life-saving work in Kenya. To donate to the Kenya Emergency Appeal please visit Save the Children UK's website.

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For further information or interviews a Save the Children press officer is available 24 hours a day on 0044 (0) 07831 650409.