Hundreds of thousands of refugees in Kenya are on the brink of starvation after dramatic cuts to US foreign aid slashed food rations to their lowest ever levels, a United Nations official has warned.
At the sprawling Kakuma refugee camp in north-west Kenya—home to around 300,000 people fleeing conflict across Africa and the Middle East—the impact of the crisis is painfully visible.
In Amusait Hospital, gaunt infants with hollow eyes fill the ward for severe acute malnutrition. One baby, Hellen, lies still with wrinkled, peeling skin—a visible effect of prolonged hunger. Nearby, nine-month-old James, the youngest of eight children born to Ugandan refugee Agnes Awila, is barely responsive.
“The food is not enough. My children eat only once a day,” said Ms Awila. “If there’s no food, what do you feed them?”
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), which supports Kakuma’s residents, has been forced to cut aid following a steep reduction in US funding—previously the source of around 70% of its operations in Kenya. As a result, refugees are now receiving only 30% of the minimum recommended food intake to remain healthy.
“If we have a protracted situation where this is what we can manage, then basically we have a slowly starving population,” said Felix Okech, WFP’s head of refugee operations in Kenya.
Outside Kakuma’s food distribution centre, refugees queue for hours in sweltering heat to receive their meagre rations. At the collection point, mothers like Mukuniwa Bililo Mami receive cooking oil, lentils, and rice. It’s not enough, she said.
“We used to eat three meals a day. Now we’re given rations that can’t last one month, yet we’re told to stretch it for two,” said the 51-year-old Congolese refugee.
Ms Mami, who is diabetic, has also lost access to monthly cash transfers that once allowed her to buy vegetables suited to her condition. These payments—known locally as bamba chakula—were also halted due to US funding cuts, dealing a blow to local markets.
Traders like Badaba Ibrahim, who fled Sudan’s Nuba Mountains, say business has collapsed. “They [refugees] will tell you, ‘My children haven’t eaten today.’ They beg all day outside my shop,” he said.
In another corner of the camp, South Sudanese refugee Agnes Livio shares one afternoon meal—served on a single plate—with her five young sons. The family, living in a cramped iron-sheet shelter, now eats just once a day. “We used to get porridge for breakfast, but not anymore,” she said.
Back at Amusait Hospital, several malnourished children are being discharged to return to communities with little food and worsening conditions. The WFP warns the situation could deteriorate rapidly if more funding isn’t secured by August.
“It is a really dire situation,” Mr Okech admitted. “We have some signals from one or two donors, but if you’re missing 70%, those prospects are not good.”
Without urgent international intervention, aid workers say thousands of children in Kakuma and other refugee camps across Kenya could face starvation within weeks.
Chioma Kalu
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