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)](https://biz-file.com/c/0806/17586.jpg)
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.
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