Highlights
• This is the second round of WFP’s household food security and outcome monitoring that looks at food security indicators among beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries across the livelihood zones.
• September is the end of the lean season that precedes the onset of the short rains season in the month of October. It is also the month when households begin to harvest green maize in anticipation of the harvest period in October/November.
• Food security among both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries have changed with some 30 percent of households in both groups being severely food insecure, compared with 22 perent in May. At the same time a higher proportion are also food secure and it is thus among the moderately food insecure where households have either improved or worsened.
• There is a slight increase of households with poor food consumption among both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries with 14 (beneficiaries) and 16 percent (non-beneficiaries) in September compared with 10 and 13 percent respectively in May.
• Food prices have however reduced in all livelihood zones apart from North Western and North Eastern Pastoral livelihood zones, and the cost of the average price of the Minimum Healthy Food Basket has reduced from 63Ksh/person/day to 61Ksh. North Western Pastoral zone has however the highest price of the basket, at 72Ksh, which show the large differences from one zone to another.
• Purchasing power has improved among beneficiaries where over 50 percent of the households have expenditures that are double that of the cost of minimum healthy food basket, indicating that they had enough money in September to cover their own food and non-food needs.
• The coping strategy index has reduced in all locations apart from Northern pastoral zone where the index has increased, indicating that households use coping strategies more often due to food shortages.
