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Morocco to spend $1 billion to mitigate drought impact

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Morocco will spend 10 billion dirhams ($ 1.07 bln) on a national plan to mitigate the impact of drought on farmers and the economy, the royal palace said.

The plan targets water management, helping farmers and agricultural insurance as well as ensuring wheat and animal feed supply, the palace said in a statement.

Morocco is experiencing the worst drought in 30 years as the country has registered a rainfall deficit of 64% so far this year.

Kenya

In northern Kenya, the ribs of dead sheep stretch towards the blazing sun as parched herders trudge past, a day’s march from water. The value of their skinny goats is falling as fast as the prices scrawled on the sacks in the market are shooting up.

More than 465 000 children under five and over 93 000 pregnant and breastfeeding women are malnourished in Kenya’s northern region, the United Nations says.

Food prices are climbing. In Marsabit County, they are 16% above average, data from the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) shows.

“Goats are unsellable, cows are even worse to sell and our children are starving,” Moses Loloju, a herder from Isiolo county who volunteered to help distribute food donations from the county government.

 

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