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Kenya: Slum-dwellers priced into hunger

NAIROBI: Millions of people who live in Kenya's sprawling slums are among those worst hit by the food price crisis, yet they receive far less humanitarian attention than other demographic groups, according to officials, who pointed in particular to the plight of malnourished children in such settlements.

29 May 2009

"While there are also very serious food crises elsewhere in Kenya - for example, in the north - they at least get some attention from governments and donors, whereas the crisis in the cities is often completely forgotten or ignored," Alun McDonald, the regional media and communications officer of Oxfam GB, told IRIN.

"In Kibera [Nairobi's largest slum] alone, there are over 5,000 children under five years old who are suffering from malnutrition - more than 1,000 of them suffering from severe cases," McDonald said. "Severe child malnutrition should not be happening in a modern capital city."

Read the full article on IRIN.