Unrest In Kenya Threatens Stability In Region
Portland, OR February 11, 2008 12:25 p.m.
The Oregon charity, Mercy Corps is warning that trouble in Kenya is threatening the economy of the entire region. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports.
Mercy Corps has dispatched an emergency team to western Kenya. It is working to provide potable water and latrines to two camps near the city of Eldoret.
Mercy Corps global emergency director, Randy Martin, says the strife is having all kinds of effects.
For example, the main road that links land-locked nations of Sudan and Uganda to the Kenyan coast is blocked, meaning fuel prices have skyrocketed. There are other problems too.
Randy Martin: “About 50 percent of the maize that’s consumed in that region comes out of the Rift Valley. Planting season is next month. So far there’s not adequate seeds or fertilizers to begin the planting season.”
Kenya has long been a bastion of stability in the region. Mercy Corps is worried instability there will push neighbors like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda toward new humanitarian crises.
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