Turkana Wind farm unveils Sh12m food relief plan in Marsabit
Bernard Sigei
PROJECT: Lake Turkana Wind Power Ltd (LTWP) has launched a two-month emergency food relief programme to a tune over Sh12 million targetting 13,000 primary school-going children in Laismais Constituency, Marsabit County.
The programme runs up to March this year. Over 60 primary schools in the arid region are set to receive cereals, salt and cooking fat through the programme set to keep the kids in school for two months.
The move was informed by the prolonged drought in the region worsened by Covid-19 pandemic which has crippled the economy.
This has led to high rate of school dropouts and dire need of humanitarian assistance.
Speaking during the launch, Phylip Leferink, LTWP chief executive said that the programme is timely with many children yet to report back to school due to food and water challenges.
“This initiative is important because it will see many malnourished primary school children go back to school even as they get provided with sufficient food daily to keep them in school” he added.
Speaking at one of the beneficiary schools, Laismais sub-County director of Education Alio Abdullah said the project would go a long way to supplement what the government already provides to schools across the region.
School children
“The government provides food aid to school children in arid and semi-arid regions throughout the school session and we are excited that Lake Turkana Wind Power has chipped in to boost the programme as this will help keep the students in school in the long run,” he said.
Abdullah added: “Like-minded organizations and individuals are more than welcome to join forces to assist the noble cause.”
In the quest to keep children in school and assist the hunger-bitten locals cushion the surging starvation cases, the Wind Farm started a water delivery programme late last year to provide water around the region.
With a 365-turbine sprawling wind farm on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, the project provides 310 megawatts of renewable energy to the national grid.
