Mount Elgon - Facts and figures, 30 November 2008

In response to the violence in Mount Elgon, the ICRC started working with the Kenya Red Cross Society in May 2007. Initially, 40,000 people required assistance, the number rising quickly as the security situation worsened. At the end of the distributions in October 2008, the Red Cross was helping over 72,000 displaced persons from the Cheptais, Kopsiro, Kaptama and Kapsakwony divisions of Mount Elgon.

Red Cross action in 2007:

• At the onset of the violence in May, 6,000 people received household items comprising kitchen sets, tarpaulins, buckets, mosquito nets, kangas (the rectangles of cloth commonly worn in Kenya), sleeping mats, jerrycans, soap, clothing and blankets.

• In November, more than 5,000 displaced people received food: cooking oil, maize and beans. The number rose to over 20,000 in December.

• 72,000 people received food between February and October. Every month, each household received 37.5 kg maize, 12.5 kg of beans, 5 litres of oil and 0.5 kg of salt.

• 42,000 internally displaced persons who had access to land received seed in April. The seed comprised 10 kg of maize seed, 15 kg of bean seed and 100 g of vegetable seed (carrot, cabbage, onion, tomato and green pepper).

• Families received fertilizers (50 kg of urea and 25 kg of DAP) and two hoes to enable them to grow food.
  
• 3,000 families benefited from agronomy kits in October. The kits comprised 100 g of vegetable seed (onion, carrot, cabbage and tomato) and 25 kg of DAP.

• The number of people who received household kits increased to 30,000 at the end of November 2008.
  
• The ICRC has been working with the Kenya Red Cross Society to reunite families separated by the violence.