NAIROBI, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in Kenya stood at 1.8 million in December, Kenya's National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) said on Friday.

In a report issued in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, the NDMA said that the figure increased from a million in July, following a "drought phase" especially in the 23 arid and semi-arid regions of the East African nation.

"Acute malnutrition has also been noted across the counties with 479,498 children aged six to 59 months and 110,169 pregnant and breastfeeding mothers currently malnourished acutely and in need of treatment," the NDMA said.

The agency noted that some 39 percent of the arid counties reported a nutrition situation worse than usual at this time of year, which could be attributed to the limited number of outreach activities delivering essential nutrition services coupled with the high morbidity rates.

Among regions with cases of malnutrition are Baringo, Turkana, Kitui, Laikipia, Lamu, Makueni and West Pokot.

Earlier, a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development showed that the number of food-insecure people in the Horn of Africa stood at 64.8 million as of November, with climate shocks being the primary drivers. Enditem

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