The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification for Acute Malnutrition (IPC AMN) analysis conducted in July 2023 shows that the situation continues to be critical in general even though the situation has improved based on GAM prevalence in most arid counties compared to the same analysis period last year (July 2022). The improvement in the nutrition situation is mainly attributed to the scale-up of responses to address malnutrition outcomes and cumulative effects of drought as well as improved food security situation, including the availability of milk and food stocks resulting from the good performance of the long rains in several counties. 

However, malnutrition levels remained elevated at Phase 4 or above in July 2023 in most arid counties. There is a highly critical situation in Turkana South, Turkana County, with an IPC AMN Phase 5, Extremely Critical and a GAM WHZ of over 30 percent. 

Turkana South is predominantly a pastoral community. During the analysis season, livestock in-migration witnessed during the period stretched the resources such as water and pasture. The water was shared with humans, yet only 17.3 percent of the households treated their water, posing high risk for diseases that contribute to acute malnutrition. Milk produced and consumed was 25 percent of the long-term average (LTA). Insecurities from cross-border cattle raids and resource-based conflicts reduce access to health care services and prevent any outreaches that benefit the children and women in Turkana South. Banditry in the area prevents access to food as this breaks the supply chain of food to the markets worsening food availability in the households that reflected in the poor food consumption, with only 9 percent of the children aged 6-59 months able to access sufficient quality diets. 

• Continued mass screening with integrated outreaches in far flung and hot spot areas. 
• Continued implementation of integrated management of acute malnutrition. 
• Update and implement costed contingency and response plans including El Niño preparedness. 
• Continued multi-sectoral response action in affected communities. 
• Implement of drought recovery interventions and resilience building activities among vulnerable communities. 
• Scale up actions to address poor dietary intake among children aged six to 23 months, poor WASH, and high morbidity. 
• Sustained coordination, nutrition situation and disease surveillance and response monitoring especially in areas which are prone to flooding given El Niño prediction. 
• Intensify disease surveillance and response monitoring. 
• Continued resource mobilisation to ensure healthy supply pipeline. 
• Advocate for counties to finance data and surveillance activities to allow for comprehensive nutrition situation analysis. 
• Enhance essential medical supplies. 
• Scale up of nutrition situation monitoring & surveillance in especially in Semi-Arid counties. 
• Sustain micronutrient supplementation to cushion children and women. 
• Enhance the availability of essential medical supplies to support nutrition interventions. 
• Scale up actions to address dietary intake in women of reproductive age.