US First Lady Jill Biden has arrived in Kenya as the Horn of Africa region endures its worst drought in decades.
The past five rainy seasons have all been poor and that’s led to millions of livestock dying as well as the destruction of many farmers’ crop harvests.
And now climatologists say the next rainy season will be poor too.
It means around 22 million people are at risk of severe hunger in Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.
The war in Ukraine has also had an effect, limiting crucial grain exports to Africa and elsewhere.
President Joe Biden’s Democratic party has a personal link with Kenya; Barack Obama’s father was Kenyan and he visited when he was a Senator in 2006 and as president in 2015.
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But Jill Biden’s tour is mostly aimed at deepening American ties with Africa, which has become a diplomatic battleground since Russia invaded Ukraine last year.
As she was in Namibia on Thursday its government – along with 14 other African states – abstained in a vote at the UN calling on Russia to immediately withdraw.
And Eritrea, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Mali were three of just seven states who voted against it.
It was earlier repoted that, First lady Jill Biden arrived in Namibia on Wednesday, the first stop on a trip meant to show the administration’s commitment to Africa, according to a White House official.
She was accompanied by her granddaughter Naomi and was greeted at the airport by Monica Geingos, the first lady of the Republic of Namibia, as well as by dancers and drummers.
Biden and Geingos visited the “Heroes’ Acre” — a war memorial — for a wreath laying.
The women then traveled to the state house, where Namibian President Hage Geingob greeted them.
Jill Biden’s second stop is in Kenya as Kenya has faced multiple droughts over the last 15 years, causing major food supply and public health issues.
The White House official said women’s equality and gender based violence are also on the agenda.
