By Rogers Wanambwa 

KIU, Main Campus - The United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) and the World Food Programme (WFP) estimate that 41 million East Africans are prone to hunger because of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

c��?Urban populations in East Africa are highly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. Particularly 35 million people, or 58 % of the urban populations living in informal settlements who are at high risk from its impact,c⬝ said the WFP and UN-Habitat in a joint press update on Tuesday. 

They also said that that the livelihoods and incomes of these urban populations are seriously affected, particularly the urban poor who depend on the informal sector, with serious consequences for their food security and nutrition.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic has hit the world hard with a global fatality rate estimated at between 0.6 % and 3.5 %, East Africa has only seen a fatality rate of just 1%. 

This means that the East African population is being hit harder by the economic effects of the pandemic more than the virus itself. 

East Africa so far has a combined number of more than 53,000 COVID-19 cases with over 820 confirmed deaths.