The Kenyan government on Monday warned that at least 1.6 million Kenyans were at risk of starvation due to prolonged drought in the East African country. "The rains started late and ended early [this year]," Cabinet Secretary for Devolution and Planning Ann Waiguru told reporters. "The amount of rainfall was less than normal and its distribution in space and time was generally poor," she added. Waiguru said the areas that had experienced extremely poor rainfall this year were in the pastoral zones of the country's north and northeast and the marginal agricultural zones in the southeast.