The Chinese Government has donated 6.65 billion KSH worth of emergency food aid to the affected countries in the Horn of Africa. KSH 1.82 billion KSH worth of emergency food aid has been allocated to Kenya. At the same time, Chinese companies and expatriates in Kenya’s “Chinese for Kenya” relief food programme has raised 25.6 million Kenyan Shillings.

In Zimbabwe, China has donated 14 million US dollars' worth of food aid, a country in which 1.7 million people need assistance. The food is intended for villagers who lost their crops due to drought. The donations, in the form of rice and wheat, however will have to be swapped for the staple maize-meal, said the paper.

Last month the UN launched an appeal for 488 million US for Zimbabwe's humanitarian needs, with the world body saying that food security was "a pressing issue" because drought affected six out of the country's 10 provinces earlier this year.

This comes in the wake of Africa’s soul searching on the perennial hunger episodes the continent is facing. There is a growing sentiment that the continent’s hunger is artificial.