Brussels, 20/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Commission has decided to allocate a further 5.05 million euro in emergency aid to the victims of the drought in Kenya. This aid, to come from the Commission's Humanitarian Aid department, ECHO, will finance projects to help some 3.5 million people, including 500,000 school children. The decision brings the Commission's total response to the drought in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia) to 78 million euro - including 17 million euro for emergency relief. European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis Michel announced the new funding while attending the 11th Summit of IGAD (the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development) which brings together Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda (see related article). “The lack of rain in parts of East Africa has put the livelihoods of millions of people at risk. The problem is not the lack of food. It's just that many farmers face losing their cattle and are just too poor to buy the food that is available,” said Mr Michel. The EU aid is part of a two-pronged approach: emergency aid financed from the ECHO budget, while medium- and long-term assistance is largely financed from the food aid and food security budget line and through funding from the European Development Fund (EDF).