“Fortified biscuits are also used as a ready-to-eat food that is high in nutrients and calories, and that is for people who are moving or who do not have the ability to be able to cook, then this is a very important kind of product for immediate nutritional support,” explains World Food Program spokeswoman Challis McDonough.

Other products available are compressed food bars and micronutrient powder that is sprinkled on food.

Hospitals, aid workers scramble to help

Stable populations not facing an immediate emergency situation receive supplementary rations from the “fortified blended foods” category. These are powders that are mixed with oil and water and cooked as porridge. They also contain a host of micronutrients, and are used mainly in supplementary feeding and mother and child health programs.

It is distribution day at Kakuma Mission Hospital, which happens twice a month. More than 300 women and their children line up under a hot sun to receive cooking oil and a supplement known as Corn-Soya Blend.

Thomas Ekai, the administrator of Kakuma Mission Hospital, said, "The normal ratio per month is actually 7.5 kilograms [16.5 pounds] and the oil is 0.75 [kilograms], so it is one-tenth of the other food. That is what they are given if they are found to be malnourished and they do the OTP [out-patient therapy] there. That means they get the food and they go home. It is done twice a month and it is mixed here. They go with the food mixed - they may not actually go there and do the mixing as required. ”