The two countries inked deals for 87 million dollars in development assistance that Kenyan officials said would help the government concentrate its spending on projects to help millions of people at risk of famine from the drought.

The French Development Agency (AFD) gave the country two loans totaling 72.5 million dollars to improve water distribution in the capital and jumpstart stalled rural electrification projects in six remote districts, it said in a statement.

"The projects aim to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants in Nairobi and to simultaneously complement the implementation of the reforms in the water sector, by enabling the most urgent investments to be made," it said.

Tokyo gave Nairobi a grant of 10.5 million dollars and an additional four million dollars in aid to help farmers buy equipment and fertilizer amid what President Mwai Kibaki has declared a "national disaster" from the drought, the Japanese embassy said.

Kenyan Finance Minister David Mwiraria, speaking at the signing ceremony, said the assistance came "at an appropriate time to complement the government's efforts to increase food production."

At least 40 people have died from malnutrition and related illness in northeast Kenya alone since December and about 2.5 million Kenyans are expected to need food aid to survive the drought.

The UN says the drought has threatened 11 million people with starvation across the Horn of Africa.

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