NZ woman to feed Kenyan orphans 

A Canterbury businesswoman wants to help Kenya's starving children - by shipping over supplies based on dog food.

Christine Drummond plans to ship over 6000 emergency packs, but some food agencies say it may not be the best way to help.

Drummond, a station farmer and founder of Mighty Mix dog food, has modified her dog biscuit recipe and has come up with a mix she says is fit for human consumption.

With ingredients like flax seed, green lipped mussels and deer velvet, Drummond even eats it herself.

"I sprinkle it on my porridge in the morning, and also on my lunch or tea, and it just gives me that wee pick-up," she says.

However there is concern that her compassion may be misguided.

"Part of our concern about the ingredients is the young children in Kenya are not used to these kinds of foods," said Oxfam New Zealand spokesperson Barry Coates.

"When they [children] are in a stressed state and their defences are low, introducing new foods can be a major problem for them to digest them."

Most of the ingredients will be sourced in Kenya and the final product made there for distribution through an aid agency.

Drummond says she's paying personally for the first shipment, but won't say how much that'll cost her.

Forty-two tonnes of the mixture are on their way from Canterbury to Kenya. Once it arrives, Drummond hopes it will be used to feed more than 140 orphans for two months.