A high-level U.S. government team has arrived in Kenya to assess the impact of the regional drought and discuss solutions with Kenyan officials.

The team, led by Jill Biden, wife of U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, arrived in Kenya Monday morning. Biden then went to the Dadaab refugee camps, where tens of thousands of Somali famine refugees have fled in recent weeks.

The White House says Biden's trip is meant to show U.S. commitment to helping Horn of Africa drought victims.

The United Nations says more than 12 million people across the Horn are in urgent need of food aid.

Kenya has avoided the famine conditions spreading across southern Somalia but U.N. agencies say parts of the country are experiencing a food emergency.

The White House says Biden will meet with Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to discuss ways of responding to the crisis.

It says she will also meet with Kenya's agriculture minister to discuss long-term food security programs.

Biden is accompanied on the trip by U.S. Senator Bill Frist, and Raj Shah, administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development.