ACAPS Thematic Report – Kenya: Impact of drought on the arid and semi-arid regions (29 March 2022)

CRISIS OVERVIEW

The Kenya Government declared drought affecting parts of the country a national disaster in September 2021 (Kenya Presidency 08/09/2021). These drought conditions resulted from three consecutive below-average rainy seasons beginning with the October–December 2020 rainy season. Consequently, 3.5 million people are estimated to face acute food insecurity and need humanitarian assistance in March–May 2022 (KFSSG 08/03/2022). Drought has affected 23 counties in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs). Some communities living in these counties are marginalised, have inadequate access to basic services, and have lost ownership over most of their ancestral land. The most affected counties are Kitui, Makueni, Mandera, Turkana, and Wajir, where around 50% of the people in need of food assistance in ASALs live (KFSSG 12/2021). Drought-affected populations have experienced consecutive shocks since 2016, including natural hazards, such as drought and floods, COVID-19, and a desert locust invasion in 2020 (OCHA 30/09/2021). Poor pasture and browse conditions and below-average crop production have disrupted pastoralism, agropastoralism, and farming, the main livelihood activities in the affected areas (KFSSG 31/08/2021). In 2021, northwestern Kenya experienced the driest conditions and highest temperatures since 1981. The combined effect of high temperatures and below-average rainfall worsened the impact on vegetation, pasture, and water resources (WFP 20/01/2022).

Source: Assessment Capacities Project