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Drought in Kenya: The cost of inaction, as of Nov 2021

Countries
Kenya
Sources
OCHA
Publication date

SEVERE DROUGHT LEAVES COMMUNITIES IN URGENT NEED OF ASSISTANCE

Three consecutive poor rainy seasons in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) of Kenya have exhausted families’ coping capacities and left more than 2.9 million people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. In October 2021, some areas of coastal and south-eastern Kenya reported their worst rainfall performance since 1981. The worsening drought has significantly hampered crop production and damaged livestock, leaving nearly 2.4 million people in the ASAL region struggling to put food on their table every day (IPC Phases 3 and above), including around 368,000 people in emergency levels of hunger (IPC Phase 4), and over 523,000 children under age 5 in urgent need of treatment for acute malnutrition. Water sources for both people and livestock have dried up, forcing families to walk longer distances and causing tensions among communities, which has led to an increase in inter-communal conflict. In some counties, families have started to adopt extreme coping mechanisms. Cases of child marriage have been reported in some areas and school dropouts reported in Kilifi, Kwale and Tana River, where children are engaging in labour or survival activities to support their families, including producing charcoal to generate income or walking in search of water.

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