USAID/BHA Kenya Assistance Overview, April 2024

CONTEXT

• Kenya continues to face the effects of recurrent climate shocks—primarily drought and flooding—and disease outbreaks, which generate displacement and humanitarian needs. Notably, above-average October-to-December 2023 short rains and consequent floods across Kenya resulted in at least 174 deaths and the displacement of approximately 546,000 people between early October and mid-December 2023, according to the UN. Prior to the October-to-December rains, the region experienced five consecutive seasons of below-average rainfall between 2020 and 2022 that led to a severe drought and insufficient access to food and water, limiting agricultural outputs and livelihood opportunities while also reducing populations’ ability to cope with future shocks.

• Flooding associated with the March–May long rains and El Niño weather patterns is also driving displacement in early 2024, with at least 150,000 people displaced as of late April; flood-displaced populations remain in need of emergency relief commodities and food, shelter, and water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) assistance, according to the UN and the Government of Kenya. Flooding often contaminates WASH infrastructure and damages roads, impeding affected populations’ access to health facilities, limiting humanitarian reach, and increasing the risk of vector-borne and waterborne disease outbreaks, including exacerbating the ongoing cholera outbreak that began in October 2022, according to relief actors.

• Despite causing widespread flood damage to farmland in late 2023, the elevated rainfall after the prolonged drought increased agricultural labor opportunities and improved crop and livestock production, raising incomes and reducing reliance on coping strategies such as skipping meals and selling livestock among households across Kenya, the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) reports. However, many households in pastoral areas continue to face acute malnutrition and food insecurity in early 2024 due to the effects of five consecutive seasons of below-average rainfall and the 2023–2024 El Niño floods.

ASSISTANCE

• USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) supports nine international and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and two UN agencies responding to the urgent needs of those affected by drought and floods in Kenya, providing nearly $564 million in emergency assistance between Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 and FY 2024 to date. USAID/BHA also supports two partners in building resilience and reducing disaster-related risks among affected populations in Kenya, providing nearly $97 million between FY 2022 and FY 2024 for early recovery, risk reduction, and resilience (ER4) interventions.

• USAID/BHA NGO partners conducted drought response activities in 15 arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) counties, supporting the most vulnerable populations with agriculture, cash, food, health, livelihood, nutrition, protection, and WASH interventions. With USAID/BHA FY 2024 funding, NGO partner the Kenya Red Cross Society also provides sanitation and shelter kits—consisting of sleeping mats, soaps, tarps, and thermal blankets—to flood-displaced persons in Garissa, Lamu, and Tana River counties.

• With USAID/BHA support, the UN World Food Program (WFP) provides emergency cash transfers and in-kind food assistance—such as cereals, pulses, and vegetable oil—to drought-affected, food-insecure communities. Moreover, WFP supports ASAL counties, including populations in refugee camps, through the procurement of specialized nutritious foods used for the treatment of malnutrition. WFP assistance also contributes to the long-term resilience of communities through climate-adaptive programming specifically focused on reducing food and livelihoods loss in the wake of climatic shocks.

• USAID/BHA also supports the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to address the nutrition needs of drought- and flood-affected populations in 11 ASAL counties. The UN agency facilitates mass nutrition screenings for pregnant and lactating women and children ages five years and younger; provides therapeutic foods for the treatment of malnutrition; and supports emergency mobile nutrition outreach and referrals for individuals suffering from malnutrition.

• Through USAID/BHA ER4 programming, NGOs Catholic Relief Services and Mercy Corps continue to implement Nawiri, an eight-year resilience food security activity in four counties experiencing chronic malnutrition and the adverse effects of drought. The Nawiri program enhances livestock disease surveillance systems, as well as systems for potable water and agricultural schemes to increase crop and livestock productivity; facilitates the monitoring and treatment of wasting; invests in livestock feed for pastoralist households; provides cash-based transfers to food-insecure populations; and supports health care services for people and livestock. Nawiri also supports village savings and loans associations, which can help enable livelihood diversification and strengthen communities’ capacity to withstand climatic shocks. In FY 2023, Nawiri assisted more than 433,000 people through multi-sector activities that aim to reduce wasting and address the underlying causes of persistent household food insecurity and malnutrition.