Over three million people affected by the ongoing drought in some parts of the country will have relief after the authorization of the release of Sh4.1 billion by the cabinet today.
In a dispatch shared after a today’s cabinet, the government has noted that the relief comes as a scale up response on the affected regions as conditions have deteriorated rapidly since January 2026 following the failure of the October-December 2025 short rains.
“On the drought in some parts of the country, the Cabinet authorized the release of Sh4.1 billion to scale up response interventions across affected regions,” the Cabinet announced.
The additional funding will supplement allocations made in December 2025 and January 2026, which supported relief food, logistics, and limited non-food assistance.
Mandera, Wajir, Kwale, and Kilifi counties are in the Alarm phase, while 12 counties are in the Alert phase, most of them on a worsening trajectory. Acute malnutrition continues to rise, affecting over 810,000 children and 104,000 pregnant and lactating women, alongside other vulnerable groups.
The drought conditions have deteriorated rapidly since January 2026 following the failure of the October-December 2025 short rains.
An estimated 3.3 million people are currently facing acute food insecurity, a number that could rise to 3.6 million by June 2026 if urgent intervention is not taken, including in pockets of counties outside the arid and semi-arid areas.
Current stocks are expected to last only two to three weeks, underscoring the urgency of further support.
This is even as the Cabinet also raised concern over deteriorating livestock conditions, increased livestock deaths and distress sales, rising human-wildlife conflict, and the risk of escalation into an emergency phase.
