East Africa Drought Crisis

Through the generosity of you and many other supporters, ActionAid and our partners are responding to the drought crisis in East Africa that has affected over 12 million people. Working in communities in north and northeastern Kenya, we have already reached over 250,000 people with immediate relief through school-feeding programs, water trucking, food distribution to vulnerable individuals and families, rehabilitation of wells, and de-stock of livestock (buying livestock from pastoralists at a fair price and distributing the meat to the most food insecure households).

Due to ActionAid’s development work in Kenya for the past few decades and our existing relationships with the communities we work in, we have been able to provide immediate assistance to the people most affected by the drought in Kenya. ActionAid incorporates disaster risk reduction and preparedness measures into our ongoing development work, and in combination with our ability to respond quickly, these communities have been shielded from the far greater consequences of the drought that we are seeing in other parts of the Horn of Africa, especially Somalia.

ActionAid is also confronting the longer-term causes of the drought—the marginalization of pastoral communities and lack of investment in agriculture which have left people living in semi-arid or arid lands particularly vulnerable.

Our three-year response plan will further build the resilience of communities by supporting sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, and community led-preparedness activities. Thank you for helping us making a difference in the lives of millions.

37 year old Abdullahi Omar is a pastoralist farmer in Ijara, North Eastern Kenya. Abdullahi lives in Ruqa village, Ijara, an area where the majority of the pastoralist Somali population earn their livelihood and support their families with their livestock. Like many in the drought affected areas of Northern Kenya, Abdullahi has been affected by the drought. But where many have seen total loss of their crops and livestock, Abdullahi has managed to protect the majority of his livestock because he has access to a water pan constructed by ActionAid and partner Womankind. He has lost 20 goats and 6 cattle in this drought, but still has a heard of 46 goats, 70 cattle and 5 donkeys.