Horn of Africa Food Security Response – Kenya
Above: Children walk through carcasses as they roll home water jerrycans in Wajir Country, Kenya. Drought has decimated almost all animals in the area. (Photo: Billy Owiti, Oxfam)
Kenya is currently experiencing its worst drought in over 40 years, with around 4.4 million people facing high levels of food insecurity, predicted to increase to 5.4 million by mid-2023 – the highest level seen in Kenya in years and a five-fold increase from 2020.
A combination of cyclical shocks have exacerbated the situation, including five successive below-average rainy seasons, rising food prices due to the COVID-19 pandemic and supply chain disruptions, alongside conflict and insecurity within arid and semi-arid regions. Livestock has been decimated, with an estimated 2.5 million head of livestock lost, further impacting livelihoods for pastoralists, one of the main economic activities in the country’s dry regions. Kenya also hosts some half a million refugees.
In Marsabit County, which is facing an emergency drought phase, over 55% of the population is food insecure and households are resorting to livelihoods coping strategies, such as begging, to address food gaps.
The AHP Response
On 11 February 2023, the Australian Government announced a further $25 million in emergency assistance to respond to growing global food insecurity. This included an additional $15 million for the Horn of Africa to provide food, water and other essential support, delivered through Australian and local NGOs, the International Committee of the Red Cross and UN partners.
From this funding, $3 million was allocated for an activation of the Australian Humanitarian Partnership (AHP) in Kenya. An additional activation in Ethiopia was also funded through this package.
The AHP response will be led Oxfam Australia through its national affiliate, Oxfam in Kenya, and two independent national organisations – Strategies for Northern Development (SND) and Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) – working under the umbrella of the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands Humanitarian Network (AHN) in Marsabit County.
AHN, a membership network of 13 local organisations including Women’s Rights Organisations covering 10 of the worst affected counties, is coordinating the drought response within the framework of local humanitarian leadership. The AHP response will support the institutional strengthening and development of AHN, PACIDA and SND, empowering these organisations to extend their roles in national drought response.
Oxfam and implementing partners will address food insecurity and malnutrition via Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance to a projected 700 drought-affected households. Specific attention will be given to families at risk of resorting to early child marriage as an extreme coping mechanism.
Tailored WASH activities will address acute water stress and public health risks exacerbated by the drought. Proposed initiatives include the provision and rehabilitation of WASH infrastructure, nutrition and hygiene promotion at household and community levels, the distribution of WASH supplies to households and other public health measures.
The project is designed to ensure drought-affected girls, women, boys and men are protected against gender-based violence and drought- induced protection risks. Programming will include the provision of services for survivors and those at-risk and the development of information, communication and education materials on GBV prevention and response including mapped referral pathways.
The response will run for 12 months, until mid 2024, and aims to reach more than 62,000 participants.