Severe drought has left more than two million Kenyans facing hunger with northeastern cattle-raising communities suffering the most, according to the United Nations.
Disturbing images of starving livestock near the Somali border have recently underscored the devastating impacts of climate change in this region. Shortened rainy seasons have increasingly exposed communities to drought conditions, and animals are often the first casualties.
Current livestock deaths echo the crisis from 2020 to 2023 when millions of animals perished across Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. A potential famine in Somalia was narrowly averted through increased international aid.
The Horn of Africa has endured four consecutive failed wet seasons. The latest October-December wet period ranked among the driest ever recorded with eastern Kenya experiencing its worst drought for that season since 1981, according to UN health officials.
Kenya’s National Drought Management Authority reported drought conditions in 10 counties. Mandera County, near the Somalia border, has reached “alarm” status with severe water shortages leading to livestock deaths and child malnutrition.
Neighbouring countries are facing similar challenges. The UN’s World Health Organization reported comparable conditions across Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda in late January.
Islamic Relief’s assessment in southern Somalia revealed “shocking food shortages as families flee the region’s worsening drought”. More than three million Somalis have been displaced to camps, where 70 percent of those in Baidoa survive on one meal or less per day as children exhibit “visible signs of malnutrition and wasting”.
Experts attributed these conditions largely to climate change. The warming of the Indian Ocean has generated more destructive tropical storms while droughts have grown longer and more severe.
These changes are devastating African communities reliant on rain-fed agriculture. Farmers said rising temperatures are destroying their livestock pastures and ruining crops.
Africa is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather due to limited disaster preparedness infrastructure. Despite contributing only 3 to 4 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, according to the UN, the continent bears a disproportionate burden of climate change impacts.