Kenya
Parts of Kenya are severely affected by the recurrent drought in the Horn of Africa. At the same time, hundreds of thousands refugees from neighbouring Somali are hosted in the world's largest refugee camp complex in Dadaab in north-east Kenya. The European Commission's humanitarian assistance targets the Somali refugees as well as the most vulnerable local populations in the drought-affected areas. The Commission has provided substantial funding over a number of years for the three Dadaab refugee camps. The funds have mainly supported food aid, the building of latrines, the rehabilitation of out-of-date water supply systems, primary health care activities, as well as a large expansion programme to accommodate the continuing influx of refugees from Somalia.
Especially the arid and semi arid part of the country, recurrent droughts and floods of increasing severity have left people in need of humanitarian assistance. The Commission, through its Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) has been engaged in providing support to populations affected by drought for many years. Livestock losses caused by these droughts, the lack of sustained development and the increase in local populations have diminished the assets of many pastoralist communities. With little or no recovery time between the droughts, the livelihoods of millions of people in the livestock-dependent areas of Kenya are under threat.
The programme promotes contingency planning and includes the regular monitoring of key indicators such as water availability, animal health and resource based conflict issues as well as improving the existing systems in place to predict drought. Communities which are forewarned of drought are better able to prepare appropriate and timely responses.
The European Commission also operates its humanitarian air service, ECHO Flight, to northern Kenya to facilitate access to remote areas by ECHO partners and other humanitarian agencies. It is provided free of charge to end users.
Videos
- ECHO response - Malnutrition in Turkana, Kenya (08/2011)
- ECHO's Livelihood Expert explains his mission in drought-stricken, Northern Kenya (2010)
Stories from the field
- Turkana: A Drought Emergency Response that Boosts Local Markets
- ECHO assistance to Turkana, Kenya (2011)
- Drought in Wajir, Kenya (2011)
- Life of Begging for Kenyan Pastoralists (2010)
- Keeping hope alive in Dadaab (2009)
- Inside the ‘world’s largest refugee camp’ (2009)
- Kenyan pastoralists fighting to survive in face of population explosion (2008)
- Kenyans Dig in for Reconciliation (2008)
- Camels Offer Drought Solution (2008)
- The announcement (2005)
Related information
- Horn of Africa crisis, European Commission humanitarian response to Kenya 2011
- Aid in action: ECHO Flight
- Press releases
- Contact: Regional offices
- Responsible unit
- Factsheet Kenya (11.2011)
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Factsheet Horn of Africa (08.02.2012)
- Focus on famine: Working with IRC
- Focus on famine: Working with CARE
- Focus on famine: Working with CORDAID
- Drought Preparedness in the Horn of Africa
- Food crisis in Kenya: Q&A
Other EU websites about Kenya: