Northern Kenya Faces Severe Drought, 333,000 Require Urgent Food Aid

Northern Kenya is facing severe drought again, with families in Turkana County struggling as even wild fruits disappear. Livestock deaths are widespread, and 333,000 people require food aid, though agencies warn they cannot continue support due to funding cuts. Recurrent droughts are worsening food insecurity and raising conflict risks, while neighboring Somalia also grapples with widespread hunger.

Northern Kenya is once again facing severe drought and starvation, four years after a record dry spell devastated the region, according to families in affected areas. In Turkana County, even wild fruits that traditionally help residents survive lean periods are disappearing or shriveling. Eighty-one-year-old Asinyen Akol described the current drought as the worst she has ever experienced, saying, “even trees and wild fruits are nowhere to be seen, not even a green leaf.”
The drought has left a visible trail of loss, with cattle carcasses scattered across pastoralist lands. Neighboring countries in the Horn of Africa are also affected, with Somalia declaring a national drought emergency in November 2025. The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) warned that millions of Somalis face severe hunger, with nearly half of all children malnourished and in urgent need of treatment.
Aid cuts have forced agencies to scale back relief efforts. Seventy-six-year-old widowed grandmother Echakan Amaja said she is now responsible for feeding her five daughters and seven grandchildren after her son was killed and their livestock stolen in a cattle rustling raid.
Kenya's National Drought Management Authority reported in December 2025 that over nine counties, mostly in the north and east, face emerging drought conditions threatening food security, water access, and pasture availability. The agency noted that recurrent droughts are intensifying competition for scarce resources and increasing the risk of violent conflict in previously unaffected areas.
Sarah Ayodi, head of WFP’s Turkana field office, said 333,000 people in the county need food aid but warned the agency will be unable to support them beyond next month. In August 2025, Save the Children reported that at least four African countries, including Kenya, were at risk of running out of specialized life-saving food for severely malnourished children due to aid shortages.