Nairobi, Kenya — The Kenyan county of Mandera, located in the country’s arid north, is facing a severe drought that has left thousands of households struggling to meet their basic needs. In response to this crisis, the Acted organization, in partnership with the Kenya Cash Consortium (KCC), has initiated a multi-purpose financial assistance program to enable vulnerable families to prioritize their most urgent needs, whether food, water, or essential household items. The program, which provides direct financial support, aims to restore dignity, enhance resilience, and help communities cope with the devastating impacts of climate shocks.
The situation in the arid and semi — arid regions (ASAL) of Kenya worsened in December 2025 due to inadequate rainfall during the short rainy season of October to December. According to the latest report by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 13 counties are classified under “normal “drought phase, nine under “alert, “and Mandera under “alarm.”This has led to a significant deterioration in the livelihoods of communities, with some areas facing water stress, livestock losses, and food security risks.
An estimated 1. 8 million people are currently food insecure in the ASAL counties, and this figure is expected to reach approximately 2. 14 million by January 2026 due to below-average expected rainfall.
To assist the affected communities in the ASAL regions, the KCC has activated its Crisis Modifier mechanism within an emergency intervention funded by ECHO. This support is aimed at helping households in Mandera affected by the drought through cash-based interventions. The KCC relies on its alert mechanism, which enables local partners to trigger an alert if specific thresholds are exceeded. Since the start of the ECHO intervention, three alerts have been triggered and activated to assist households affected by floods or droughts.
In Kenya, the Asal Humanitarian Network (AHN), a grouping of over 30 local organizations, actively supports this mechanism by providing contextual information and regular updates. Two members of the AHN initiated the alert for Mandera in December 2025 to assist communities affected by the drought. An assessment in the region revealed that 288,000 people needed urgent assistance.
Following the alert, the KCC consortium management unit, comprising Acted, Oxfam, AHN, Concern, and IMPACT, decided to activate the alert. RACIDA, a local partner of the AHN based in Mandera, was selected to provide two cycles of multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) to 724 households, benefiting over 4,000 people. The disbursements to households in hosting communities are made through mobile money transfers (MPesa).
Source: reliefweb
Original author: Agency for Technical Cooperation and Development
