In the Horn of Africa, drought, global price rises, conflict and the extreme weather brought on by the climate crisis have converged to create an almost unprecedented situation. According to the UN, the current drought in the region has already killed an estimated 9.5 million animals and tipped 26 million people into food insecurity, surpassing in both intensity and duration the droughts of 2010-11 and 2016-2017. After the failure of multiple rainy seasons in Kenya, the land is dry, crop production has fallen and livestock are dying.
As part of its response, the Kenya Red Cross has supported more than 215,000 people in the country, and is working to help 500,000 more in the worst affected communities. As well as connecting people to water, it has worked with farmers to grow drought-tolerant crops or diversify into other livelihoods – the latter of the utmost necessity given the speed at which the climate crisis is destroying the viability of agriculture.
