Children sitting on the floor and eating together

Kenya

East Africa Floods

8 December 2023 Somalia Responding

Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya have been experiencing severe flooding as a result of heavy rainfall, leading to over 700,000 people being displaced.

With the largest economy in eastern and central Africa, Kenya’s commercial capital Nairobi is a bustling economic hub. However, rural vulnerability to severe droughts has led to food and water shortages, meaning locals relying on livestock have become destitute and families are now left vulnerable to malnutrition. Our long-term livelihood projects are therefore working to help communities become resilient and secure, no matter what the weather.

Kenya is a densely populated country of 48 million people with great human capital. However, with around a third of the population living on less than $1.90 (£1.40) a day, increasingly common periods of drought, and increasing population growth, local communities are struggling. Responding to droughts, in particular, is becoming ever more challenging.

With conflict and the additional outbreak of disease, droughts are having a particularly devastating impact on local communities. Over a quarter of the economy are dependent on agriculture and the effect of poor rainy seasons on livestock and crops has been staggeringly high. A total of 3.4 million people have been left acutely food insecure, facing an uncertain future.

High levels of food insecurity, reduced pasture and water, limited fodder available and increased workloads for children and women are taking an immense toll on the local population. In fact, malnutrition is currently the biggest cause of death amongst children under the age of five.

Pupils sat at their desks in a classroom.

Image: Pupils in Kenya benefit from a school supported by Islamic Relief.

The situation in Kenya

The impact of overpopulation, conflict, disease outbreaks, reduced pasture and water all contribute to communities' struggle for survival.

11%

of the population are unemployed (ILO, 2017)

1 in 20 children

do not reach their 5th birthday (World Bank/UNICEF, 2016-17)

1 in 3 children

suffer from stunting (UNICEF, 2013)

Over 20%

of adults are illiterate (UNESCO, 2014)

369,000

children under the age of five suffer from acute malnutrition.

Islamic Relief in Kenya

Islamic Relief started operating in Kenya in 1993 by supporting vulnerable orphans through a local community-based organisation in Mandera County, northern Kenya. Since then, we have supported over 6,000 orphans, including 3,400 who are currently enrolled in the scheme.

Islamic Relief Kenya opened our fully fledged office in March 2006, at the height of the drought in the Horn of Africa. The Horn of Africa drought and famine in Somalia forced thousands of Somalis to flee to Kenya, nearly doubling the number of refugees at the Dadaab refugee camp.

In the aftermath of the devastating drought, we partnered with the European Commission for Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) to undertake an integrated programme of repairing water points improving nutrition programme, which supported nearly 52,000 people in Mandera County.

In February 2006, we provided 600,000 litres of water to approximately 4,000 people. Other projects included providing an ambulance to transport malnourished children to desperately-needed medical care; vaccinating 10,000 children against diseases like polio; distributing food; and ensuring 8,000 malnourished children and mothers received medical care.

Today, we work in 7 counties: Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Kilifi, Tana River, Kajiado and Marsabit.

We have partnered with government agencies, Islamic Relief member offices and international organisations. Among our most memorable partnerships was an agriculture programme funded by the Wajir County Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries in 2014. It focused on enabling local families to earn a reliable living by producing and selling camel milk.

In 2015, UNHCR and Islamic Relief USA funded an integrated programme serving over 100,000 refugees in Dadaab refugee camp, and members of the host community. It provided primary healthcare, nutrition services, and educational supplies.

A more recent partnership was secured when we won a competitive USAID funding bid, enabling us to deliver an innovative food security project in Mandera. This introduced farmers to agro-solar and drip irrigation technology that required much less water for farming, ensuring that farms were productive throughout the year.

Our fundraising

Our most popular initiatives partnering with Islamic Relief offices and other international donors. Hosting volunteers, donors, fundraisers to visit our projects to see for themselves the impact of our programmes has secured extensive funding for much-needed development projects.

We have identified 3 major fundraising areas on which to concentrate our efforts over the next 5 years. These are empowering communities and changing lives; em