Seven counties on drought alert as NDMA warns crisis is worsening

 Camels seek for pastures in Moyale in Marsabit County where drought has adversely affected the pastoralist’s community due to failed rains. The government has placed Marsabit, Turkana and Mandera under the alarm stage due to the ravaging drought with fears of human deaths in the coming months.[Antony Gitonga,Standard]

The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) has placed seven counties on the alert stage as the biting drought continues to be felt in parts of the country.

Though no county has been placed under the alarm or emergency phases, the authority has warned that the drought situation—mainly in Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) counties—is deteriorating.

The move comes a few days after the Council of Governors (COG) called for urgent strategic grain, livestock, and hay reserves following warnings of depressed short and long rains.

In its monthly National Drought Early Warning Bulletin, NDMA has identified Wajir, Kajiado, Mandera, Garissa, Kilifi, Tana River, and Kwale as the most affected counties by the harsh weather conditions.

The authority has noted that another sixteen counties remain in the normal phase, adding that among them, the condition of eight counties is worsening.

“The counties experiencing a worsening trend included Isiolo, Turkana, Makueni, Meru, Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Kitui, and Marsabit,” reads the report in part.

The authority has attributed the current crisis to the late onset of the October-November-December (OND) rains, with some counties receiving less than 75 percent of the expected rainfall.

“ASAL counties including Marsabit, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Isiolo, Meru, Tana River, Kilifi, Lamu, and Taita Taveta received less than 75 percent of the October 2025 rainfall.”

As the situation deteriorates, the affected counties have recorded outbreaks of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Contagious Caprine Pleuropneumonia (CCPP), and Peste des Petits Ruminants (PPR).

“Cases of cattle deaths suspected to be due to trypanosomiasis were reported in Garissa, while in Kitui they were attributed to Black Quarter disease. Mandera recorded around 107 animal deaths linked to diseases and drought,” says the report.

The nutrition situation has also been affected, as families struggle to feed their households, with malnutrition rates remaining within seasonal ranges in around 61 percent of the counties.

“Poor feeding and childcare practices contributed to worsening nutrition outcomes in about 39 percent of the counties,” the report adds.

Last week, COG Chairman Ahmed Abdullahi warned of major livestock and human deaths in the coming months, with parts of the country already experiencing harsh weather conditions.

He termed the warning by the Met Department on depressed rains as a major blow to pastoralists, who are yet to recover from the recent drought that wiped out more than three million herds of livestock.

“Livestock has started to die, and it's time we established strategic livestock, feed, and hay reserves so that every drought that occurs does not wipe out our livestock economy,” he said.