A paradox of scarcity strikes Northern Kenya as 2.1 million face acute hunger while the rest of the nation moves on.

The carcasses littering the dusty plains of Mandera and Kajiado tell a story that statistics struggle to capture. In Awara village, the silence is broken only by the weak bleating of goats too frail to stand, victims of a relentless drought that has turned the pasture into a graveyard.

While Nairobi debates tax levies, Kenya’s pastoralist communities are fighting an existential war against the climate. The failure of the 2025 short rains has pushed over 2.1 million people into Crisis-level food insecurity, with the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) warning that the window for intervention is rapidly closing.

The Economics of Loss

For the pastoralist, livestock is not merely an asset; it is a bank account, a cultural identity, and a nutritional lifeline. The current drought has wiped out these savings with brutal efficiency.

• 266,000+ people are now classified in the Emergency phase of food insecurity.
• 90% of Kenya’s meat and milk supply comes from Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), now under threat.
• Market collapse: Distressed sales have driven livestock prices to rock bottom, stripping families of their purchasing power.

“Water is no longer a basic need; it is a weekly gamble,” says Halima Noor, a resident of Mandera North. Her reality is defined by the arrival—or non-arrival—of government water bowsers.

A National Emergency

This crisis is not confined to the remote north. The drought’s tentacles have spread south to Kajiado, just kilometers from the capital. The interdependence of Kenya’s economy means that a collapse in the livestock sector will inevitably drive up food prices in urban centers, deepening the cost-of-living crisis nationwide.

As the skies remain clear and the earth cracks further, the question remains: How long can a nation thrive when its food producers are starving?