Building Resilience to Mitigate the Impact of Droughts and Floods

Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA)

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Abstract: Kenya’s geography makes it highly vulnerable to climate-induced hazards, namely droughts and floods. This is because over 80 per cent of the country is arid and semi-arid lands which receive erratic rains, and drought is a common defining feature. Given the fragility of the country’s environment and soils, whenever it rains, the run-off causes floods with downstream communities living on flood prone areas bearing the brunt of the effects. Indeed, we have a long history of these hazards, with major droughts recorded in 1975, 1983, 1999-2001 and 2016-2017. Flood episodes define Kenya’s pre-independence, with the 1961 flooding (commonly known as Uhuru floods) being the most intense to date. Other flood events in the county include the El Nino-related floods of 1997/98, that of 2003 and the 2018 floods that affected various parts of the county.