Acted has been present in Kenya since 2007 to meet the humanitarian and development needs of communities affected by natural calamities, population displacement and inadequate access to basic services. Acted has a coordination office in Nairobi and operational bases in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASAL) counties in Northern Kenya. The teams work with local governments and partners to support the most vulnerable households through Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), food assistance and disaster preparedness programmes.
Mission context
Kenya is emerging from a drought emergency, described as the worst in 4 decades, which has led to 6.4 million people needing humanitarian assistance in 2023. Most drought-affected communities are in the ASAL counties, representing over 80% of the country’s land mass. These areas also hold close to 70% of the national livestock herds of Kenya. The inconsistent rain performance has led 5.4 million people to face acute food insecurity and 465,000 people displaced since 2022. Acted has been working alongside ASAL communities to improve their access to food, sustainable livelihoods, and access to water, hygiene, and sanitation.
Acted in Kenya
For more than three decades, Kenya has been affected by cycles of drought, which have now considerably shortened but severely affected basic needs. Acted provides life-saving assistance to the most vulnerable populations whose access to food, clean and safe water, and livelihoods is challenged daily.
Through Cash Programming projects, hard-to-reach families, including those in refugee camps, have been supported to meet their basic needs. While 5.4 million individuals still face acute food insecurity, cash assistance enables beneficiaries to access cash safely and efficiently on their mobile phones to address their needs.
In response to severe water scarcity, Acted also works with communities through county government water departments to rehabilitate strategic water sources through support to local repair teams and solarisation. This approach helps increase access to safe water and reduce operational and maintenance costs. Communities and schools are also sensitised about good hygiene practices to minimise the risks associated with waterborne disease.
In the ASALs, Acted has also been actively training agro-pastoralists and providing them with production assets to practise climate-smart agriculture to improve their daily nutritional intake. By working with community groups, Acted has developed demonstration agricultural areas to restore the environment and promote the diversification of agricultural production.
Our five projects include the sectors:
- Food and nutrition assistance
- Provision /improving of access to safe drinking water, adequate hygiene facilities and promotion of good hygiene practices
- Construction, rehabilitation, and equipping of social infrastructure (health centres, schools, irrigation systems, water and wastewater treatment assets, water networks, public/green spaces, roads etc.) and productive assets (mills, bakeries, etc.).
Cumulated number of beneficiaries of ongoing projects: 149,357 individuals, including 6,530 asylum seekers in Kakuma and Dadaab Refugee Complexes.
Over the recent years:
- Acted has reached a total of 341,270 individuals through cash assistance to meet food and basic needs in the ASAL counties of Kenya and Refugee Camps.
- Acted has rehabilitated 27 boreholes in the ASAL region and ensured access to safe drinking water for a total of 208,940 individuals and their livestock.
Our flagship interventions
Horn of Africa – Drought Response: Gardens of Yvelines
Donor: Conseil départemental des Yvelines
Location: Samburu County, Northern Kenya
As part of the THRIVE initiative, the project was developed to support communities struggling with the negative impacts of climate change. Acted is supporting community groups in Samburu County to develop demonstration agricultural plots using permagarden principles and integrating green technologies, like a biogas digester, that will produce bio-fertiliser. These plots will provide diverse food, regenerate soil, replenish groundwater and restore the ecosystem function, thus avoiding future drought and starvation. Overall, 3,600 individuals will benefit from the production and income generated by the plots.
A monitoring visit to discuss ongoing cash assistance for food with beneficiaries – Marsabit County
A women’s group attending a training on the perennial vegetation system and setting up a vegetable nursery with Acted and the Samburu Department of Agriculture – Samburu County
A women’s group setting up a vegetable nursery to help grow nutritious plants for their households – Samburu County
Samburu and Baringo Rapid Needs Assessment, July 2023
Download
Circularity in Dadaab - Rapid Assessment (June 2023)
Download
Cash Programming Kenya Review
Download
Kenya Cash Consortium - Four Years on: Locally Led Response Case Study (December 2022)
Download
Current projects
Privacy
