Mandera County in northern Kenya has been severely affected by prolonged drought, leaving thousands of households struggling to meet their basic needs. In response to this crisis, Acted together with the KCC launched a Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance program to empower vulnerable families with the flexibility to prioritise their most urgent needs—whether food, water, or essential household items. By providing direct financial support, Acted aims to restore dignity, strengthen resilience, and help communities cope with the devastating impacts of climate-induced shocks.
In December 2025, Kenya Arid and Semi Arid Lands (ASALs) experienced a worsening of the drought situation due to the poor performance of the October-November-December short rains season. According to the latest Kenya Authority (NDMA) report, 13 counties are classified in the ‘Normal’ drought phase, 9 counties in the “Alert” phase and Mandera county in ‘Alarm’ phase. This led to a major deterioration of livelihood for the communities, with areas experiencing water stress, livestock loss as well as food security risks. The current food insecure population across the ASAL counties is estimated at 1.8 million people and is projected to rise to approximately 2.14 million by January 2026 due to the anticipated below-average performance of the rains.
To support the affected communities in the ASALs, the KCC activated its crisis management mechanism (Crisis Modifier) as part of an ECHO-funded intervention to urgently support drought-affected households in Mandera county through cash-based interventions. The KCC is relying on its Alert based Mechanism, which allows local partners to trigger an alert if specific thresholds are surpassed. Since the start of the ECHO intervention, three alerts have been raised and activated to support households impacted by floods or droughts.
In Kenya, the Asal Humanitarian Network (AHN), gathering over 30 local organisations, actively supports this mechanism by providing contextual information and regular updates. In this framework, two AHN members raised the alert for Mandera county in December 2025 to support drought affected communities. The assessment conducted in the area revealed that 288,000 people need urgent assistance.
Following the alert raising, the KCC Consortium Management Unit (composed of Acted, Oxfam, AHN, Concern and IMPACT) decided to activate the alert.
RACIDA, a local AHN partner based in Mandera, was selected to provide 2 cycles of emergency Multi-Purpose Cash Assistance (MPCA) to 724 households, representing more than 4,000 individuals. The payment to host communities’ households are done through mobile transfers (MPesa).
What is the KCC ?
The Kenya Cash Consortium is led by Acted and brings together Oxfam, Concern, IMPACT Initiatives and the ASAL Humanitarian Network. It has been working to respond to crisis-affected populations through cash programming since 2019, with a specific focus on addressing food and other basic needs. Over 2024 and 2025, the KCC delivered MPCA to 62,061 individuals, mainly in the two refugee camps, Dadaab and Kakuma. More recently, the KCC has started to provide cash to urban refugees in Nairobi. The KCC’s work enhances the localisation agenda through representation and capacity building of local partner organisations, as well as ensuring accountability to affected populations through an independent Complaints, Feedback and Response Mechanism.
