Kenya Drought: Climate Shocks & Impact on Children’s Education & SDGs

MANDERA, Kenya, Tuesday, February 10, 2026 – For 10-year-old Amina Adan, the school day begins before sunrise, not with lessons, but with a trek to a dwindling water pan on the outskirts of Rhamu, Mandera County. While her classmates prepare for class, Amina balances a jerrycan almost half her size, a daily reality dictated by a severe and prolonged drought gripping Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs).

Her mother, Fatuma Adan, explains the stark choice facing families: “When there is no water, there is no food and there is no school. The children must help; we don’t make it through the day.” This sentiment encapsulates a crisis that is reversing hard-won gains in poverty reduction, food security, health, and education – core pillars of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

A System Stretched to Breaking Point

According to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Mandera remains in an ‘alarm’ phase, a consequence of repeated rainfall failures. The October–December 2025 short rains delivered only 30–60 per cent of the long-term average, leaving water pans dry and pasturelands barren. Households reliant on pastoralism are rapidly losing their livelihoods.

National food and nutrition security assessments indicate that over 2.15 million people in Kenya’s ASAL counties urgently require humanitarian assistance. More than 800,000 children aged 6–59 months are in need of treatment for acute malnutrition. County health officials in Mandera report a surge in admissions to Outpatient Therapeutic Programmes (OTPs) as families exhaust their food reserves and livestock milk production declines.

The crisis extends beyond Kenya’s borders. The United Nations estimates that nearly 24 million people across the Horn of Africa – in Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia – are facing acute water insecurity, following years of recurrent drought and climate shocks. UNICEF warns that 2.7 million children in the region are already out of school due to drought-related displacement, with another 4 million at risk if conditions persist.

“These climate shocks are no longer one-off emergencies,” a county education officer in Mandera observes. “They are structural, and they are shaping how – or whether – children grow, learn, and thrive.”

Education Disrupted, Futures Delayed

Schools in Mandera North are at the forefront of the crisis. Teachers report dwindling classroom numbers as families migrate in search of pasture and water, taking children with them. Those who remain struggle to concentrate amid hunger and exhaustion.

Abdikadir Adan Alio, a county education official, notes that school attendance in affected areas has dropped significantly, with girls disproportionately impacted as they bear the brunt of water collection and household responsibilities.

Development experts warn that interrupted education weakens human capital, undermines long-term economic productivity, and reduces communities’ ability to adapt to future climate shocks – a setback to SDG 4 (Quality Education) and SDG 1 (No Poverty). “If children miss school year after year, the damage becomes generational,” warns Dr. Ali Abdi, a humanitarian education specialist working in northern Kenya.

Health and Nutrition Under Strain

Health workers report that drought is accelerating a dangerous cycle of hunger, disease, and vulnerability among children. Scarce water leads to poor hygiene, increasing the risk of diarrhoeal diseases that further weaken malnourished children.

Mobile health and nutrition clinics, operated in remote parts of Mandera through partnerships between county governments and humanitarian agencies, provide nutrition screening, immunisation, and maternal health services, reducing the need for long journeys to fixed facilities. A nutrition officer involved in outreach programmes states, “Early detection is saving lives, but the caseload keeps rising, and the distances families travel are growing.”

These pressures directly threaten SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) – goals that had shown gradual progress before the intensification of climate extremes.

Rising Protection Risks

As drought erodes livelihoods, families resort to negative coping mechanisms. Humanitarian agencies report increased risks of child labour, early marriage, and gender-based violence, particularly in remote settlements with limited social safety nets. Girls are particularly vulnerable, with education often the first casualty when resources dwindle.

“Drought doesn’t just take food and water,” a community leader in Mandera says. “It takes safety and dignity from children.”

Integrated Solutions Offer Hope

Despite the scale of the crisis, integrated responses are proving effective in cushioning children from the worst impacts and protecting progress on the SDGs. Mobile health and nutrition clinics are reaching nomadic and displaced families. Cash transfer programmes, implemented by government agencies and supported by organisations like UNICEF and Save the Children, enable households to prioritise essential needs. Investments in water trucking, borehole rehabilitation, and climate-resilient water infrastructure are stabilising access in drought hotspots.

Community-based approaches are also proving effective, with trained volunteers conducting nutrition screening at the household level and linking families to services. “These interventions work best when they are combined,” a humanitarian programme manager explains. “Health alone is not enough. Water, food, income, and protection must move together.”

The Challenge of Scale and Sustainability

While these programmes are saving lives, gaps remain. Funding cycles are often short, and responses are largely reactive rather than preventative. Local officials emphasize the need to scale up climate-resilient livelihoods – such as drought-tolerant agriculture, livestock insurance, and alternative income sources – to break the cycle of crisis.

Development analysts warn that without sustained investment, drought will continue to erode gains across multiple SDGs, necessitating repeated emergency responses that are more costly in the long run. “The question is not whether drought will return,” says Eunice Koech, a climate expert at IGAD. “It is whether systems will be strong enough to protect children when it does.”

Back in Rhamu, Fatuma Adan hopes her daughter will return to school full-time when conditions improve. For now, survival takes precedence. “I want Amina to learn,” she says. “But first, we must live.”

As climate shocks intensify across the Horn of Africa, the stakes are immense. Without coordinated, long-term action, drought will continue to steal not just water and food, but childhood itself, undermining global commitments to the Sustainable Development Goals.