Country
Kenya
Explore historical and projected climate data, climate data by sector, impacts, key vulnerabilities and what adaptation measures are being taken. Explore the overview for a general context of how climate change is affecting Kenya.
Vulnerability
Kenya is located in the Greater Horn of Africa region, which is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. More than 80% of the country’s landmass is arid and semi-arid land (ASAL) with poor infrastructure, and other developmental challenges. Climate hazards have caused considerable losses across the country’s different sectors over the years. The main climate hazards include droughts and floods which cause economic losses estimated at 3% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Thus, livelihoods and economic activities are highly vulnerable to climatic fluctuations. (NDC, 2016)
This section provides a summary of key natural hazards and their associated socioeconomic impacts in a given country. And it allows quick evaluation of most vulnerable areas through the spatial comparison of natural hazard data with development data, thereby identifying exposed livelihoods and natural systems.
Natural Hazard Statistics
The charts provide overview of the most frequent natural disaster in a given country and understand the impacts of those disasters on human populations.
Natural Hazard / Development Nexus
This tool allows the overlay of different natural hazard maps with social economic datasets by sliding the bar horizontally, which provides a broad sense of vulnerable areas.
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Key Vulnerabilities
- The arid and semi-arid lands are also more prone to harsh weather conditions, making the communities within this region vulnerable to natural hazards, mainly droughts.
- Seasonal floods may affect various parts of the country especially along the flood plains in the Lake Victoria basin and the Tana River.
- Landslides and mudslides occur during the long rainy season from March to May, which usually affects the western Nyanza and north Rift Valley provinces.
More information on natural hazards can be found at ThinkHazard.
- Kenya’s infrastructure is poor with impassable roads, poor telecommunication lines, and inaccessible regions that hamper the transportation of food either for commercial purposes or relief aid.
- Landslides and mudslides are experienced during the long rainy season from March to May, which usually affects the western Nyanza and north Rift Valley provinces. However, the most vulnerable areas are Murang’a district in the central province, Kirinyaga, Nyeri, parts of Meru around the Mount Kenya region, Kisii and Mombasa Island.
- The country’s inland areas are largely arid, with two-thirds of the country receiving less than 500 mm of rainfall per year, limiting the potential for agriculture.
