By Linet Amuli - Reporter
Kenya, January 24 ,2026 - Kenya’s climate crisis is no longer a distant threat. It is already reshaping livelihoods, fuelling conflict and pushing vulnerable communities closer to the edge. Against this backdrop, the National Treasury’s release of KSh11.2 billion in climate resilience funding offers both relief and a test of whether public financing can meaningfully reach those who need it most.
The funds, announced in a Gazette notice dated January 23 under the County Climate Resilience Investment Grant (CCRIG), are intended to help counties confront the growing toll of droughts, floods and environmental degradation. Backed by the World Bank, Germany’s development bank KfW and county governments, the programme pools international and local resources to strengthen frontline responses to climate change.
More than half of Kenya’s 47 counties are classified as highly vulnerable to climate shocks. In arid and semi-arid regions such as Turkana, Marsabit, Wajir, Mandera, Garissa and Isiolo, drought has become a recurring emergency rather than an exception. Livestock losses, food shortages and water scarcity have eroded traditional coping mechanisms, leaving pastoral communities increasingly dependent on emergency interventions.
Eastern Kenya tells a similar story, though with different consequences. Counties like Kitui, Makueni and Machakos are grappling with declining crop yields as rainfall becomes more erratic. Farmers are being forced to abandon familiar planting cycles, switch to drought-tolerant crops or reduce production altogether, deepening rural poverty and food insecurity.
Along the coast, climate change is advancing quietly but relentlessly. Rising sea levels have eaten away at shorelines in places like Kilifi and Mombasa, contaminating freshwater sources with salt and flooding low-lying infrastructure. For communities that depend on fishing, tourism and small-scale trade, the losses are mounting year after year.
In parts of the Rift Valley, shrinking pasture and water points have intensified competition between communities. Migration in search of grazing land has spilled into private farms and wildlife conservancies, heightening tensions in counties such as Baringo, Laikipia and West Pokot, a reminder that climate stress is also a driver of insecurity.
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Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi has said the funds will be guided by county-level climate risk assessments, prioritising water systems, climate-smart agriculture, resilient infrastructure and early warning mechanisms. On paper, the focus is sound. But the real measure of success will lie in execution.
Counties must now demonstrate that climate financing can be managed transparently and translated into projects that actually reduce vulnerability on the ground. Strict reporting requirements and environmental safeguards are necessary, but they must not become an excuse for delays while communities continue to suffer.
As climate impacts accelerate, the question is no longer whether Kenya needs climate financing, but whether it can deploy it fast enough and fairly enough to protect those already living on the front lines of a warming world.
