By Ken Muthomi - Reporter
Kenya, 5 August 2026 - Several private firms have committed millions of shillings towards community resilience projects championed by the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), ahead of the 2026 NDMA Road Race for Peace and Resilience.
NDMA confirmed on Wednesday that the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), which has pledged KSh 6 million, including KSh 5 million to adopt one of the community resilience projects and KSh 1 million to support the staging of the Road Race.
On the other hand, Equity Bank and Cooperative Bank have also committed KSh 500,000 each to support the event.
The commitments come as several development partners and the private sector rally behind four community-prioritised resilience projects which are aimed at improving water security, livelihoods and drought resilience in Samburu, Isiolo, Laikipia and Meru counties.
“Leading the growing partnership effort is Action Against Hunger, which has committed to finance 50% of the cost of two of the target resilience projects,” the authority stated.
“The four projects have a combined investment requirement of approximately KSh 130.8 million and are expected to benefit more than 5,000 households (30,000 people) and over 50,000 livestock,” it added.
The commitments and contributions were received by NDMA CEO Hared Adan, who highlighted that the projects will be fundamental in providing a platform to bring together stakeholders around a shared commitment to strengthen resilience in Arid and Semi-Arid regions.
The announcement comes days after the Kenya Meteorological Department forecast that most parts of the country will experience generally sunny and dry conditions throughout August and September 2026 before the onset of the short rains in October, raising concerns about water security.
More from Kenya
“Water availability over the ASAL areas may decline due to the dry weather conditions expected in these areas. The water catchment areas over Mt. Elgon areas and Mau Escarpment are expected to receive near-to-below average rainfall during the month, while those over Mt. Kenya are expected to experience mainly dry weather conditions. This may adversely affect water levels in hydro-electric dams,” the department stated.