The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) is a public body established under the NDMA Act, 2016, after previously operating under the State Corporations Act (Cap 446) through Legal Notice No. 171 of 2011. The Authority is mandated to coordinate all drought risk management activities and develop mechanisms, independently or with partners, to end drought emergencies in Kenya.
Its creation followed years of short-term, project-based interventions during increasingly frequent and severe droughts that affected over ten million people. The Government established the NDMA to ensure a sustainable, coordinated, and long-term approach to drought management.
What We Do
Early warning systems |
Drought contingency planning |
|---|---|
| NDMA has put in place a robust early warning system that provides timely information on impending droughts. | NDMA has developed and implemented drought contingency plans that guide the response to drought emergencies. |
Risk reduction measures |
Coordination and Collaboration |
| NDMA promotes and supports the implementation of risk reduction measures such as water harvesting, reforestation, and soil conservation. These measures enhance the resilience of communities and ecosystems to drought. | NDMA coordinates with various stakeholders such as government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and communities to implement drought management interventions. |
Mandate
The National Drought Management Authority Act (2016) mandates the Authority to exercise overall coordination over all matters relating to drought risk management and to establish mechanisms, either on its own or with stakeholders, that will end drought emergencies in Kenya.
Mission
To lead and coordinate drought risk management and climate change adaptation towards achieving resilient communities in Kenya.
Vision
A nation resilient to drought and related climate shocks.
Values
The history of Kenya’s work on drought management goes back to 1985, with the design of a drought contingency planning system in Turkana. In the early 1990s this system was extended to other arid districts with the support of the Netherlands government. It was then expanded further by the Emergency Drought Recovery Project (from 1992) and its successor, the ALRMP, both of them supported by the World Bank. By end of Phase II of the ALRMP, the drought management system was covering 28 arid and semi-arid districts (now 23 counties).
