Kenya is facing a worsening food and nutrition crisis, with 2.1 million people projected to experience acute food insecurity between October 2025 and January 2026, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) Acute Food Insecurity and Acute Malnutrition Analysis for Kenya.
The IPC analysis shows that between July and September 2025, about 1.8 million people, or 11 percent of the population analysed, were already facing Crisis-level food insecurity or worse.
This figure is expected to rise to 13 percent during the outlook period, representing an increase compared to the same period last year.
Of those projected to require urgent assistance, nearly 2 million will remain in Crisis while about 160,000 are expected to face Emergency conditions.
The report, published on 8 September, 2025, highlights a serious nutrition emergency affecting women and children. The analysis covers July-January 2026.
An estimated 741,883 children aged six to 59 months will require treatment for acute malnutrition between April 2025 and March 2026, including nearly 179,000 suffering from severe acute malnutrition.
In addition, 109,462 pregnant and lactating women are acutely malnourished and in urgent need of treatment, raising concerns about maternal health and infant survival.
According to the IPC, the crisis is being driven by a combination of poor and irregular rainfall, below-average crop production, high food prices, conflict and insecurity, disease, and reduced humanitarian support.
Although the March–May 2025 long rains were near to above average in some areas, irregular distribution, dry spells and high temperatures limited their impact.
Crop yields in agro-pastoral and marginal agricultural areas were 40 to 70 percent below normal, forcing households to rely on markets earlier than usual.
Food access has been further constrained by rising staple food prices linked to low production, high fuel and transport costs, inflation and increased market dependence.
Conflict among pastoral communities has led to loss of lives and livestock, displacement and reduced access to grazing land and markets, while human-wildlife conflict has disrupted livelihoods in several regions.
Poor water infrastructure and disease outbreaks have also undermined nutrition and health, affecting both people and livestock.
The IPC analysis indicates that food availability, access and utilization are all under strain, with repeated shocks exposing weaknesses in the stability of household food security.
The report warns that without urgent action to scale up food assistance, nutrition treatment and livelihood support, food insecurity and malnutrition are likely to deepen, with women and children continuing to bear the greatest burden.
According to the Kenyan Wall Street, a critical constraint identified in the analysis is reduced humanitarian coverage and funding. The Publication said that WFP-assisted food distributions reached roughly 165,000 people in the first quarter of 2025, and national and local partners scaled back outreach and safety-net disbursements.
It also reported that the National Drought Management Authority’s safety-net was suspended in August 2024. The combination of fewer outreach operations, stock-outs of nutrition commodities such as ready-to-use therapeutic food, and service delivery gaps in hard-to-reach areas has left detection and treatment systems weakened precisely as seasonal risk factors intensify.
