WCC News: Church leaders warn of worsening drought situation in eastern Africa, as agencies prepare response

Church leaders in northern Kenya are calling for urgent assistance as a prolonged climate change-related drought in the Horn of Africa strikes their region. Photo: Fredrick Nzwili/WCC 06 January 2026 Bishop Daniel Qampicha Wario of the Anglican diocese of Marsabit said urgent humanitarian support was needed, as the usual rains have failed, leaving the people without water and food, and livestock without pasture. According to the bishop, there have been some small showers here and there, but these were not sufficient to put water in the ponds or even cause the growth of vegetation. “So, right now, there are serious water shortages, borehole breakdowns, and there’s no food,” said Wario. “Earlier, the people had a lot of expectations, planting their farms but everything has now dried up.” The earliest the region can get rain is in April, if the rain patterns remain unchanged, according to the bishop, and in between it will be three months of extended drought. “If it is as bad as it is now, then you can imagine what will happen in the next three months. It will be very serious,” said Wario. The affected areas are mainly the homeland of pastoralist communities, whose main source of livelihood is livestock. And when the livestock have no pasture, obviously, it is like you are staring at death. “So, it is dire, and it is all over. I mean, southern Ethiopia, northern Kenya, go to Lake Turkana, go to the eastern parts of the country,” he said. The climate phenomenon known as La Nina, the Indian Ocean Dipole—a climate pattern affecting the Indian Ocean—and climate change are being blamed for drought, resulting in below-average rainfall, severe water shortages, depleted pasture, and declining livestock conditions. The drought has found communities’ coping mechanisms in disarray after the rains failed for four consecutive seasons since 2024. The impact of climate change is so serious that in 2024 the whole area's season’s rain fell in one day in November, and there had been no other rain before nor until the following April 2025, according to Catholic Bishop Peter Kihara Kariuki of Marsabit. “So, you can imagine, even the boreholes and the wells dry up. It is a very, very dire situation,” said the bishop. ACT Alliance has launched an appeal for the drought in Kenya and Somalia. Among other outcomes, the appeal aims to mount a response to help households access lifesaving food assistance and essential services. Some of its objectives include reducing death and disease among the community through food assistance, and through improving water access, food production, and asset restoration. The Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church—a member of ACT Alliance—said the church was preparing to respond, but it was first assessing the situation. “We have classes [of need]. We need to classify them,” said Jonathan Kapanga, secretary general of the Kenya Evangelical Lutheran Church. The church will support and aid the recovery of the people earlier displaced into camps by floods, support children and women who need food, and also address gender-based violence against women in the camps. Its response will also include water challenges, especially safe drinking water, according to Kapanga. In December, the Kenya government issued an alert saying that 2.1 million people in 32 counties faced heightened food and nutritional insecurity due to the failed rains. On 10 November 2025, the Somali government declared the drought a national emergency and urged stakeholders to mobilize resources to scale up support. The drought is part of a recurring experience in the Horn of Africa, where cycles of climate change-related phenomena are frequent. The region experienced what was described as the worst drought in 40 years, from 2021-2023. WCC member churches in Kenya ACT Alliance appeals See more

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 356 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 580 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Prof. Dr Jerry Pillay from the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa.  Media contact: +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press Our visiting address is: World Council of Churches Chemin du Pommier 42 Kyoto Building Le Grand-Saconnex CH-1218 Switzerland