Kenya is no longer bracing for climate change—it is already paying the price.
A new State of the Climate report for 2025 paints a stark picture of a country grappling with intensifying droughts, destructive floods, and rising temperatures, all within a single year.
Extreme weather events displaced thousands of people, destroyed homes and roads, and triggered disease outbreaks, including cholera in flood-affected areas.
Agriculture, the backbone of Kenya’s economy, took a hit, with erratic rainfall and prolonged dry spells disrupting planting cycles and reducing yields.
The report found that extreme weather has become an escalating cost to livelihoods, infrastructure, and public health.
Beyond agriculture, the impacts are being felt in urban infrastructure damage, translating into financial losses, emergency spending, and long-term development setbacks.
In 2025, heavy rains triggered flooding in several parts of the country, displacing communities, destroying homes, and damaging roads and bridges. The cost of repairing infrastructure and supporting affected populations has placed additional strain on public resources, with funds often being diverted from planned development projects to emergency response.
At the same time, farmers faced delayed planting seasons, crop failures, and reduced yields, compounding food insecurity and pushing up the cost of living.
Following the poor performance of the short rains in 2024, the report said, Kenya’s food security situation rapidly deteriorated.
“Between July and September, around 1.8 million people faced high levels of acute food insecurity. This period coincided with the lean season, when household food stocks are typically depleted,” the report said.
This dual pattern of floods in some areas and drought in others highlights the increasing climate variability, making weather patterns less predictable and more difficult to plan around. Seasonal rains, which have historically guided agricultural cycles, are becoming unreliable, exposing millions of Kenyans to economic uncertainty.
The report notes that fluctuating rainfall and rising temperatures are directly affecting productivity in agriculture, which other than contributing significantly to Kenya’s GDP also employs a large share of the population.
Urban areas are also bearing the cost of climate change, with floods damaging transport networks, disrupting businesses, and increasing the cost of maintaining infrastructure. Informal settlements, often located in flood-prone zones, have been particularly affected, with repeated losses deepening poverty among already vulnerable populations.
Public health systems are also under pressure. The report links extreme weather events to outbreaks of waterborne diseases such as cholera, particularly in flood-affected regions where sanitation systems are overwhelmed. These outbreaks not only strain healthcare services but also reduce productivity and increase household expenses.
The findings reinforce the scale of the climate challenge te country faces at a time it is positioning itself as a leader in global climate action.
The Ruto administration has championed renewable energy, climate financing reforms, and adaptation strategies on the international stage. However, other reports suggest the pace and scale of response domestically are still lagging behind the rapidly growing risks.
One of the main challenges flagged by Controller of Budget report is the gap between climate impacts and the level of investment in resilience.
Despite increasing awareness, funding for adaptation measures such as irrigation systems, flood control infrastructure, and climate information services remains insufficient.
Many projects aimed at reducing vulnerability are either underfunded, delayed, or implemented at a scale too small to match the magnitude of the problem.
Without adequate investment in resilience, each extreme weather event leads to repeated losses—destroyed infrastructure, emergency relief spending, and reduced economic output. This creates a cycle where resources are redirected to recovery rather than long-term development.
The report also points to the broader challenge of climate financing. While Kenya has attracted international attention and pledges for climate action, accessing and effectively deploying these funds remains a hurdle.
Delays in disbursement, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and capacity constraints have slowed the implementation of critical projects.
As a result, the country remains exposed to risks that could be mitigated with timely investment.
The report’s findings say the rising climate-related losses are putting pressure on public finances, increasing the cost of maintaining infrastructure, and threatening growth in key sectors.
