Kenya: Cash assistance helps flood-affected families rebuild their lives
By Jane Kiiru
“Flooding has taken away my livelihood source,” said Felista Achieng, a displaced mother living at a displacement site in Kenya’s Kisumu County. “The frequency of heavy rains and flooding led to rising water levels in Lake Victoria, causing the water to overflow.”
Communities in west and south-west Kenya have long struggled with climate change and recurrent flooding. This year, following an extreme rainy season, 20,000 people were displaced when the overflow of Lake Victoria, Africa’s largest lake, expanded 4 km into settlements in Busia and Kisumu counties.
Countrywide floods claimed at least 315 lives, displaced close to 300,000 people, disrupted schools and health facilities, and destroyed water sources.
Transferring a lifeline
In response, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) allocated US$3 million to humanitarian partners to support 190,000 people across Kenya’s 10 flood-affected counties. The funds helped the World Food Programme to provide cash transfers to vulnerable people to meet their most urgent needs, such as food and school fees. Others used the funds to start small businesses.
The response prioritized the needs of people with disabilities, older people, pregnant and nursing mothers, and people with a chronic illness.
These recipients shared how the CERF-funded cash transfers helped them to recover.
Felista Achieng
“I can no longer access herbs,” said Felista.
A traditional herbalist for 40 years, Felista gathered herbs locally, but she is now forced to travel 17 km to buy them due to the floods. Her business also suffered, as her flood-affected clients can no longer afford her services.
Felista is the head of her household, as her daughter suffers from mental health. She used a KES 10,000 (about $80) cash transfer from CERF to pay her five grandchildrens’ school fees, and to buy food and herbs to keep her business running.
Saviano Otieno
“We used to leave whenever it flooded and return once the waters receded,” said Saviano, a displaced father of seven. “Unfortunately, we can’t do that anymore because our homes are no longer accessible. The area has turned into a swamp and hippos have made it their home.”
Displaced since 2019, Saviano lost most of his belongings, including livestock. He now lives in a tarpaulin-walled shelter with his family. He mends shoes while his wife works as a house help.
“What we both earn barely puts food on the table,” he said.
However, the cash transfer has been a lifeline for Saviano. He bought maize and other essentials and paid his children’s school fees.
Dorcas Odhiambo
Displaced by floods four times, Dorcas lives in her vegetable shop with her children.
“We are afraid of living in the house because it can collapse and injure us,” she explained.
Dorcas used the CERF-funded cash transfer to restart her vegetable vending business and pay school fees for her two orphaned grandchildren.
Margaret Omullo
“Flooding has wreaked havoc on my life,” said Margaret, 55. “It swept away all my sheep, chickens and cattle. We are suffering.”
Margaret now lives in a defunct dispensary. Her farm and all the produce were washed away during the floods. She used her cash assistance to buy a sheep for resale for profit and lambs for rearing.
Seeking long-term solutions
Angel Marende, OCHA’s Regional Cash Coordinator for Eastern and Southern Africa, explains: “In a region increasingly affected by [extreme weather] events, cash and voucher assistance empowers people to choose the best way to support their families, whether it's buying food, paying for education or health care, or starting small businesses. It also benefits local economies and markets.”
However, emergency relief cannot cover all their needs. The displaced families desperately need long-term solutions. They have requested dikes to control flood water, sustained access to water, improved shelter and sanitation facilities. They wish to be relocated to safer areas where they can rebuild their lives.
But climate adaptation is drastically underfunded in vulnerable countries, and it is not reaching the most vulnerable people at the speed or scale needed.