NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun 26— Kenya has unveiled an ambitious five-year Disaster Risk Financing (DRF) Strategy aimed at ending the country’s reliance on emergency funding after disasters and instead investing in preparedness to cushion communities and the economy against increasingly frequent climate shocks .

📻 Breaking It Down

Launched by the National Treasury with technical support from the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), the Disaster Risk Financing Strategy 2026–2030 establishes a comprehensive framework to strengthen Kenya’s financial resilience by ensuring governments at both national and county levels have the resources and systems needed to anticipate, prepare for and recover from disasters.

The strategy represents a significant policy shift from reactive, crisis-driven financing to proactive, risk-informed investment, reflecting growing recognition that disasters linked to climate change are becoming more frequent and more costly.

“The true test of resilience is not how we respond after a disaster occurs, but how well we prepare before it happens,” said Ronald Inyangala, Director of Financial and Sectoral Affairs at the National Treasury, speaking on behalf of the Cabinet Secretary.

📌 What You Need to Know

“This Strategy provides Kenya with a robust financial framework to anticipate, absorb and recover from disasters while protecting the most vulnerable members of our society and sustaining our economic progress,” he added.

The strategy comes as Kenya continues to grapple with increasingly severe climate-related disasters, particularly floods and prolonged droughts affecting communities across the country, especially in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs).

According to the National Treasury, the devastating March-April-May floods of 2024 affected approximately 410,000 people, claimed 315 lives, and caused an estimated Sh187 billion in economic losses, underscoring the need for stronger financial preparedness.

Unlike the previous Disaster Risk Financing Strategy (2018–2022), the new framework broadens its focus beyond emergency financing and insurance mechanisms to include investments that reduce disaster risks before they occur. It adopts a multi-sector and multi-hazard approach while integrating gender equality and social inclusion into disaster planning.

The strategy also complements Kenya’s Disaster Risk Management Strategy 2025–2030, which provides the country’s long-term roadmap for reducing disaster risks and strengthening resilience.

UNDRR supported the National Treasury in designing the strategy by providing technical expertise and introducing disaster risk financing tools developed through its Global Education and Training Institute (GETI).

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya