AFRICA FIRE MISSION
DROUGHT-DRIVEN WILDFIRES IN KENYA STRAIN RESPONSE SYSTEM
BY JOSÉ NGUNJIRI AND WAKO ABGUDO
The COVID-19 pandemic has combined with vast wildfires in Kenya to place a great strain on an already overburdened wildland fire response system. Kenya typically experiences long rains from March to May, and then short rains from October to December. June through August is mainly cool and dry over most parts of the country. But since last January, Kenya has experienced an extreme “dry spell” in the Northern regions, which includes Garissa, Turkana and neighbouring counties, and in the central 52
wildfire
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OCTOBER – DECEMBER 2020
part of Kenya, which includes Meru, Nyeri and Kirinyaga counties. Wildfires have burned across these areas as well as around Mount Kenya, which lies just north of the Equator. The Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS), and government agencies involved in the wildfire response, including the Kenya Wild Life Service (KWS) and Mount Kenya Conservation, report that about 80,000 hectares have burned thus far in 2020. (Source: European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian aid Operations).
