Kenya and Mozambique face increasingly frequent floods: the impact of climate change

Over 700,000 people have been affected by the torrential rains that have been battering Mozambique since mid-December 2025. In Kenya, the floods that hit the country in March 2026 caused more than 60 deaths and brought entire neighbourhoods of Nairobi to their knees. In both cases, it is rural communities and informal urban settlements that are paying the highest price: those most exposed, least equipped and furthest from the spotlight. 

Since mid-December 2025, heavy seasonal rains have caused widespread flooding in Mozambique, with devastating consequences for communities across the country. According to national authorities, over 700,000 people were affected between December and January 2026, whilst hundreds of thousands were forced to abandon their homes and seek refuge elsewhere.

The worst-hit provinces are those in the south and centre, particularly Gaza, Maputo and Sofala, where rivers have burst their banks following weeks of persistent rainfall. The floods have damaged and destroyed homes, schools, infrastructure, water systems and roads, cutting off entire villages, and hindering access to basic services.

“What we are experiencing in Mozambique is one of the most serious emergencies in recent years. More than half a million people have already been affected, entire communities remain submerged, and vital roads are completely blocked”, said Aneta Jelinkova, our Country Representative in Mozambique.

Mozambique is particularly vulnerable to the climate crisis. At the beginning of 2025, Cyclone Chido struck the north of the country, leaving many communities in dire straits. The situation over the past few months has put further pressure on already fragile services and shelters. Rural communities, whose livelihoods depend on farmland and means of subsistence vulnerable to flooding, are now facing the loss of crops, arable land and livestock, with serious implications for food security in the coming months.

Among the most urgent needs are access to drinking water, sanitation, and the continuity of schooling. It is precisely on these fronts that our response has focused, with the distribution of hygiene kits, drinking water, and temporary learning spaces for the children who have had to leave their homes. 

In early March 2026, heavy rains caused flash floods in several areas of Kenya, affecting the capital Nairobi in particular. Urban streams and rivers burst their banks, flooding roads, neighbourhoods and urban infrastructure. 

According to official figures, around 60 people lost their lives, and more than 2,600 families were forced to abandon their homes and seek shelter elsewhere.

Those most exposed to the effects of extreme weather events were primarily informal urban settlements in the capital, where high population density and already inadequate infrastructure increase vulnerability to flooding. 

A prime example is Kibera, one of the world’s largest slums, where at least two million people are estimated to live. In these areas, every extreme weather event quickly turns into a health and social crisis, with potentially contaminated water, damaged homes and disruption to essential services.

These events in Mozambique and Kenya are not isolated or unpredictable phenomena. In recent years, East Africa has faced periods of prolonged drought followed by waves of heavy rain. Scientists describe this alternation as the ‘climate whiplash’ effect, a phenomenon amplified by global warming that makes weather events more extreme and less predictable.

Countries such as Mozambique and Kenya contribute relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions, yet they suffer disproportionately from the consequences, with a profound impact on the lives of the people living in these areas and on their livelihoods. 

Faced with emergencies of this magnitude, an immediate response is necessary but not sufficient. This is why at WeWorld we are also implementing long-term structural programmes in both countries.

In Mozambique, together with the CIMA Foundation, we have strengthened early warning systems in the areas most at risk, trained local authorities and Civil Protection staff in risk monitoring and emergency coordination, and engaged more than 50 communities in sessions dedicated to evacuation and protection procedures. In 2025, we opened two operational centres in Maputo and Beira for satellite monitoring and the coordinated management of climate-related emergencies.

In Kenya, we train young people in climate justice and advocacy, equipping them with the tools to bring their concerns into the political debate, and we support circular economy models that create jobs whilst reducing environmental impact. Furthermore, our programmes place women, young people and people with disabilities at the centre of disaster preparedness – groups that are often the last to receive help in emergencies.

The recent floods come as no surprise to those who have been monitoring climate data for years. The real question is not whether they will return, but whether the most vulnerable communities will have the tools they need to cope with them. Our work in the region is focused on closing this gap, developing solutions in partnership with local communities, and the people who live there every day.