East Africa Prepares for El Niño as Heavy Rains Approach

The East African Community has adopted an emergency preparedness and response plan to address the impending El Niño weather event. Climate scientists warn that the event could become very strong and extreme. Heavy rain clouds have already gathered over Lake Victoria and parts of Burundi. The plan was adopted at a ministerial session in November 2026.

The El Niño Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan sets out a joint regional response to the weather event. It was adopted under the leadership of Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Community Affairs of Uganda. Kadaga emphasized the urgency of the situation, citing the cost of unpreparedness being higher than the cost of preparedness.

The plan focuses on five key areas: early warning and anticipatory action, health preparedness and response, infrastructure and tourism resilience, agriculture, food security and livelihoods, and climate mobility and displacement. The plan identifies priority hotspots, including the Lake Victoria Basin, the Tana River and Kenyan coast, and the Juba–Shabelle corridors in Somalia.

The IGAD Climate Prediction and Applications Centre briefed the meeting that El Niño is firmly established and expected to strengthen. Above-normal rainfall is likely across most of the region, with the strongest signal over eastern Kenya and central to southern Somalia. The centre warned that the event may also affect the March–May long rains.

Partner states were urged to be proactive and plan for the whole cycle of the El Niño event. They were also encouraged to adapt their agricultural, water, and livestock strategies. The Cabinet Secretary for East African Community Affairs, Beatrice Askul Moe, said Kenya had moved to an all-of-government approach led by the National Disaster Operations Centre.

Other partner states, including Uganda and Tanzania, have also taken steps to prepare for the El Niño event. Uganda's Minister of Internal Affairs, Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, emphasized the need for a regional mutual assistance framework to respond quickly across borders. Tanzania's Deputy Minister of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Kasper Mmuya, said his country supports the plan and has strengthened weather monitoring and prepared emergency supplies.

The East African Community Secretariat will coordinate regional activities under the plan. A Regional Steering Committee will oversee the work, supported by an Emergency Coordination Unit at the Secretariat and national focal points in each partner state. The Deputy Secretary General, Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, emphasized the need for immediate implementation of the plan to safeguard the gains of regional integration.

Key points

• The East African Community has adopted an emergency preparedness and response plan to address the impending El Niño weather event.
• The plan focuses on five key areas, including early warning and anticipatory action, health preparedness and response, and infrastructure and tourism resilience.
• Partner states have been urged to be proactive and plan for the whole cycle of the El Niño event, adapting their agricultural, water, and livestock strategies as needed.