Donor cuts hit family planning as contraceptives shortage bites

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Kenya is reporting stock out of family planning devices risking abortions and unwanted pregnancies.The stock out is as a result of donor cuts.

This has triggered widespread contraceptive stock outs across thousands of rural public health centers.

Uptake of family planning in the counties across the country remain low, with women unable to raise cost of purchasing in private entities.Kirinyaga, Embu, Meru, highest contracepting counties are the hardest hit.

Among family planning devices lacking include combined oral contraceptives (COCs), progestogen-only pills (POPs), intramuscular depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA IM), and subdermal implants.

An ongoing audit of family planning has also revealed Baringo and Narok, also suffer shortages, with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), forced to help purchase the devices that are out of stock.

“But clearly there are no commodities and uptake in the counties has gone down, post abortion care services have also increased in the country. The situation is worse,” said a source.

“Shortage of family planning is causing fears of unintended pregnancies, which some will lead to abortions and of course a rise in health care cost,” added the source.

So far, auditing has been done in Meru, Embu, Meru, Kirintaga, Baringo and Meru, with preliminary finding revealing zero stock.

Six other counties namely Kwale, Mombasa and Kilifi Coast; Kakamega, Kisumu and Homabay are set for auditing by the first week of September.

Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (KEMSA) has no stock of the devices.

In a legislative health brief, which The Standard has a copy, the central inventory at KEMSA has collapsed below safe operation parameters (minimum of 16 months).

In the detailed report dated May 7, 2026, there is absolute stock out of DMPA IM injectable, that is most popularly used.

The shot is given by a health worker every three months.

Others out of stock include DMPA SC injectable, that an individual administers by themselves under the skin every three months.

According to the document, when highly utilised short-acting methods like DMPA IM run completely dry, clinic staff are forced into method denial.

“Women are forced to wait indefinitely, utilise methods they do not prefer, or leave clinics completely unprotected, heavilt driving up unplanned teen pregnancies,” adds the report.

Additionally, CoG/POPs ((daily oral pills), emergency contraceptives (IEC), and Etonogestrel implants that are given for three years.

“Absolute stock means we have not had any stocks in the last one year, and KEMSA has not delivered even when requested because they are not available,” explained a source.

There is critical shortage of Levonorgestrel implant administered to a woman for five years, with a stock to last for only one month.

Average monthly consumption for the commodity is 29,595, against available stock of 22,020.

Kenya has heavily relied on the donor to support family planning, with cuts in funding having greatly affected supply.

“Kenya historically relies in USD 7M, capped Government of Kenya allocation, suffering from extreme donor co-dependency gaps in 2026,” reads a section of the report.

The Government of Kenya's current national budget allocation of Sh500 million meets less than 9 percent of the country’s verified annual requirement of Sh5.8 billion.

“The results in a devastating deficit. To avoid a complete maternal health system breakdown. Kenya urgently requires an immediate, supplementary allocation to absorb the impact of exiting donors,” adds the report.

Approximately 12 percent induced abortions in Kenya result directly from an inability to access contraceptives in public health facilities.

The average cost of treating critical complications from unsafe procedures currently consumes billions in public healthcare, personnel time and medical resources.

Among legislative interventions listed include urgently raise the annual domestic reproductive health commodity budget from Sh500 to at least Sh3 billion to counter rapid donor withdrawal.

MPs are also expected to establish a dedicated, protected budget code in the national budget for reproductive health commodities, shielding it from administrative active cuts.

Under the global Family Planning (FP2030) commitment framework, the Government of Kenya formally pledged to systematically scale up local allocations to achieve 100 percent domestic financing of family planning commodities by 2026.

The national co-financing compact was agreed on in May, 2024, signed between the Government of Kenya, and UNFPA.

The GoK/UNFPA Compact agreement was designed to secure a match funding and protect routine supplies.

For example in 2023, Kenya’s actual co-financing was set at $172,600 (Sh 22.35 million) and $345, 200 (Sh44.7 million)  in 2024 with a target of $824,632 (Sh 106.73 million) in 2026.

By 2027, the agreement projected Kenya would pick up funding of family planning, with $ 1,030,789 (Sh133.45 million) with UNFPA matching incentive of up to $ 2 million (Sh258.96 million).

The co-financing obligation by the Kenyan Government has however not been honoured.

“The structured roadmap was designed to execute a smooth phased transition away from external bilateral aid towards sovereign financial autonomy,” notes legislative report.

However, as of 2026, the sovereign milestone remains unfulfilled.

Over the last four years, actual funding disbursement have stagnated, declined, or been completely omitted from national budget.

“Without a dedicated, legally ring-fenced appropriation from parliament, the transition to self-reliance has completely stalled,” adds the report.

In Kenya the most commonly used family planning methods among married women are injectables, at 20 per cent, followed by implants at 19 per cent and contraceptive pills at 8 per cent.

In 2024, the country reported decrease in injectables from 26 percent in 2014 to 20 percent in 2022, and a marked increase in use of implants from 10 percent to 19 percent over the same period.

Demand for contraception in Kenya has grown over time, with additional more than 2.5 million additional users of family planning since 2012, which signals increased demand for family planning services that necessitates increased financial resources.

In 2023, the country reached 6,502,000 users with family planning services.

 As a result, family planning averted 2,440,000 unintended pregnancies, 10,000 maternal deaths and prevented 608,000 unsafe abortions.

Nationally, Kenya adopted family planning 2030 Commitments that partly seek to increase modern contraception from 58 to 64 per cent by 2030.

Nonetheless, with donor priorities shifting, Kenya must increase domestic funding for family planning, as it has committed to fully finance its family planning needs by 2030.

Counties, however, rely heavily on the national government for health funding, despite health being a devolved function.