Kenya’s contraceptive shelves are empty. The pipeline is dry. And time is running out

Eight of the 12 key family planning commodities tracked at the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) had zero months of stock as of May 7. Not low. Zero.

The combined oral contraceptive pill, progestin-only pill, three-year levonorgestrel implant, DMPA injectable, emergency contraceptive pill, cycle beads, and two other formulations were absent from the warehouse. The methods Kenyan women use most were simply not there. 

According to the family planning stock status as of May 7, the country is running on empty. The situation has persisted for a year. 

On May 12, Senator Tabitha Mutinda rose in the Senate on behalf of the Kenya Young Parliamentarians Association, naming both the crisis and its cause.

Also read: Family planning crisis: Patients turned away as public clinics run out of contraceptives

The total estimated funding needed for family planning commodities is $22.9 million (Sh2.8 billion). Against that, the supplementary budget allocated just Sh520 million. Of that, an Authority to Incur Expenditure (AIE) of Sh250 million was issued to Kemsa last week. As of her statement, no cash had arrived. The remaining Sh270 million had neither an AIE nor a disbursement.

The financial year closes June 2026. Procurement lead time is 13 months from the date of funds receipt. Every month lost adds to the stockout at the end of the pipeline.

“If cash disbursement is not effected against the issued AIE before the end of the financial year, the Sh520 million allocation will lapse back to Treasury, the procurement window will be lost entirely, and Kenya will enter FY 2026/2027 with zero stock and zero pipeline,” Mutinda told the Senate.

USAID had been Kenya’s primary source of family planning commodities. Its suspension of support earlier this year removed the safety net that had masked domestic procurement failures for years. The senator noted this is not the first time funds have been withheld. In 2021/22, Sh344 million was allocated but never disbursed. In 2023/24, Sh250 million was allocated but not disbursed. In the same year, a further Sh200 million was allocated but not disbursed. In 2024/25, Sh500 million was allocated but not disbursed. 

The current unfunded AIE is Sh250 million. The total outstanding liability owed to Kemsa for family planning commodities that were allocated, issued an AIE, but never paid for, stands at Sh1.544 billion.

Of the 12 contraceptive commodities tracked, the most popular method, DMPA IM injectable, had zero units against an average monthly consumption of nearly 100,000 vials.

Young women

The combined oral contraceptive pill (COC) had zero stock against monthly consumption of 25,000 cycles. The progestin-only pill (POP) had zero against 24,000 cycles.

The three-year levonorgestrel implant had zero against nearly 7,000 sets, while cycle beads, emergency contraceptive pill, and DMPA subcutaneous injection all had zero.

The etonogestrel 68mg implant (single-rod, widely used by young women) had 12,979 sets available, but monthly consumption is 31,427 sets. That is less than half a month’s supply, against a required 16 month buffer for security.

The five-year levonorgestrel implant had 22,020 sets against monthly consumption of 29,595: less than one month’s supply.

The IUD insertion set had 27,700 units (about seven months). Male condoms (18 million units) had roughly 17 months. The levonorgestrel IUD 52mg, a long-acting device used by a smaller proportion of women, had eighteen months.

Only condoms and the 52mg IUD are within minimum stock parameters. Everything else is below the sixteen month minimum, in stockout, or near stockout.

“The current family planning commodity status at the central level remains in a critical state,” said Nelly Munyasia, executive director of the Reproductive Health Network Kenya.

“Unavailability of highly preferred short term methods such as COCs and POPs puts women in an awkward position. For youths who are sexually active, it is even worse. We cannot purport to reduce teenage pregnancies while letting them down by not providing the commodities to make right choices.”

Millicent Navinywa, a healthcare provider in Kilifi County, has spent six months navigating this absence daily.

“I feel bad that I have to send women to buy contraceptives when they don’t have the money. The only option I can offer is a five year non hormonal implant, but most women prefer the short-term methods, which I don’t have.”

Last week, a client pleaded for anything. She could not afford private facilities and did not want to get pregnant. Navinywa had nothing to give her.

According to the 2026 Kenya Economic Survey, family planning uptake declined across every major method in the period ending 2025. 

Also read: Women suffer as contraceptive shortage bites

Injections fell by 10.9 per cent for new clients and 8.6 percent for revisits. Combined oral contraceptive pills dropped by 29.9 per cent for new clients and 22.7 per cent for revisits, the steepest recorded decline of any method. Implants declined by three per cent for new clients. Progestin-only pills fell by 15 per cent. Female sterilisation dropped by 13.9 per cent.

Senator Mutinda’s statement was direct about the connection: “These declines are not isolated statistical fluctuations. They represent the lived reality of millions of women and girls who presented at public health facilities and were turned away, referred elsewhere at prohibitive cost, or forced to abandon their family planning intentions entirely.”

“Family planning is not merely a health matter. It is a governance issue, a development imperative, and a constitutional obligation. Every day of inaction results in unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and preventable maternal deaths.”

She noted that Kenya is lagging behind Uganda, Rwanda, and Zimbabwe. The period of declining uptake corresponds precisely to the financial years when appropriations were allocated but never disbursed.

In Bungoma, a reproductive health coordinator told the Nation that the situation since donor funding was withdrawn is worse than past periodic shortages. They ordered 15,000 units of contraceptives and received 3,000. Those ran out.

“Women are getting pregnant because they cannot access contraceptives. I fear that come next year, many women might die from unsafe abortions while the number of young girls getting pregnant might also increase.”

In Kakamega, only progesterone is available. Condoms are out of stock.

“We only have progesterone, which doesn’t work for all women. Many experience side effects, but they have no choice unless they buy alternatives, which not everyone can afford,” said nurse Maureen Wafula. She added that private facilities are increasing prices to exploit the shortage.

In Kilifi, even the condoms that young men used to take freely at  Navinywa's dispensary are gone.

Based on projected evidence, the current stockout is linked to 1.2 million unintended pregnancies, 290,000 unsafe abortions, 4,000 maternal deaths, and an additional Sh11.2 billion in healthcare costs. The unmet need for family planning is projected to rise from 14 per cent to 19 per cent.

“The gap between allocation and disbursement is not a technical matter; it is a governance failure of the highest order,” Mutinda said.

Dr Bashir Issak, director of Family Health at the Ministry of Health, acknowledged the crisis in February: “We are mobilising resources from within, from partners, and the procurement process is ongoing.”