This assessment contributes to a better understanding of the underlying causes of vulnerability in drought-prone areas, with an emphasis on pastoralists and agro-pastoralists, to promote disaster risk reduction, ecosystem rehabilitation, and sustainable livelihood practices. Kenya’s arid counties are predominantly pastoral, with high mobility of pastoralists and livestock and limited crop farming. The semi-arid counties are mostly agro-pastoral, with integrated crop/livestock production systems common. Opportunities for climate-resilient development for poverty alleviation lie in the restoration of degraded ecosystem services and especially in reversing declining land productivity.