The purpose of DMI is to support, strengthen, and institutionalise existing drought response mechanisms to develop into a more effective and timely mechanism. Some of the core mandates of the project towards achievement of this include;

• Supporting the Kenya Government in the creation of a National Drought Contingency Fund (NDCF) that can effectively disburse financial resources during drought crises
• Establishment of a National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) for coordination of all drought management activities, including preparedness and emergency response. 
• Fostering formulation and adoption of policies related to drought.

National Drought Contingency Fund

DMI has facilitated the preparation of all draft legal documents for establishing the structure of the fund and operation manuals indicating criteria and procedures for disbursement, accounting, procurement, and auditing. The main purpose of the fund will be to finance early mitigation efforts to reduce the time between warning of drought stress and responses at district and national levels. 

National Drought Management Authority

The Ministry for Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands (MNKOAL) identified the need for creation of a specific parastatal which will ensure coordination of drought management irrespective of the political situation and changes of ministries. Based on the above proposal, DMI developed all legal and technical requirements for the creation of a National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) to promote the legalisation process of the authority alongside establishment of the NDCF. The project has also facilitated the preparation of a proposal for the organisational structure of NDMA which includes details on departments and related staffing.