Two methods for estimating ten-day rainfall totals from Meteosat infra-redimagery were compared for the April-June 1996 ‘long rains’ ofKenya in an area covering the eastern highlands and the Tana and Athi riverbasins. One of these (the Bristol ‘B4’ method) was then used for rainfallestimation for the whole of Kenya, for November 1996 and the other, theTAMSAT ‘Cold Cloud Duration’ (CCD) method was used to estimate rainfallfor the whole of Kenya for November 1997 to April 1998. April-June 1996was an unusual season with very few large rainstorms. For this comparisonperiod the B4 method gave better estimates of actual rainfall than theTAMSAT method because it used a variable cold cloud threshold temperatureand ongoing calibration against rain gauge data. Comparison of ten-day CCDtotals with rainfall for the 1997-1998 period indicated that using theTAMSAT method gave best rainfall estimates for the arid and semi-aridareas of eastern and northern Kenya and for months other than the mainrainy season months of November and April. Both methods could be usedsuccessfully to identify periods with well below or well above averagerainfall even over highland areas, and they are therefore useful forproviding food security early warnings.