An estimated
150,000 people from pastoral communities, including students and teachers from
six schools based in Kenya’s Baringo, Kiambu West and Laikipia districts, are
to benefit from a €690,000 grant from the African Water Facility (AWF)
The grant
will support a Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA) pilot program designed to help
communities build resilience to droughts and adapt to climate change through
Integrated Rainwater
Harvesting Management (IRHM), with potential for greater reach in
the Horn of Africa.
More
specifically, the AWF grant will be used to finance the implementation of the
pilot’s various activities in Kenya’s three semi-arid districts, including RHM
infrastructure development for domestic and productive use; the utilisation of
complementary water harvesting technologies to improve livelihoods and generate
income; knowledge sharing between community members; and policy advocacy based
on tangible benefits and impacts to encourage government and development
partners to scale up at national and regional levels.
“This pilot
promises to help some of the most vulnerable and isolated communities better
manage rainwater to reduce the known severe water stress experienced in the
drylands and to achieve water security,” said Akissa Bahri, Coordinator of the
African Water Facility. “We hope the results will serve as reference for governments
to scale up to reach more communities and improve their lives and livelihoods.”
Details of
the project’s activities involve:
•
Raising awareness in the communities on rainwater harvesting techniques to cope
with extreme water, hygiene and sanitation conditions;
•
Promoting an improved water management model for improved yields and crop
diversification;
•
Applying watershed conservation and rangeland rehabilitation to minimize
conflict over water;
•
Installing water tanks for roof catchment and farm ponds for surface runoff;
•
Constructing separate ventilated improved latrines for boys and girls; and
•
Promoting good hygiene practices such as hand-washing with soap before meals and
after using latrines.
The Kenya
project is one of six case studies conducted in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda designed to evaluate the performance of rainwater harvesting systems in
the region with the aim of promoting “best practices” in water management for
improving water supply and food security.
The Kenya
project will be implemented by the Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA), the
Government of Kenya and targeted communities.
Distributed
by the African Press Organization on behalf of the African Development Bank.
No comments:
Post a Comment