Water storage top priority as the rains start

Water Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa and Environment Secretary Alice Akinyi Kaudia during the signing of the Kenyan Chapter of the Billion Dollar Alliance for Rainwater Harvesting Partnership at the World Agroforestry Centre in Gigiri, Nairobi, on April 11, 2017. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The ‘Kenyan Chapter of the Billion Dollar Business Alliance for Rainwater Harvesting’ movement will boost investments for increasing farm ponds for one million smaller holder farmers.
  • The country’s per capita water is less than 600 cubic meters — which is below the global threshold of 1,000 — putting it in the category of chronically water scarce nations.
  • The like-minded will come together to boost water access for crop and livestock production.

A campaign has been started to harvest water as the long rains continued to fall.

Small-scale water harvesting farm ponds will be built around the country and Kenyans urged to harvest water in their homes.

“The rainwater harvesting and management campaign can be sustained. There are possible options to fight the twin challenge of frequent droughts and floods,” said Water and Irrigation Cabinet Secretary Eugene Wamalwa, when he launched the campaign at the World Agroforestry Centre in Gigiri, Nairobi.

The ‘Kenyan Chapter of the Billion Dollar Business Alliance for Rainwater Harvesting’ movement will boost investments for increasing farm ponds for one million smaller holder farmers.

“My ministry will bring on board individuals, families, communities, institutions, counties and the whole nation to store enough rainwater in the future,” said Mr Wamalwa.

ENOUGH RAINFALL

The country’s per capita water is less than 600 cubic meters — which is below the global threshold of 1,000 — putting it in the category of chronically water scarce nations.

Studies by the World Agroforestry Centre and Unep however show that Kenya receives enough rainfall to supply the needs of six to seven times it current population but does not store rain water.

“Kenya’s rainwater potential is more than 350 billion cubic meters. If captured and managed, this water is enough to support a population of 233 million people or close to five times the current population of Kenya. The Billion Dollar Business Alliance is the vehicle created by the Government and alliance members to increase per-capita storage from less than 100 cubic meters in 2017 to a potential of 7,400 cubic meters in 2030,” said Maimbo Malesu of the World Agroforestry Centre.

A consortium of organisations that has been asked to work on a national strategy for water harvesting will work to help capture and store rainwater in farm ponds.

DRYLANDS DEVELOPMENT

According to the National director of World Vision Kenya, Mr John Makoni, in charge of drylands development, the five-year plan is funded by the Netherlands and is supporting rainwater harvesting for crop and livestock among 34,500 farmers using sand dams and farm ponds in Machakos, Makueni and Kitui. 

The like-minded will come together to boost water access for crop and livestock production.

Vision Fund Kenya, the microfinance subsidiary of World Vision Kenya has been nominated by billion dollar alliance forum to fund farmers.

The proposed project in Kenya is expected to help farmers who lack access to capital to procure a liner for the farm pond and other equipment. “Kenya’s arid and semi-arid regions can produce surplus food if runoff water is properly harvested because soils in the arid lands are fertile.

BETTER NUTRITION

People with more food have better nutrition than those that are not being supported to use runoff water and to use it properly to avoid soil erosion, said Mr James Kamunge of the World Food Programme.

National development targets on increasing the area under irrigation as contained in the Vision 2030 plan are unachievable due to limited water resources and financing, according to the Water principal secretary, Mr Fred Segor.

“I will personally follow up to ensure this campaign succeeds. If each Individual, family, household, schools and churches and mosques and counties had some structure of rainwater harvesting and storage, our story would be different,” he said.

He added that water harvesting involves inexpensive technology.