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Rainwaterharvesting: Kenya6

GENERAL INFORMATION

❖ Implementing institution:Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI), KARI-Njoro

❖ Head:Dr. Miriam G. Kinyua

❖ Details of institution:Address: Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI),KARI-Njoro Private bag, Post code 20107, Njoro, Kenya

Tel.: (+254) 51 61528

Fax: (+254) 51 61576

E-mail: [email protected]

Web site: www.kari.org

❖ Implementation period:1999-2000.

❖ Costs:US$17,000

75

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76 V O L U M E 1 1: S A F E D R I N K I N G WA T E R

S U M M A R Y

Lare is a dry area with no permanent

rivers. It receives an average of 700 mil-limetres of rainfall a year but this varies

widely from one year to another. It is also

unevenly distributed among the seasons.

Farmers in Lare have identified four

major constraints to agricultural produc-

tion, with scarcity of water as the major

one. Before 1998, about 70 per cent of all

households in the area experienced short-

ages of water. In addition, not only was

there insufficient water, but it was also of

poor quality and caused a high incidence

of water-borne diseases.

In 1999, a project involving nine col-

laborating institutions was initiated to

address rainwater harvesting practices

and water treatment along with othertechnologies required by the farmers.

The project resulted in a dramatic

increase in the adoption rate of run-off

water harvesting technology from 409

water pans in 1998 to 2,400 water pans in

2002. There was also a marked increase

in the adoption of simple water treat-

ments carried out in the home. The inci-

dence of water-borne diseases has been

reduced and, related to the increased

health status of the local communities,

there has been an increase in human pro-

ductivity. The availability of safe water

for crops and for home consumption has

improved agricultural productivity in

Lare and helped to reduce poverty levels.

It was also noted that, to avoid environ-mental degradation, especially in terms of

soil erosion, the use of correctly designed

rainwater run-off harvesting methods is

important and has actually improved

reforestation in the area.

B A C K R O U N D A N D

J U S T I F A C T I O N

In Kenya, the practice of harvesting run-

off water is carried out mainly in the more

arid and semi-arid regions. The most com-

mon methods are the collection of rainwa-

ter falling on rooftops and the collection

of floodwater from watercourses for

domestic use. Typically, the harvested

water is stored in tanks or dugout water

pans (which are ponds used for storing

water that runs off fields and roads) or

used directly for crop production.

However, the adoption rate was found to

be poor because there was a lack of under-standing of the technology by many farm-

ers and poor information transfer to the

farmers by agricultural extension officers.

As in many other developing coun-

tries, the provision of water to all

Kenyans is hampered by financial con-

straints. However, the nation’s water

requirements are increasing and even

people living in areas that are not neces-

sarily semi-arid also find themselves in

need of simple technologies to harvest

rainwater in order to achieve some level

of self-sufficiency in water. In addition,

an increasing number of people are also

settling in marginal areas where infra-

structural support from the centralgovernment is often lacking. This was the

situation that faced the people in Lare.

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Rainwater harvesting: Kenya 77

Lare Division, which is located in

Nakuru District to the west of Lake

Nakuru National Park, covers an area of

about 134 square kilometres. It consists

of four locations: Bagaria, Gichobo, Lare

and Pwani/Naishi Game. The average

rainfall in the region is about 700 mil-

limetres a year, but this is very erratic and

unevenly distributed and there is a serious

drought every three to five years. This

situation calls for technologies to

improve water storage for use during

periods of drought, especially as the areadoes not have a piped water supply but

relies instead on seasonal rivers, dams to

collect run-off water and a few boreholes.

In 1996, Lare Division had a popula-

tion of about 30,000, including some

6,000 farming families usually living on

privately owned land, with the average

farm size of about one hectare. A recent

survey estimated that some 70 per cent of

these households were experiencing

water supply problems, with the only

sources being a borehole (a second

borehole was not operational) and ten

heavily silted dams. Women, in particu-

lar, were suffering as they often had to

carry water over long distances (up to 13

kilometres).

The issue of improving water harvest-

ing in the area was highlighted byfarmers in several stakeholder meetings in

Lare as an urgent problem that needed to

be addressed. The objective of this

project, therefore, was to train farmers

in Lare Division in water harvesting

techniques so that they would be

empowered to tackle their own water

shortage problems.

Figure 1. A farmer research extension

group (FREG) meeting in Lare.

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D E S C R I P T I O N

Following a series of stakeholder meet-

ings at which the need for rainwater harvesting technologies was repeatedly

highlighted, the programme for develop-

ing such technologies in the Lare

Division became driven by farmer

demand. Once the commitment of the

farmers had been obtained, the farmers

were organized into farmer research

extension groups (FREGs). Each of the 19

FREGs created consisted of a group of

neighbouring farmers who were willing

to participate in the project and each

elected a group leader to coordinate the

activities and to assist with the monitor-

ing of the implementation of water har-

vesting technologies. Since participation

in the FREGs allowed more immediate

access to water harvesting technologies,it created a bonding factor that sustained

the membership. The FREG system also

enhanced farmer-to-farmer information

exchange, thereby contributing to

ensuring sustainability (fig. 1).

TY P E S O F WAT E R H A RV E S T I N G

T E C H N O L O G I E S D I S S E M I N AT E D

Farmers and extension staff were trained

in various water harvesting technologies,

including the collection of run-off using

water pans, planting crops in trenches to

use harvested run-off water, rooftop rain-

water harvesting and simple water treat-

ment procedures.

The methodology employed by the

project in the transfer of water harvesting

technologies included the development

of brochures, training of front-line staff

and farmers, on-farm demonstrations,

field days and project evaluation.

BR O C H U R E D E V E L O P M E N T

For each of the three main technologies

(harvesting of run-off water, rooftop har-

vesting of rainwater and simple water

treatment), appropriate extension mes-

sages were identified and 100 pamphlets

were prepared, printed in both English

and the local Kiswahili language. Theeffectiveness of the brochures was pre-

tested using farmers, extension staff and

other stakeholders operating in Lare.

BR O C H U R E O N H A R V E S T I N G

ROOF WATER : “OB E Y YO U R

TH I R S T: DR I N K RO O F WATER”

The messages contained in thisbrochure included information on how to

calculate annual domestic water demand

and select the appropriate tank capacity,

how to construct concrete tanks using

local materials and labour, and how to

reduce water loss through evaporation

and the construction of leak-proof tanks.

BROCHURE ON HARVESTING

RUN-OFF WATER: “WATER THE

REAL THING: COLLECT IT ALL”

Information on the water pan technology

included how to select the best site for

the construction of a water pan (fig. 2),

how to calculate the capacity of water

pans, how to construct silt traps, how tocontrol the loss of water through seepage

and how to reduce evaporation using

agroforestry techniques.

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Figure 2. A water pan constructed

by a Lare farmer.

BR O C H U R E O N S I M P L E W A T E R

TREA TM ENT: “TREAT YO U R

WATER , STAY HEALTHY”

The extension messages advocated in this

brochure included the qualities of cleanand safe water for human consumption,

water-borne diseases and their impact on

human lives, how to remove turbidity or

colour from dirty water and how to dose

the water with alum and chlorine. The

brochure also emphasized boiling water

to kill pathogenic organisms as an alter-

native to chlorination.

TRAINING OF FRONT-LINE

EXTENSION STAFF AND FARMERS

Using these brochures, front-line exten-

sion workers from various departments

such as the Ministry of Agriculture and

Rural Development, the Ministry of

Forestry, various non-governmentalorganizations (NGOs) and other service

providers in Lare Division were given a

one-day training session on each of the

water harvesting technologies. In turn,

these extension workers organized train-

ing sessions for farmers, especially those

in the FREGS, in their respective areas of

Lare, again using the brochures as refer-

ence material.

EX T E N S I O N

Together with front-line extension

workers, researchers from the Kenya

Agricultural Research Institute (KARI)

organized a series of demonstrations forgroups of farmers at various locations

throughout Lare. The demonstrations were

publicized through churches and schools.

During these demonstrations, the three

brochures were distributed to the farmers

and different aspects of water harvesting

technologies were discussed and demon-

strated, with farmers taking an active role.

In addition, four primary schools, one

from each location, were selected as

demonstration sites for the construction

of a water tank suitable for storing rain-

water collected from rooftops. Schools

were chosen because they are owned by

the community and are centrally located.

Each school contributed 30 per cent ofthe total cost of the tank, whereas the

project paid for the remaining 70 per

cent. Parents were also requested to be

present and to participate in the different

stages of tank construction while farmers

provided locally sourced building stones,

sand and labour.

Several field days were also organizedat the Mt. Clara Farmers’ Training Centre

in Lare Division. At each event, different

farming methods were demonstrated,

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including the water harvesting technolo-

gies. The latter were greatly appreciated

by the farmers.

EVALUATION

Evaluations were carried out after the first

and second years of the project to estab-

lish the impact of the project. Stratified

sampling revealed that farmers generally

fell into one of five categories:

• group 1, the non-adopters: didnot attend the demonstrations

and were not adopting the tech-

nologies;

• group 2, the laggards: attended

the demonstrations but did not

attend follow-up activities;

• group 3, late adopters: attended

the demonstrations and expressedinterest in the new technologies

but did not implement them;

• group 4, early adopters: attended

the demonstrations, received

further information and are

now implementing the new

technologies; and

• group 5, innovators: did notattend the demonstrations and

received no further information

but are implementing the new

technologies.

The evaluation also collected data on:

• the number of households that

had constructed water pans and

water storage tanks during the

project period;

• the perception of farmers regard-

ing the usefulness and popularity

of water harvesting technologies

promoted by the project;

• the reasons why some farmers did

not attend the demonstrations;• the best methods of communication

from the farmers’ point of view;

• reasons why some farmers did not

implement the project recommen-

dations; and

• suggestions by farmers on the best

ways forward.

Of the five different groups identified,

only groups 4 and 5 were implementing

water harvesting technologies. The main

reasons given by farmers in groups 1, 2

and 3 for not implementing the technolo-

gies included the lack of funds and a lack

of information. However, farmers in all

categories agreed that churches and

schools were the most effective avenues

for the dissemination of information,

although some women farmers also sug-

gested that contacting people at home

could be an improvement to the current

extension methods.

Among the three technologies

demonstrated, the most popular in termsof uptake was the water pan, with rooftop

rainwater harvesting being the least pop-

ular. This is most likely because rooftop

rainwater harvesting, which involves the

construction of a water tank, is the most

expensive option and owing to a crop

failure in 1998, most farmers in Lare

Division were weak financially and there-

fore unable to construct the tanks at thattime (the cost of constructing a roof

water storage tank is estimated to be

about US$0.014 per litre of water).

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In contrast, many farmers opted for

the most cost-effective option, the con-

struction of a water pan (the cost of con-structing a water pan is estimated to be

about US$0.002 per litre of water).

Before the project started, just 409 house-

holds (or 12.7 per cent) in Lare Division

had water pans. During the implementa-

tion of the project, this number increased

to 2,400, or 53.9 per cent (see table).

This dramatic rise in the adoption rate

can be attributed to the efforts made to

enhance technology transfer by the proj-

ect team through the integrated

approach of using brochures, training

sessions, field days and demonstrations.

Interestingly, the benefits of water

harvesting technologies as perceived by

the implementing farmers differed

between the groups. Group 4 farmers

(early adopters) rated the benefits in the

order of family health, safe water for

drinking, and water for livestock. In con-

trast, group 5 farmers (innovators) indi-

cated that most benefits were related to

the availability of water for both people

and livestock. As group 5 farmers

received no direct training, it appears thatthe greatest motivating force for the

adoption of water harvesting technolo-

gies is actually livestock production.

Attendance at the demonstrationevents and implementation of the tech-

nologies were also compared on the basis

of gender. In general, more men attended

the events than women (56.9 per cent of

men compared to 43 per cent of women)

and rates of uptake of the technologies

were similar (54.6 per cent of men and

45.5 per cent of women). The main dif-ference noted was that although more

men attended the demonstrations on

domestic water treatment (63.2 per cent

of men compared to 36.8 per cent of

women), many more women implement-

ed the recommendations, including many

who did not attend the workshops (52.4

per cent of men and 47.6 per cent of

women). In total, some 75 households

were practising water treatment by the

end of the first season compared with

zero households at the beginning of the

project. By 2000, more than 200 house-

holds in Lare Division were practising

water treatment technology using chlo-

rine and alum at a cost of about

US$0.016 per litre of water.

Table ??. Total number of water pans and their adoption rate in Lare

Division, 1998-2002.

YEAR NUMBER OF WATER PANS ADOPTION RATE (%)

1998 409 12.7

1999 1,028 23.1

2000 1,863 41.9

2002 2,400 53.9

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PAT E N T I N G A N D

C O M M E R C I A L I Z A T I O N

The construction of water pans androoftop rainwater harvesting systems are

traditional technologies and therefore

ineligible for patent protection. Likewise,

the use of chlorine and the use of alum to

purify water are well-known techniques.

Therefore, there are no plans to commer-

cialize these technologies. Instead, KARI

is making its know-how available to localcommunities as long as the local commu-

nities and individual farmers are willing

to provide the necessary resources to

help with the construction of the rainwa-

ter harvesting systems.

PA R T N E R S H I P S

The project was coordinated by KARI and

financially supported by the Netherlands

Liaison Office. In particular, the project

required collaboration from the stakehold-

ers, especially FREG members.

Among the collaborating organiza-

tions were: the Anglican Church of Kenya;Baraka Agricultural College; the Catholic

Diocese of Nakuru; Egerton University,

Njoro; Farming Systems, Kenya; the

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural

Development, Government of Kenya; Self

Help Development International; and the

World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

R E P L I C A B I L I T Y

The project in Lare has attracted a great

deal of interest from farmers in otherparts of Kenya and even internationally.

By 2004, some 8,000 farmers from adja-

cent Divisions and more distant regions

had visited Lare. Other visitors have

included 25 participants at an interna-

tional course on water harvesting, 25

participants at a national agroforestry

course and three delegates from

the International Water Management

Institute. These visits are a clear indica-

tion that the project has had a positive

impact in Lare and that there is consider-

able interest in replicating the simple

technologies and the methods of their

dissemination in other areas. Indeed,

farmers who have visited Lare show a

high uptake of the water harvestingtechnologies demonstrated to them by

Lare farmers.

P O L I C Y I M P L I C A T I O N S

The dramatic rise in the percentage of

households implementing water harvest-ing practices in Lare as a result of

improved extension methods serves as an

example for government departments

and government-funded institutions in

developing effective ways of communi-

cating their advice and recommendations

to local communities.

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L E S S O N S L E A R N E D

• Demand-driven technologies. For the

improvement of the disseminationand adoption of water harvesting

technologies, it was observed that

there was a need to consult

farmers first (a “bottom-up”

approach) to ensure local

ownership and long-term

sustainability of the project.

• Strong partnerships. Such partnerships

brought together all the stake-

holders (researchers, extension

personnel, NGOs and farmers) in

the planning and implementation

of the technologies.

• Local contacts. The dissemination

approach using FREGs ensured

that the horizontal transfer of

water harvesting technology fromfarmer to farmer was facilitated,

thus increasing the critical mass

of potential adopters.

• Experimentation. Once farmers had

successfully created water pans

and planting in trenches, they

began experimenting on their

own, trying different combinationsof crops (bananas, pumpkins,

sugar cane, sweet potatoes and

vegetables) until they found what

worked best for them. In other

words, the farmers became

researchers.

• Reduced labour inputs. The adoption

of run-off water harvesting result-

ed in an increased demand by

farmers for more technologies

to use the water that they had

collected, including treadle pumps

and low-cost drip irrigation kits,

necessitating the creation of a

revolving credit scheme. These

additional technological improve-

ments further improved local food

security and reduced the burden

on women and children, who

traditionally were responsible for

manually watering vegetable plots.

I M P A C T

There has been a high rate of adoption of

the rainwater harvesting technologies,

especially the construction of water pans

to collect and store run-off rainwater,

among farmers in Lare District (table 1).

Farmers have also been taught how

to assess the water requirements for their

domestic needs and their livestock, whichdetermine the size of the tank that needs to

be built. In addition, they have been

trained in tank construction techniques.

Farmers have also been taught how to

carry out simple home water treatment

by boiling, the flocculation of suspended

particles using alum, or the use of chlo-

rine to kill bacteria. Currently there areretailers of these chemicals in the local

trading centres. These efforts have result-

ed in the reduced incidence of water-

borne diseases, especially typhoid and

amoebic dysentery. As good health

means fewer days of incapacitation

through sickness, families are not only

seeing savings on medical bills but arealso able to increase their economic

activities. For example, owing to a failure

of the crop, no maize was produced in

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Lare in 2000. In contrast, during the 2001

and 2002 seasons, Lare’s farmers pro-

duced maize worth US$1.1 million and

US$3.9 million, respectively.

In addition, prior to the project,

women were travelling long distances to

fetch water. With the introduction of the

new water pans, women are spending

more time on their farms and are seeing

their incomes from farming rise as their

water-related workload decreases.

New farming techniques are evenbeing introduced to use surplus water.

Trenches measuring some 40 kilometres

have been dug and planted with 16,000

banana plants. Other crops such as pump-

kins, sugar cane and vegetables have also

been planted in the trenches irrigated by

harvested run-off water. This new diversity

of local crops has resulted in improved foodsecurity and better nutrition in the area.

Farmers along the roads have formed

Water Use Committees to facilitate the

equal sharing of water that runs off the

road. These committees ensure that run-

off water is available for users farther down

the slope. Uncontrolled run-off water on

the roads has also been reduced, therebyreducing erosion and improving the status

of the roads. Small barriers placed along

the roads to facilitate the trapping and har-

vesting of run-off water have also helped

to reduce the quantity and speed of water

run-off, thereby preventing soil erosion.

Village Environmental Committees

have also been formed to oversee therehabilitation of catchments, with the

aim of reducing soil erosion, thus reduc-

ing the amount of silt entering the water

pans, and to promote reforestation.

Indeed, eleven community agroforestry

nurseries with a capacity of 100,000

seedlings have been established to supply

farmers with tree seedlings.

Educational tours for farmers from

outside Lare have led to the wider adop-

tion of water harvesting technologies.

The transfer of know-how from farmer to

farmer also means that the technology is

now spreading to the divisions outsidethe project area without the intervention

of project staff.

F U T U R E P L A N S

Despite the large number of Lare farmers

who adopted the water pan technique for

harvesting run-off rainwater, few families

adopted the rooftop rainwater harvesting

methods prescribed. However, as these

are more expensive, many farmers have

pointed out that the water pan technolo-

gy is a transition to implementing roof

water harvesting. Even so, the construc-

tion of demonstration tanks in selected

primary schools was greatly appreciatedby many farmers and parents. The farm-

ers said that they learned a great deal and

plan to adopt the new construction meth-

ods demonstrated.

Since Lare farmers now have ample

water in their water pans, they have

expressed the desire for training in the

use of small-scale drip irrigation and other

activities such as bee-keeping and fish

farming. The adoption of such additional

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components will strengthen their finan-

cial base and improve their livelihoods.

However, there are still some require-

ments to which the researchers need toattend. For example, different small-scale

irrigation technologies must be evaluated

under local conditions and for use with

local crops. Also, methods to discourage

malaria-carrying mosquitoes from breeding

in the water pans need to be investigated.

P U B L I C A T I O N S

Hai, M.T. (1998). Water harvesting.RELMA Technical Handbook No.16, Soil and Water Conservation Branch,Ministry of Agriculture, Nairobi, Kenya.

Ministry of Agriculture and RuralDevelopment. (1999). Annual Report for

Lare Division, Nakuru District, Kenya._____. (2000). Annual Report for LareDivision, Nakuru District, Kenya.

_____. (2001). Annual Report for LareDivision, Nakuru District, Kenya.

Gamba, P., Wanjama, J.K., Onyango, T.,Riungu, T.C., Tuitoek, D.K., Macharia,M. and Nassiuma, E.W. (2000).

Participatory dissemination of livestock,crop production and water harvestingtechnologies in Lare Division, NakuruDistrict, Kenya. In: Netherlands Support tothe National Agricultural Research Project

Phase II. Proceedings of the End of ProjectConference. KARI Headquarters, Nairobi,Kenya, 29 November-1 December 2000,pp. 265-281.

Kiprono, A., Mbui, J., Macharia, M.,Tuitoek, D. and Wanjama, J.K. (2002).Water harvesting in dry lands: A

case study of Lare Division, NakuruDistrict, Kenya. Paper presented atthe Dryland Farming Workshop,Agriculture Resource Centre, Egerton

University, Njoro, 20-24 January 2002.

Tuitoek, D.K. (2000). Lare: How wetackled the water problem in Lare. In:

Netherlands Support to the National Agricultural Research Project Phase II. Proceedings of the Endof Project Conference. KARI Headquarters,Nairobi, Kenya, 29 November-1December 2000, pp. 283-293.

Warui, E., Kiprono, A. and Macharia, M.(2002). Dissemination and adoption ofdemand driven technologies in the drylands: A case study of Lare Division,Nakuru District, Kenya. Paper presentedat the Dryland Farming Workshop,Agriculture Resource Centre, EgertonUniversity, Njoro, 20-24 January 2002.

Prepared by

Peter K. Langat

Address: Kenya Agricultural Research

Institute (KARI), KARI-Njoro Private

bag, Post code 20107, Njoro, Kenya

Tel.: (+254) 51 61528

Fax: (+254) 51 61576 E-mail: [email protected]

Project participants:

Miriam G. Kinyua, KARI-Njoro:

Plant breeder, also involved in training

extension staff.

P.A.L. Kipkemoi, KARI-Njoro:

Agronomist, also involved in training

extension staff.

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M. Macharia, KARI-Njoro:

Entomologist, transfer of water

harvesting technologies; also involved

in training extension staff.

Daniel K. Tuitoek, Egerton

University: Transfer of water

harvesting technologies.

S.F.O. Owido, Egerton University:

Transfer of water harvesting

technologies.

S.S. China, Egerton University:Socio-economic aspects of the project.

P. Gamba, Egerton University:

Socio-economic aspects of the project.

J.K. Wanjama, director of agriculture,

Ministry of Agriculture: Took the lead

in project implementation.

A. Kiprono, Ministry of Agriculture:Involved in extension programme.

J. Mbui, Baraka Agricultural College:

Involved in extension programme.

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