Kenya, fighting climate change takes a village
Drop by drop, Kitui preserves its precious water. It is still early on a hot and dusty Wednesday morning, but the temperature is already above 35 degrees centigrade. Residents say that it rained just a month ago, although there is no proof of this. Plants have shed their leaves and all the green vegetation has now changed colour. (Photo: Community-built sand dam in Kenya’s Machakos district – the simple dams allow villagers to protect groundwater levels, as drier weather patterns prevail.)
Seven-year-old Moli Kituvi strides past in search of water, her container held tightly by one arm. Because of the harsh conditions in this parched district some 400 kilometres from the capital, Nairobi, one would expect a long walk ahead of her. But in the near distance lies a stretch of green vegetation. Napier grass, sorghum and other greenery traverse a small section alongside a dry seasonal river.
With her calabash, Moli starts scooping sand from the river bed, one scoop after another. Close to 20 centimetres down, water finally seeps out. “I only have to wait less than five minutes, then the water will be very clear,” she says with a smile. Indeed, she soon fills her bucket. “Now,” she says, “I can go to school.”
Sand dams
Moli does not understand why it is that she is able to find water in such a dry area. But Kavinya Kata, 35, who herds her cattle to the same spot, does. She cites the sand dams built along the river that have changed the local environment — and the residents’ lives — for the better.
“For years, water would flow down the stream after heavy rains in the mountains, but the community did not have techniques for conserving the water,” Kavinya reminisces. But thanks to the sand dams, Kitui now has water year round.
Built across the river’s drainage channels, the porous dams allow water to percolate into the surrounding soil and raise ground water levels. And because the water is stored below the surface, evaporation is minimized.
With technical advice from the non-governmental SASOL Foundation, local community members selected the sites for the sand dams. They elected a committee that supervised their construction, mobilized villagers to build them and ensures that they are maintained.
More vegetation also grows. Italuu Kakai, a farmer, has come to the area to gather napier grass for his heifer tethered at home. Villagers can likewise draw water from a nearby hand pump.
Kitui’s sand dams are not the only ones in the region. Some 55 kilometres away, in Maito, a group of farmers is also reaping the benefits of the technology. “For years the weather has been changing for the worse,” notes Ngina James, a leader of the group. “Year in, year out, the rains have become scarce. So we had to find alternatives to survive in these harsh weather conditions.” Sand dams have provided one way for his group’s members to tackle the challenges related to climate change.
Countering drought
Kitui has also experienced more difficult weather. Historically, the district enjoyed seasons of short rains between October and December and long ones between March and May. But rainfall has become more erratic over the past 15 years. Dry spells have become more common during the rainy seasons, and the district has been hit by drought. Residents fear that the situation is likely to get worse.
According to Mutinda Munguti, head of the SASOL Foundation, sand dams can help bring significant improvements to the local environment and to residents’ lives. The technology, he says, “eliminates water shortages and increases moisture content in the soil, thus increasing land productivity.” And by increasing the vegetative cover, he adds, it can also reduce land degradation.
Severe weather conditions are becoming more common across Kenya. According to the government’s National Climate Change Response Strategy, released in 2010, recurrent droughts have shortened the time between famines. It was 20 years between the severe droughts of 1964 and 1984, and then 12 years until the next one in 1996. More droughts came in 2004 and 2006. Since then they have come yearly, obliging the government to distribute over 500,000 metric tonnes of food aid.
Living with climate change
“As a result of climate change, there will be increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather conditions, like drought and floods,” explains Ayub Macharia, the acting head of the National Environment Management Authority. This in turn will harm food security, the stability of food systems and people’s access to food. Mr. Macharia warns that the costs to society and the economy will be immense, unless more communities take action to reduce the impact of climate change.
The government, through its climate change strategy, is helping local communities with technical information and early warnings about changing weather patterns. It also plans to complement villagers’ efforts on a wider scale: digging channels to transfer water from wet to dry areas, building municipal water recycling facilities to reduce usage, constructing waterways, reservoirs and other infrastructure to retain rainwater, and protecting river banks and water catchment areas from erosion.
Together with local undertakings, such efforts not only help protect the environment, but can also enhance people’s livelihoods, notes Mr. Munguti. “In communities with sand dams and other complementary services, agriculture is a less risky enterprise now.”
By Morton Saulo, Kitui, Kenya
Editor’s Note: In Kenya, the national government is teaming up with local communities and private charities to tackle climate change. Morton Saulo reports for Africa Renewal.
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