This is Part 1 of a two-part series on Kenya’s Eldoret-Iten Water Fund. Part 2 is available here.

When farmers in the upstream Moiben catchment of Kenya’s Cherangany Hills Water Tower shifted from raising merino sheep to growing Irish potatoes, a more profitable crop, an unexpected issue arose downstream. Unlike the grass that once had anchored the soil during rains, potato farming left the land exposed and prone to erosion. This led to increased surface runoff, carrying agricultural effluent draining into rivers like the Moiben, a primary source of water for Chebara Dam, which supplies more than 475,000 residents of the city of Eldoret in Uasin Gishu county and surrounding areas downstream.

As a result, Eldoret’s residents and companies began receiving tap water contaminated with mud and other debris. The Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS) struggled to treat the water fast enough due to limited resources. Water supplied to residents contained traces of iron and manganese, and on a daily basis, the area suffered a water shortfall of 20 million liters (5.3 million gallons), according to Peter Biwott, who was the ELDOWAS director at the time he spoke. All of this prompted a collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to establish what is known as the Eldoret-Iten Water Fund (EIWF).

“Ecosystem services from catchment areas are declining due to factors like population growth and deforestation for charcoal and wood fuel,” Biwott told Mongabay. “We also observed that we were using excessive chlorine to purify the water.” He emphasized that the supply currently stands at 44 million liters (11.6 million gallons) per day, which is still far below the city’s demand of 65 million liters (17.2 million gallons) per day, highlighting the urgent issue of water scarcity in Eldoret.

Additionally, the nearby Iten town, famous for its high-altitude training camps for athletes, faces similar challenges. According to Jason Lagat, the county executive committee member for water, environment and climate change in Elgeyo Marakwet county, where Iten is located, only 46% of the area has access to piped water. This prompted the county’s participation in the EIWF. “Joining the EIWF project was a timely decision because our water towers are fragile ecosystems that need protection. We also aim to increase water access for residents, as the county’s daily demand stands at 15,000 cubic liters [4,000 gallons], while our water company can only supply 5,000 cubic liters [1,320 gallons] in a day,” Lagat explained.

The EIWF brings together local communities, businesses and scientific experts downstream to pool funds and resources, which are then directed upstream to protect vital water sources. The fund targets three of Kenya’s key water towers (montane forest areas that are sources of water): the Cherangany Hills, Elgeyo Hills and the Northern Mau Forest. Its main objectives include partnering with at least 13,000 farmers to adopt sustainable soil and water conservation practices, restoring and protecting more than 120,000 hectares (300,000 acres) of degraded forests and farmlands, planting more than 1 million trees, reducing sediment flow into rivers by 20% and supporting farmers in rainwater harvesting efforts.

Managing water for a water-secure world

According to a 2020 study on water security in Africa, published in the journal Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, water management should be approached from a multidimensional and integrative perspective, addressing water-related issues of health, economics, the environment, household supply and resilience to water-related and climate change hazards in order to achieve “a water‐secure world.”

This strategy is what has been adopted by various water funds across the world that have united stakeholders to address the very threats jeopardizing some of the world’s most vital watersheds.

Currently, there are 43 water funds established worldwide, across the Americas, Asia and Africa, with many others in development, according to The Nature Conservancy, which supports and manages half of Africa’s 17 water funds, including the EIWF. The first on the continent, the Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund, launched in 2015, was created to meet the growing demand for water in Kenya’s capital and its expanding population. By implementing interventions such as tree planting, establishing riparian buffer zones and teaching farmers terracing techniques, this water fund has enhanced water supply, restored freshwater ecosystems and improved the livelihoods of local farming families. The success of this initiative inspired the creation of other water funds, including  the EIWF.

Established in August 2022, the EIWF aims to manage 85,138 hectares (210,000 acres) of protected forests, restore 3,500 hectares (8,600 acres) of degraded agricultural land and rehabilitate an additional 15,000 hectares (37,000 acres) of forest. It also plans to restore 500 hectares (1,200 acres) of wetlands and implement sustainable production systems on 5,862 hectares (14,500 acres) of high biodiversity land and 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of steep terrain to improve overall land management.

At its inception, the Global Environment Facility allocated $2.63 million through the Kenyan Ministry of Environment and Forestry for the project, which is managed by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and implemented by TNC. The organization applies scientific knowledge to help organizations, governments and local communities make informed decisions about executing the goals of a water fund. They assess the scope of the necessary work and determine whether the objectives are attainable, as well as whether stakeholders are committed to collaborating, contributing and achieving success.

TNC also coordinates additional financial support from private sector partners such as the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the New Kenya Co-operative Creameries Ltd.

The EIWF project was set to span three years. Two years into it, a lot of progress has been made toward the water fund’s goals — from addressing forest degradation to tree planting and working with Indigenous communities who draw their livelihoods from these forests — but some significant challenges remain.

Forest degradation

TNC’s Africa Water Funds director Fredrick Kihara says closing off some forested areas to livestock grazing and other activities, planting trees and monitoring forests using drones have enhanced restoration of degraded forest areas.

“We restrict access to certain forest blocks to reduce livestock intrusion, which helps preserve the areas,” Kihara said. “In degraded regions, we engage in tree planting to rehabilitate the land. Afterward, we install temporary fencing that lasts for about three years. This fence is not permanent, allowing the forest to undergo natural restoration. By closing off these areas, we create favorable habitats for biodiversity, including species of birds like the grey crested crane (Balearica regulorum) and the sitatunga antelope [Tragelaphus spekii].”

He also lauded collaboration with political leaders and athletes as effective methods of reaching more communities and creating awareness. In June 2023, TNC, in collaboration with the office of Kenya’s First Lady Rachel Ruto, started a campaign dubbed the One Million Trees initiative aimed at mitigating climate change impacts through tree planting. To track and assess the impact of conservation efforts such as tree planting, at least 18 youths have been trained in drone technology and are now equipped to operate drones acquired by the EIWF. In addition to these efforts, TNC also works with partners such as the Kenya Forest Service to monitor tree growth in rehabilitated areas.

“We hit our target of planting 1 million trees and we did it within a year. On our side it was the determination that drove us and on the side of the community their receptiveness aided our efforts,” Kihara said. Their initiative aligns with the Kenyan government’s tree-planting policy, which aims to restore and expand the country’s forest cover, targeting 15 billion trees by 2032.

Additionally, TNC has received support from various athletes who take part in their projects. One of these athletes is 1,500-meter world record holder Faith Kipyegon who is a member of the EIWF projects steering committee.

Kipyegon takes part in various fieldwork activities and volunteers to distribute fruit tree seedlings to area residents with her pick-up vehicle — when she’s not on the track running. Other athletes who are part of this project include Moses Kiptanui, a former 3,000-meter world steeplechase record holder who is now retired. Kiptanui is the patron of the Moiben catchment conservation run for high school students that aims to ensure youths are involved in conservation matters while they are still young.

“I’m deeply passionate about the environment because I grew up in the Cherangany Hills, where the landscape was once covered with many trees,” Kiptanui said in an interview with Mongabay. “Unfortunately, much of that forest has been cleared for agriculture, and the situation is no longer the same. Now is the time to act, and it’s crucial to engage young people in these efforts, as they are the future and have many years ahead to make a difference.”

The Moiben catchment conservation runs also aim to raise funds for students from underprivileged backgrounds who are involved in the initiative. The 2024 event, held in May during the rainy season (ideal for tree planting) saw the participation of 21 secondary schools from Elgeyo Marakwet county. Each school contributed six or more students to the run.

On his end, TNC’s watershed manager Stephen Kibet noted that working partners such as the Kenya Forest Service also helped to mobilize local communities to participate in reforestation initiatives. “Our program aims to conserve thousands of hectares of forest,” Kibet said, noting that the forest service will “identify the areas where we want to intervene and mobilize the Community Forest Association members in conducting activities such as digging holes for planting trees, while we come in by purchasing tree seedlings.”

Shift to sustainable land management practices

EIWF also aims to restore degraded lands by focusing on sustainable land management practices to enhance water security, improve livelihoods, biodiversity and climate resiliency. This is because poor farming practices such as cultivating too close to riparian zones are major contributors to water pollution and the encroachment of these zones.

In response, Kibet explained, the EIWF is focusing on what he called “green infrastructure” and nature-based solutions. Green infrastructure involves using natural elements, like grass strips and trees, to control erosion instead of relying on hard or mechanical solutions such as gabions. These approaches are considered environmentally friendly, hence they are termed “nature-based solutions,” as they work in harmony with nature to protect and conserve the environment.

Kibet noted that they advise farmers on sustainable practices and work with them to develop Farm Specific Action Plans. Through these plans, EIWF has been able to reach at least 13,000 farmers. The action plans vary from farmer to farmer. “We are looking at terraces, strip grasses, planting fruit and indigenous trees, water harvesting, agroforestry and river-riparian buffers,” he said, adding that planting trees like grevillea (Grevillea robusta) helps to control soil erosion and that such practices help improve soil fertility and reduce dependence on forests for firewood. In addition, fruit trees help in terms of nutrition and gross income. Farmers who are livestock rearers have also benefited from being provided with super napier grass, known as pakchong, which is said to grow within three months. This has led to high milk production among their cattle, he said.

However, not all farmers say they are benefiting from the pakchong. Miriam Lagat, a 54-year-old small-scale farmer, expressed disappointment with the growth rate of the grass, which she said takes longer to grow than the expected 3-month period, possibly due to environmental factors such as reduced rainfall.

Work with Indigenous communities

The EIWF also involves three Indigenous communities: the Ogiek, Sengwer and Cherengani groups. Before the project’s implementation started, EIWF had to seek  free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from these communities. This means that decisions couldn’t be made on behalf of these Indigenous groups without them being informed about the activities that the implementing organization wanted to do.

An Indigenous People’s Action Plan (IPAP) defines priority actions Indigenous community members want implemented through a project. Included in this process, these communities identified priority activities, and a budget was provided to TNC, which issued the funding. All the three communities were allocated a budget to fund their projects. For instance, the Ogiek, a hunter-gatherer people whose traditional livelihoods revolve around beekeeping, requested lessons in how to make modern beehives.

“For the Ogiek, one of the things we identified they wanted to establish were modern beehives, since they don’t live in the forest anymore. So we worked with them, and together we established a workshop,” Kibet said. Twenty-five youths have already been trained in the art of making these beehives, which go for about 6,500 shillings ($50) as per the current market price.

In recent years, the Ogiek community, traditionally inhabitants of the Mau Forest, a vital water tower, has faced a series of evictions by the Kenyan government. The government has accused the Ogiek of contributing to forest degradation through activities like farming and other land use practices.

However, the Ogiek strongly contest these claims, pointing to their 2017 landmark victory in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, where the court ruled that their eviction was unlawful and ordered the Kenyan government to compensate them. Despite this legal victory, the conflict persists, with ongoing evictions continuing to displace members of the community.

Some Ogiek members have chosen to integrate with neighboring communities. One such person is Paul Sang, a community leader and member of the EIWF steering committee, who now resides in Saos village, which is part of Eldoret.

“I was among those Ogieks who were evicted from the Mau Forest in 2006. I remember the officers arrived at 5 p.m. in the evening and they started burning down houses. You could not retrieve anything from the houses that had caught fire. The only thing we did is grabbing what we could at a go and fleeing from the scene. It took us a lot of time to adapt, but we eventually caught up with everything because we had to continue on with our lives,” Sang said.

Sang noted that his community, himself included, have benefited from EIWF projects through tree nurseries — avocado, macadamia and indigenous trees — and the beehive training for Ogiek youths. The money accrued from selling the beehives is shared according to what the community decides, such as payment of children’s school fees or settling medical bills for the sick in their villages. So far, the youths have made more than 100 beehives.

Sang added that about 70 women have also been trained to make modern cooking stoves, constructed with locally sourced sand, bricks or stones and clay as a binding agent. While they still use firewood, the new stoves significantly reduce fuel consumption and produce less smoke compared with conventional stoves.

Data collection through the KoboCollect tool

To make data collection easy, TNC uses software called KoboCollect, which helps in recording details about the farmers reached through the EIWF. This information includes farmer’s name, national identity card number, age, gender, size of the farm and how many trees a farmer’s piece of land might need, especially for those living near riparian zones. Indigenous trees such as Olea Africana and podo are preferred for this purpose of helping with water retention.

The software also tracks the participants’ gender. “The national demographic is 24% women-led households and 76% men-led households. Currently, we are trying to sensitize more women so that they can get the benefits, and in total, more than 8,000 have registered for the KoboCollect app,” Kihara said.

To reach farmers on the ground, EIWF technical assistants use the tool to help design Farm Specific Action Plans for farmers. According to TNC’s monitoring and evaluation officer Allan Tuwei, there are 47 technical assistants working with at least five farmlands in a day.

“In a place like Kesses, a catchment in the Northern Mau Forest complex, we have nine technical assistants who we engage with regularly to ensure that we address any problems and to ensure that we can achieve our targets,” Tuwei explained.

However, there are challenges. In the words of Bernard Tanui, a technical assistant and a member of the Ogiek community, some farmers are reluctant to participate in the program. This, he said, stems from a lack of awareness about the EIWF and its projects. Tanui proposed that the TNC should conduct an awareness campaign through avenues like local media to educate farmers and residents alike about the project and the benefits they stand to gain from their participation.

“They need to educate people about the importance of their efforts in addressing environmental changes, ensuring that people understand the value of these initiatives and follow through with the necessary actions. For instance, when you approach a farmer and tell them that this project is good, yet they don’t have the proper understanding of the project’s advantages, it becomes challenging to convince them of its merit,” Tanui noted.

“Therefore, it’s crucial that they use methods like advertisements — whether in newspapers, on TV, in journals or on the radio to promote the importance of environmental protection,” Tanui noted.

Banner image: Paul Sang, an Indigenous Ogiek community leader and a member of the EIWF steering committee, inspects his water pan in Saos village, Eldoret. Image by Juliet Ojwang.

Citation:

De Miguel, A., Froebrich, J., Jaouani, A., Souissi, Y., Elmahdi, A., Mateo‐Sagasta, J., … Frascari, D. (2020). Innovative research approaches to cope with water security in Africa. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, 16(6), 853-855. doi:10.1002/ieam.4337

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Karen Coates Editor

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AgricultureConservationDeforestationDrinking WaterEnvironmentFarmingFreshwaterIndigenous CommunitiesIndigenous PeoplesMongabay fellows and internsNGOsSustainabilityWaterWater CrisisWater ScarcityWetlandsAfricaEast AfricaKenyaEldoret-Iten Water Fund (EIWF)

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