Water crisis in Kenya

43 % of Kenyan population does not have access to clean water. For a long time, water scarcity has been a major issue in Kenya, caused mainly by long persistent droughts, forest degradation, floods, poor management of water supply, contamination of the available water (especially in slums), and a sharp increase in water demand resulting from relatively high population growth.

One main reason why droughts are recurring in Kenya is deforestation. The largest forest in Kenya, Mau, distributes water to six lakes plus eight wildlife reserves, and some 10 million people depend on its rivers for a living. However, loggers and farmers have destroyed a quarter of Mau’s 400,000 hectares. The problem with deforestation is that it almost always leads to increased run-off, which has negative implications in both the rainy as well as the subsequent dry season.

For many years there has been an increased need for funding, management and development of water resources in Kenya because of the increasing population as well as the country’s increasing use of water for agriculture. However, Kenya’s water resources have been mismanaged through unsustainable water and land use policies, laws and institutions, weak water allocation practices, growing pollution, and increasing degradation of rivers, lakes, wetlands, aquifers and their catchments.

The disability to maintain clean water in Kenya is another main reason for the worsening of the water crisis in the country. Many Kenyans use wells to obtain domestic water and also use pit latrines that are often close in distance to the wells. This causes contamination of the wells because the micro-organisms travel from the pit latrines to the wells. 

While at the global level about 1 billion people are locked out of having access to safe water due to poverty, inequality and government failure, it is also clear that not having access to clean water is a main driver of poverty and inequality. In Kenya, largely due to recurrent droughts, millions of families that rely on crops and livestock are threatened and thousands of people die each year as a result of thirst and hunger. According to the World Bank (2010), the mortality rates of adult males, adult females, children under five, and infants has increased from 1990 to 2008. In Kenya, the water crisis has severely affected millions of lives in many ways as contaminated water resources are extremely unhealthy and typically result in multiple illnesses.

To address the above and many other challenges, the Kenyan government has made some progress in addressing water crisis in the country. One of such significant steps is the establishment of water ministry to promote and support integrated water resource management to enhance water availability and accessibility. Some of the key targets of the ministry are to: accelerate the implementation of water sector reforms; improve the sustainable management of water resources; improve the provision of water and sewerage services; improve the utilization of land through irrigation; mobilize resources and improve the management and access to water resources information.

Despite the progress made, especially by the devolved units of the government and the central government, it is be important to raise awareness among the Kenyan population, encourage investments from the private sector in water and also promote actions by citizen and local communities in promoting access to clean and safe water.

Article written by

Kenfrey Katui

Founder and Executive Director-Scope Intervention 

Email: kenfrey.katui@scopeintervention.org