Difference between revisions of "Water Portal / Rainwater Harvesting / Kajiado, Kenya - 3R and MUS"

Revision as of 01:44, 28 April 2013

Building a rainwater harvesting tank in Kajiado, Kenya. Photo: Ryan's Well Foundation

In Kajiado town, the SASOL Foundation, ICRAF and the Masai Technical Training Institute will implement a project to demonstrate and research the potential of rainwater harvesting for food security, focusing largely on 3R technologies (Recharge, Retention and Re-use).

The project is located near the campus of the training institute in a typical landscape of this region, which consists mainly of rocky soils with course sands. A number of check dams that provide water for pasture and watering animals will be installed. The students of Masai Technical Training Institute will be trained to construct small and simple structures to capture runoff water. The aim of the project is to demonstrate and research, but also to familiarize an important group of people with the 3R method.

Problem statement

Current situation

This pilot addresses the most pertinent problem of the area: how to sustainably increase the water availability for cattle and also contribute to pasture improvement. When it rains, water for cattle and pasture are in abundance, but increasingly long dry spells haunt the Masai herds. We therefore look at the opportunity to construct very simple masonry walls in rocky high runoff areas without erosion to increase infiltration, sustainable access to ground water and re-green the area for pasture.

Cultural and socioeconomic conditions

Kajiado central is a growing regional hub for agriculture and pastoralism. The people of this area are predominantly Masai, a culturally rich ethnicity with a high esteem for their cattle. However, large corporations extract groundwater, which leads to less water availability for domestic water supply, especially in the Masai area.

Pilot landscape

Kajiado central is characterised by plains, volcanic hills and valleys with hard and rocky soils, sometimes clayish which is known for its rapid runoff during the rainy season. The project is located on the ridge of a small plateaux where during the two annual rainy seasons a lot of water flows. The aim of the project is to capture that water before it disappears into streams and instead use the water for recharge of groundwater and surface storage.

Pilot purpose

The pilot aims to showcase the opportunities for “rock bottom technology”. This is a simple technology (such as simple masonry walls) that can be implemented with very little skills and locally available material, but will have a profoundly positive impact on the landscape. This low budget technology may be the only one that can produce water and grass at a low cost and be replicable. It also provides an excellent training site for the beginning masons of the Masai Technical Training Institute.