Kenya is a country that has always depended majorly on rain water for farming and household uses. In fact in many parts of the country people have very little information on other sources of water beyond rain, rivers and streams, lakes, and wells. They have lived that way as long as they can remember.
But now because of climate change, things are beginning to change. These communities are receiving less and less rainfall which comes early or late or not at all. This directly affects the water volume in rivers and streams. I’ve been in communities where all the rivers dry leaving only rocky beds behind.
Kajiado County has been my case study for a while now cause I’ve been lucky to live among the community for a better part of last year. Being physically there gave me an opportunity to witness first hand drought and it’s impact on this pastoralist community. I saw livestock carcasses all over and the struggle of searching for water, having to beg the few lucky ones who had dug boreholes for it. I saw many families having to survive on food donations. It wasn’t a good picture for a country boasting of being the fifth largest economy in Africa.
But then early April this year the rains that everyone had been praying for came in plenty. It rained furiously in torrents for a couple of days giving the few crop farmers an opportunity to sow their seeds, and for the grass to grow for the few remaining scrawny livestock and then it vanished again. It left at a crucial point when maize was about to tussle in many farms. It left just when the Maasai had restocked their livestock. And now we’re facing another crisis in that region if something is not done.
I know all these suffering could be avoided if only those blessed enough in the community and the government could think. Reservoirs are the solution. Both the county and national government knows this but they’re still burying their heads in the sand trying to wish the drought problem away. If all the rain water and the runoff that later on became a nuisance found channels directing them to ready reservoirs strategically built across the county and in other parts of the country as well, then we would not be panicking right now, scared of another long drought.
Last week I visited a flower farm in Mbeere, Embu county and had an opportunity to be shown their two enormous reservoirs serving the giant farm and it’s workers. If this can be emulated in other parts, then as a country we wouldn’t be begging the west and other well wishers to feed our people every year. Kajiado has lots of idle land that could easily be turned into crop farms like those around Lake Naivasha. My brother who’s an agronomist (get in touch if you need his services) once told me that Kajiado has some of the best conditions for wheat growing in the country. This means that if we could turn only a quarter of that vast savannah into wheat farms then we could have enough ngano for local consumption and some left for export. As a country we would be looking at the Russia-Ukraine war from a different viewpoint from the rest of the world. An opportunity.
I hope this post educates and informs you guys. Next general election make sure a couple of reservoirs are among the pledges of the person you’re electing. Leave your feedback in the comment box or on my socials.