1 Rainwater Harvesting and Poverty Alleviation, Laikipia Experience

Kenya has a population of about 25 million people. The current water supply coverage is 42%. This means that about 15 million Kenyans have no access to an adequate and safe water supply. This implies that a large section of these Kenyans are faced with not only a dehumanising situation but also suffer severe social and economic consequences. In the 70s and 80s, the government constructed large water projects such as sinking bore-holes and large pumping and piping water schemes. These projects introduced huge management and organisation problems and today many of them are no longer working. The Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA) was founded to bring together individuals and institutions wanting to face the challenge of low water coverage by utilising rainwater. By using low cost technical options and building local capacity through community based organisations (CBOs), a lot was achieved. This presentation describes 10 years of experience of rainwater harvesting activities, which were used as catalysts for development to alleviate poverty and to promote economic and social well being of rural people in the Nakuru district in Kenya