WATER USE SUSTAINABILITY FOR THE CUT-FLOWER INDUSTRY IN KENYA

Water is now being given as the major setback to development in many areas, especially when commercial irrigation and horticulture have become significant economic activities. At the local level, such activities can have significant impacts on other water services such as drinking water availability. It is therefore important that each stakeholder maintains a sustainable level of water use, especially in countries deemed water scarce. Kenya is such a country and where horticultural and floriculture have increasingly become important in efforts towards eradicating poverty, and have been said to hold huge potential for growth. The study adopted a critical observational nature in combining and comparing the supply and demand aspect of water from Burguret catchment. In order to address the aim of examining water use sustainability of the cut-flower industry, the study sought to firstly establish the baseline conditions. The scope set out to utilize the irrigation quantities and patterns of a selected flower farm (Tambuzi) that gets its water from the catchment under study (Burguret catchment). The aim was to utilize these findings as a microcosm of the wider picture. The assessment for water use sustainability was found to be within catchment limits based on a single farm scenario on the catchment. In the secondary scenario, where five farms of the same capacity were assumed, the study found that although irrigation use for cut flowers were approaching population demand, the overall water demand was well within the catchment’s discharge levels. Although the conclusions found irrigation consumption within sustainable limits in terms of river discharge, the rate of change warrants stronger consideration of sustainable management and resilience.Faculty of Science & Technology