Access to water and improved livelihoods – Regional annex for East Africa

Authors: Gerald Rukunga, David Mutethia and Titus Kioko, AMREF, Kenya , March 2005
Quality assurance: Stef Smits

Introduction

Close to 40 million people in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania do not have access to safe water supply services. In these countries water coverage in both rural and peri-urban areas is still low (see table below)

Most of the efforts in improving the coverage of water supply, only focus on providing water for basic needs such as drinking, washing and cooking.  Health objectives are the moving spirit and the focus of the water (and sanitation) interventions, and they are found at the top of every logical framework.

At global level, there is a realization that water services can also have other benefits essential for improving people's livelihoods, not just health.

• Good health and growth
• Food security and nutrition
• Expenditure saving
• Time saving
• Environmental sustainability
• Poverty reduction

The reverse of this is that if safe and adequate water is not provided people suffer negative impacts, among them are:

• Poor school attendance
• Food insecurity
• Poor nutritional status among both children and HIV/Aids affected persons
• Decreased productivity

In East Africa, this realization has for now not been translated into mainstreaming a livelihoods approach to water projects. The main reason for this is that there has been very little examination of the specific ways in which water sector interventions address poverty and livelihoods in general. This fact sheet provides some case examples on how water projects can support livelihoods.

Improved food security

Malnutrition is common, mostly in rural and drought stricken areas. In Kenya approx. 30% of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition; almost 6% are severely malnourished and 20% are underweight. To a large extent a lack of water is to blame for this as most of the communities in these areas rely on agricultural activities for their livelihoods.

There is an increasing trend among the communities in East Africa, for example in the arid and semi-arid lands in Kenya, to use water for food production. The water available is used to grow vegetables and fruits which help improve communities' food security and nutritional status. Any extra being sold to generate disposable incomes for the households, thereby contributing to poverty reduction. Organizations such as Kenya for Water for Health Organization (KWAHO) now promote and support such initiatives.

Nguuru-Gakirwe a community based water supply project in Meru District of Kenya, was started in 1985 with a purpose of providing water for domestic use and for irrigation purposes. The farmers mainly grow horticultural crops such as cabbages, Okra, tomatoes, kales and onions for sale locally and in major towns. In addition. they also grow nippier grass for their livestock. On average the farmers have up to 1.5 acres under these crops. Consequently food security has improved according to the local catholic diocese reports. It is estimated that farmers' incomes have increased from an average of Kshs. 12,600 (±145 USD) per household per year to an average of Kshs. 42,000 (±485 USD) per household per year.

Income generation

Similarly, these communities are using water to establish tree nurseries and grow seedlings, which are used for afforestation in an effort to conserve the environment while revenue from the sale of the tree seedlings is used to improve the income status of the beneficiary communities.

Communities also use the water to make burnt bricks for construction of their own houses and the sale of bricks can also act as an important source of income for poor households.

Reducing expenditure

Providing safe water at affordable rates to the urban poor drastically reduces water expenditure which has been significantly high. The revenue saved can then be channelled to meet other family needs, as in the example below from Kibera.

WaterCan (NGO) has been providing safe water to the residents of Kiberia slums in Nairobi, Kenya by constructing water storage tanks fitted with taps and connected to the main municipal water system. It reports that to date it has been able to provide water to 1000 slum dwellers who can now obtain safe water at a cheaper price. This has mainly benefited the poorest households who previously spent 50% of their income just to meet this basic need. They can now save money to cater for other family needs.

Reduced drudgery

The loss of time and energy in collecting and carrying water from afar only adds to the unfortunate direct threats of unsafe water.

Conclusions

Whereas the impact of water supply on health has been widely accepted, the other socio-economic impacts are less document Ted and accepted in East Africa. Although there are some good examples in which water projects have aimed to take a broader livelihoods approach, this is far from being mainstreamed. Addressing the challenge related to lack of water requires a subtle understanding of several factors which include the nature of the resource, the wider poverty environments in which millions of people live and the politics within which problems are framed.

References

• (2005), Why and How Water plays a critical role in the livelihoods of poor women and men. Available at http://www.irc.nl/page/16368
• Water Resource Development in Ethiopia: Issues of Sustainability and Partiticpation. Available at http://www.ethiopians.com/Main_FSS_Paper1.htm#rfintro
• Natural Resources Institute (2004); Water and Livelihoods available at http://www.nri.org/work/li-water.htm
• http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
• Kenya Water for Health Organisation; Statement from Executive Director available http://www.kwaho.org/index.html
• Church World Service; Water & Sanitation for Improved Food Security, Kenya available http://www.churchworldservice.org/Development/africa.html
• African Medical and Research Foundation [AMREF] (2005): AMREF Africa Programmes 2005, AMREF, Nairobi, Kenya
• NETWAS, Kenya (2004), Nguuru-Gakirwe Project, Kenya: A case study on water for livelihoods.
• Kenya Project spotlight: Nairobi slums, central Kenya available at: http://www.watercan.com/international/kenya-program.shtml

This factsheet was developed by Gerald Rukunga, David Mutethia and Titus Kioko (2005)

For further information contact Gerald Rukunga, AMREF, Kenya at rukungag@amrefke.org