Adaptation to droughts: Developing community based sand dams in Kitui, Kenya.
Date
2006Author
Lasage, R
Mutiso, S
Mutiso, G C M
Odada, E O
Aerts, J
de Vries, A C
Language
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
The ADAPTS program aims at finding local level adaptation strategies in water policies
that, apart from alleviating impacts from climate change, also assure food production,
sustain people’s livelihoods and ultimately contribute to rural and urban poverty
alleviation. One of the ADAPTS pilot areas is located in Kenya within the district of
Kitui, 150kms east of Nairobi. During the last 10 years, a local NGO called ‘SASOL’
has implemented a methodology to mitigate droughts by developing so called ‘sand
dams’. These dams are constructed in a cascade in ephemeral rivers, which contain
water during two wet seasons. A sand dam is designed such that water is stored in the
sand that is kept behind the dam as an artificial aquifer. In this way, evaporation losses
are limited, the quality of the water is unaffected and water can be extracted from the
sand in the dry season using wells.
A sand dam costs about U$ 5000 in materials and are built through community inputs.
SASOL has developed 435 dams in ten years time which have provided safe drinking
water to about 60,000 – 65,000 people at an investment of about U$35 per capita. The
average walking distance to water per capita (one of the prime targets of the Kenyan
government) has been reduced dramatically and as a result, other economic activities
have been started diversifying the income base of families. In general, the increased
availability of water boosted agricultural production of the region and has significantly
helped communities adapting to unfavorable climate conditions.
Through the success of the project, up scaling to other regions is currently being discussed.
However, some issues need to be addressed before up scaling can effectively
be implemented. This research provides directions to these issues, which are:
• Evaluating the potential for developing so called ‘Sand dams’ as a local adaptation
to cope with climate events such as droughts by performing a socio economic
assessment of the effects of sand dams and link these to physical characteristics
of the water resources system.
• Identifying vulnerabilities to climate change in the Kitui water sector.
• Assessing institutional requirements for monitoring, maintenance and management
of sand dams and search for opportunities for up-scaling local knowledge
to the national level
Citation
Lasage, R., Mutiso, S., Mutiso, G. C. M., Odada, E. O., Aerts, J., & de Vries, A. C. (2006). Adaptation to droughts: developing community based sand dams in Kitui, Kenya. In Geophysical Research Abstracts (Vol. 8, p. 01596).Publisher
University of Nairobi