To read the other learning briefs in this series, please follow these links: Innovative Tools and Capacity Building, Peacebuilding and Conflict Mitigation, and Sustainable Financing Methods.
Background
This learning brief is part of a series highlighting the work of the Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development (RAPID+) program in Kenya. The program is funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), with additional contributions from Millennium Water Alliance, participating county governments (Isiolo, Garissa, Wajir, Turkana, and Marsabit), selected private sector partners, and the four implementing organizations: CARE Kenya, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Food for the Hungry (FH), and World Vision (WV).
The RAPID+ program aims to improve access to safe and sustainably managed water and rangelands in pastoralist communities across all RAPID+ project countries, thus contributing to resilient livelihoods for communities in a peaceful environment. RAPID+ is designed to address two core problems and the complex interactions amid changing climate conditions: insufficient access to adequate and sustainable water for multiple uses and declining rangeland resources.
RAPID+ also aims to improve efficiency in the operations and maintenance of water infrastructure; increase the capacities of governments and communities to manage water resources and services; strengthen the institutions for rangeland management; encourage opportunities for the private sector; target the use of innovative technology where it is appropriate and sustainable; and reduce the disparities of gender in access to and control of water resources.
The following set of stories from the RAPID+ program focuses on the theme of Resilience & Flood Mitigation in Garissa and Turkana counties.
Garissa County: Flood Mitigation in Balich with Half-Moon Bunds
Balich village, located 35 km from Garissa town along the Tana River within Sankuri ward and part of the Kanyang-Balich sub-catchment, is one of the RAPID+ program intervention sites. A Water Resource Users Association (WRUA) has been in place since 2014, supported by a sub-catchment management plan. During a review workshop facilitated by RAPID+ in July 2023, the WRUA identified flood protection from Kanyang Laghas as a priority.
In recent years, heavy rains have caused significant flooding in Balich, resulting in the destruction of housing and businesses and rendering the village inaccessible. Although the WRUA initially suggested extending an existing embankment, this approach was deemed financially unsustainable.
Instead, RAPID+ collaborated with Acacia Water to implement an alternative solution: the construction of half-moon bunds. These semi-circular basins dug into the earth and are designed to reduce peak water discharge and minimize soil erosion and provide cost-savings when compared to constructing an embankment. RAPID+ facilitated demonstrations and training that resulted in the construction of 350 half-moon bunds in the identified section leading to the town.
Community participation in the construction process fostered a sense of ownership and unity. The immediate outcomes included the regrowth of vegetation, improved soil health, and enhanced water retention in the bunds during floods. These interventions have provided significant relief from climate-induced disasters. In a post-intervention site visit, Doll Hassan from the WRUA confirmed that the bunds, combined with the existing embankment, have successfully prevented flooding in the village, as was observed during the March-April-May (MAM) rainfall in 2024.
Turkana County: Reclaiming the Pelekech Ranges
Pelekech Ranges are found in Turkana County, the second largest Arid and Semi-Arid Land (ASAL) county in Kenya. Turkana County covers approximately 77,000 square kilometers. Communities in Pelekech have dominantly been livestock keepers and depend on nomadic pastoralism as their main livelihood and economic activity. Pastoralism has increasingly been under threat because of drought, famine, and the changing land use and management. These factors have led to reduced forage growth rates and defoliation due to increased demand for firewood by Kakuma residents and refugees and increased stress on indigenous vegetation attributed to overgrazing.
As a result of the changing ecosystem, many pastoralists have been displaced from their communities and forced to find alternative livelihoods such as charcoal burning. However, this has exacerbated desertification by increasing soil temperature, which reduces the water supply through increased evaporation and soil microbial activity and affects the dormancy of indigenous seeds, facilitating the spread of invasive species like Prosopis Juliflora.
From observations in 2023, loss of ground cover had increased surface runoff due to the little precipitation received, leading to soil erosion and making the rain less effective in providing soil moisture for plant growth. The loss of livelihoods by the communities in Pelekech has resulted in dependency on relief supplies while those migrating with their livestock become suspects or victims of conflict.
To mitigate these impacts and provide an alternative livelihood, 20 community members (12 female and 8 male) from Pelekech established the Pelekech Environmental Group. The women-led group focused on reclaiming degraded and Prosopis Juliflora colonized areas by establishing enclosed plots for fodder production for their livestock and economic gains. Having neither land restoration nor fodder production knowledge, the group commenced revegetating a 5-acre plot near the village. However, yielding was challenging as natural phenomena like wind and surface runoff swiped the seeds. Poor tilling and management of weeds would result in invasive species and weed colonizing of appropriate fodder. In addition, for those that grew, migrating pastoralists would have their livestock graze on them, and this led to conflict.
“Honestly, I almost gave up since there were so many challenges. I was happy when it rained, as we expected our seeds to grow, but we found that the water had eroded the topsoil and left big gullies. Community members would openly graze in the field disregarding our efforts, and we had to keep going to report to the Chief.” – Ekal Nagilae, member of the Pelekech Environmental Group
In collaboration with the Ministry of Livestock Development, RAPID+, with primary funding from the SDC, trained the Pelekech Environmental Group on appropriate fodder production and land restoration approaches. This included soil covering crops and construction structures like check dams, dykes, and half-moon bunds. The program facilitated the groups in rehabilitating 4.8 acres and establishing 16 bunds integrated with check dams on strategic locations within the farm, which were informed through a topographical survey.
The bunds were planted with fodder grass ‘Cenchrus ciliaris’ and Leucaena ‘Leucaena leucocephala’ trees to enhance water harvesting and filtration and mitigate erosion. Gradually, the half-moon bunds harvested surface runoff water and mitigated erosion. Water retention has improved soil moisture and oxygen, facilitating forage growth. Capacity building on early weed identification, weeding, pruning, and gapping was strengthened to ensure maximum production.
In 2023, the group harvested 357 kg of seeds and 350 Bales of hay, enabling them to sell 300 kilograms of seeds to the local markets. With increased production, RAPID+ further trained the group in marketing and value addition, which was aimed at enhancing income generation and management by the group.
Resources
To read the other learning briefs in this series, please follow these links: Innovative Tools and Capacity Building, Peacebuilding and Conflict Mitigation, and Sustainable Financing Methods.
For additional information about the RAPID+ program, please click here.
For additional questions, please contact June Samo, RAPID+ Program Director, (june.samo@mwawater.org)
