Abidjan (PAMACC News) - After almost one year of dry spell in Kenya’s Makueni County, rains have finally come down. Now, everything looks green, very green. But residents know, for sure, that this is a very short-lived spectacle, because two days after the downpour subsides, all seasonal rivers will dry up, and in two months, the sun will be burning with vengeance, upon perched thirsty sandy soils. That’s why they have invested in sand-dams, as their magic bullet for harvesting the rain water, and using it for another set of months after every rainy season.The dam is simply a reinforced concrete wall built across a seasonal riverbed. When it rains, the concrete wall gathers sand, which becomes a reservoir for water.As residents in the entire semi arid Eastern Kenya rush to propagate their seeds following the pounding rainfall, women in Songeni village are completely relaxed. One thing they are sure of is that their sand-dam constructed across Tawa River has already captured millions of litres of water, which the entire village will use for domestic purposes and irrigation for the next one year – if it doesn’t rain again.“It is the most appropriate way of harvesting water from seasonal rivers in dryland areas,” Simon Middrell, the founder of Excellent Development, a nonprofit organisation that supports rural, dryland communities to work their way out of poverty told delegates at the 2016 Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) forum in Abidjan.Since February, when it last rained in Makueni, villagers of Songeni have been farming French beans for export, and other crops for domestic consumption using water from their sand-dam.And now, Middrell, whose organisation supported the construction of the sand-dam used by Songeni villagers through a local NGO known as Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) wants the ‘gospel’ of sand-dam construction in dryland areas spread all over the world, especially in developing countries.However, said Middrell, it cannot be a copy and paste technique. “Sand-dams do not work everywhere. If the place has a lot of clay soil, then the dams are likely going to be silted, and as a result, they will not help the residents,” he warned.It therefore calls for a feasibility study, so as to be sure that the dam will be able to amass sufficient sand, which acts as a cover for water underneath to protect it from evaporation. It also calls for appropriate technicians to construct it, because the intensity of rainfall in dryland areas is likely to break poorly constructed dams.“The sand-dams have numerous advantages,” said Middrell. “They form the best bridges in dryland areas because culverts always break during floods. They recharge ground water, water from the dams is safe for drinking, can be used for domestic purposes and by animals both domestic and wild,” he added.However, Middrell cautioned that without involvement of community members, sand-dam projects are bound to fail because they will lack ownership. “You need to involve the surrounding community, and have them own the project. That way, they will protect it as their property,…

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Over 360,000 women are set to benefit from an energy enterprise subsidy in seven counties in Kenya.The three year Energy and Advocacy for Gender in Kenya (AGEK) project by Practical Action targets women in Nairobi, Nakuru, Kisumu, Siaya, Nyeri, Murang’a and Kakamega counties.Practical Action programme manager, Lydia Muchiri, says the project aims to empower women economically by linking them to the charcoal briquettes and cookstoves value chain.“The plan is to support women in energy enterprises as a way of mainstreaming gender into the energy sector,” says Muchiri.According to a study by the organization, women are excluded from energy projects, and are not equipped with appropriate technical training, as well as financing.Yet, Kenya has committed to reach the 80 per cent target for energy generation through renewables, argues Muchiri.However, she says, this can be achieved by tapping local energy sources such as charcoal briquette production and establishing energy generating mini grids.“Women can be able to make decisions on energy access if they are empowered,” says Muchiri. “This can help them establish small business and raise their profile as future entrepreneurs.” Practical Action project officer, Jacqueline Kimeu, says access to modern clean energy solutions can help women access credit lines to invest in micro enterprises.This can also reduce pressure on Kenya’s forests where over 80 percent of Kenya’s households rely on energy for domestic use.The project also aims to ensure that implementation of Kenya’s Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) integrates gender objectives in the process.

ABIDJAN (PAMACC News) - African governments will be forced to come up with rural based water and sanitation projects with clear infrastructure for management and maintenance, if they have to benefit from the African Development Dervelopment Bank’s kitty for rural water supply.Speaking at the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) forum in Abidjan, Sering Jallow of the African Development Bank expressed concerns that many leaders in African countries usually prioritise projects that are politically beneficial, thus, ignoring important projects that would benefit people on the ground.“Countries always come with proposals for urban water and sanitation projects because such projects are more visible, hence, politically rewarding,” he told the water and sanitation forum.The bank runs a project known as Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Initiative (RWSSI), which supports rural water and sanitation projects and programs with funding for investment operations, strengthening of sector processes and systems, as well as through advocacy and knowledge building.According to the latest report, the Bank among other development partners disbursed a total of 35.5 million Euros through RWSSI to support water and sanitation projects in Uganda, Sudan, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leon by 2015. However, the bank now insists on projects that can be sustained for a longer period.“There is need for policies, but also, there is need for adequate capacity for implementation and management with involvement of rural communities and the private sector,” said Jallow.He pointed out that poor management of water and water resources especially in rural areas often leads to fragility. And such fragilities, he said, are always an impediment to development. “There is clear evidence that countries that had conflicts did not achieve the millennium development goals,” he told the water and sanitation forum.Alexander Bakalian, World Bank Sector Manager for Urban Development and Services in the Africa Region pointed out that there was need to professionalise water access services in rural communities.He observed that many governments prefer investing in urban areas where there are many engineers, but are reluctant to take similar investments to rural areas fearing lack of expertise. “We need to understand that poor people live in rural areas. So if we have to address poverty, we must focus on rural communities,” he said.The RWSN forum brings together over 500 people from different sectors to share ideas, learn from each other’s experiences so as to make water available to all, at least by 2030.

ABIDJAN, Côte d’Ivoire (PAMACC News) - Dr Kerstin Danert is a rural water supply specialist focusing on developing in-country capacity with respect to operation and maintenance, cost-effective borehole drilling, technology adoption and sector performance monitoring, and the, and heads the secretariat of the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN).In an exclusive interview with ISAIAH ESIPISU of PAMACC News Agency, she discusses the achievements attained so far, the lessons learned, and the bottlenecks towards availing water to the rural poor, as the 7th RWSN conference goes down in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. Here are the excerpts: What is this conference all about?The forum is a chance to have people from different sectors including local and national governments, nongovernmental organisations, the private sector and community representatives to meet face to face, to exchange knowledge and share experiences.The forum in particular is very important, because it is looking ahead towards sustainable development goals, and of cause for water. The idea is to have water for all by 2030. And given the fact that that 80% of people without water live in rural areas, we cannot meet this goal without giving attention to the rural people. So the conference is focusing on how we can get water to everyone. Yet no single organisation can do that alone, whether it is a bank, a government, or even a UN organ. It is not possible. So the whole philosophy of developing this conference is to have everybody to work together.What have been the major challenges to the campaign for water for all?There has been progress, because there are more people with access to safe drinking water than before. But the main challenge has been reaching out to people living in very remote areas, the very poor people, how to make the marginalised communities with very little means have access to safe drinking water. Again, there has been a lot of focus on the Millennium Development Goals especially in the past five years to get the services running. But the challenge is maintaining the systems. For example, we can get pipes running, but maintaining these services for years is a big challenge.And if you look at the contributions coming in through this conference compared to before, there is much enthusiasm on management and sustainability. So people and organisations are thinking more on how to have the systems to continue to work, and this is a positive change.We need to focus more on professionalism, because if the systems aren’t built well, there is no way they can be maintained. Another problem is that documentation of what is being done is very weak. That is one of the reasons we are having this forum, to encourage organisations to document what they are doing. We need countries to understand what is being invested, what technologies are working and where. What lessons have we learned so far?One of the lessons learned is that we cannot do things in a hurry. You need planning to get things done well. Just running before you can…