Drip Irrigation in Kenya

Tamar Meltzer & Paulina Litter

The Problem

Lack of water contributing to famine

“On 10 February the Government declared a national drought emergency, with 23 of 47 counties affected. The number of food insecure people more than doubled – from 1.3 million to 2.7 million. Some 357,285 children and pregnant and lactating mothers are acutely malnourished.”

https://reliefweb.int/disaster/dr-2014-000131-ken

The Problem

• Kenya has long suffered from long droughts, resulting in famine and lack of economic opportunity
• Communities are significantly lacking access to clean water, both for drinking but also for agricultural purposes.
• This lack of access is caused by drought, climate change, and poor distribution of resources within the country.
• Without water to grow crops, individuals are unable to sustain themselves and fulfill their basic needs.

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The Problem

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https://water.org/our-impact/kenya/

• “With a population of 46 million, 41 percent of Kenyans still rely on unimproved water sources, such as ponds, shallow wells and rivers, while 59 percent of Kenyans use unimproved sanitation solutions.”
• “These challenges are especially evident in the rural areas and the urban slums. Only 9 out of 55 public water service providers in Kenya provide continuous water supply, leaving people to find their own ways of searching for appropriate solutions to these basic needs.”

Image from Islamic Relief Worldwide

The Solution

Israeli companies and technology specializing in drip irrigation have significantly increased both water savings and crop yields.

“Like much of Israeli innovation, technology was born out of necessity, as Israeli farmers sought to grow crops in the dry soil of the Negev desert. While Israel has largely overcome its industrial and household water woes, primarily courtesy of investment in coastal desalination plants, ambitions to solve the world’s most pressing agricultural challenges have not subsided.”

How will we help?

Organizing a coalition of partners who work in conjunction with local farmers in order to provide a sustainable solution

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1. Coordinating with local NGOs who are building wells to connect these water sources to drip irrigation systems that would maximize efficiency
2. Manufacturing these drip irrigation systems locally through private companies
3. Trainings on the ground to ensure local ownership of drip irrigation systems
4. Arranging access to microloans in order to fund local farming initiatives

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Who will be involved?

1. Local farmers
2. Potential local factory workers
3. Local government
4. Drip irrigation companies
1. Infrastructure Builders
2. Expert to train local population on the manufacturing process
5. NGOs on the ground
• Well Builders
• Agricultural experts
6. Microfinancers

Who is our customer?

• Local population and consumers, specifically local farmers on the periphery
• Important to consult with local partners on the ground in order to pick specific towns that could be pilot communities

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Potential Counties:

1. Turkana Area
2. Baringo Area
3. Marsabit

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Implementation

Working with others to create a viable solution

Kenya’s Policy Environment

• Officially, Kenya’s stance is very welcoming towards innovation and development work.
• In practice, there is a lot of bureaucracy and corruption within the government, which often presents an obstacle to efficient implementation of projects.

“Kenya’s first innovation policy was launched in 2006 with the implementation of the Vision 2030 initiative. The policy declared that Kenya would break from the past and start doing things differently. The Vision 2030 discourse centred on institutional reforms, human resource development, and enhanced R&D as well as improved science and technology infrastructure.”

Challenges in Kenya

• Sustainability
• Bringing in an externally initiated project such as this runs the risk of alienating the local population and failing to involve them in the implementation, so that the project does not continue once the initial implementation is completed
• Funding limitations
• Lack of infrastructure
• Climate itself→ little access to water
• Kenya is plagued by long droughts
• Local reception
• Violence in the area; would the trucks be robbed?
• Imposition of new technology on local population
• Training the local population to work in warehouses
• General cultural differences

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The Financial Aspect

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How will we fund this project?

1. National and Local Government
2. Private Companies
3. NGOs
4. Microloan Financers

Government

What do we need?

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1. Limited funding
2. Support in bringing private companies
3. Support in granting of permits
4. Coordination on the ground

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Governmental Partners:

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• Kenya’s Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development
• Micro and Small Enterprise Authority
• Local municipalities

Private Companies

What do we need?

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1. Investment in Infrastructure (Warehouses & Trucks)
2. Pledge to hire and train local workers

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What is the incentive?

• Return on Investment
• Expanded presence in Africa

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NGOs

• iDE Global
• Trainings & support on agriculture systems
• “supporting a network of Farm Business Advisors (FBAs), community agents who support small-scale farmers, who are often located in remote areas far away from commercial centers”
• The Water Project
• Build wells
• MASHAV
• Israeli development initiative that can provide trainings on the ground

Microloan Financers

What do we need?

1. Small loans to farmers in order to purchase drip irrigation systems, seeds, etc.

Potential Partners:

• World Bank (International Finance Corporation)
• CSAF Lending (Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance)
• Kiva

Our Challenge: Local Ownership

• How do we ensure the continuation of the project after local NGO’s leave?
• Microloans
• Develop ownership of product
• Working in factories
• Incentive to keep jobs
• Local government presence
• Oversight principles will be managed by municipalities

Intervals of Success

• Successful crop yields → Reduced cycles of famine
• Cash crops would pay back microloans and stimulate the economy, provide food and access
• Cash Crops: Tea, Sugarcane, Maize, and Coffee
• Higher levels of employment in the region

Bibliography

1. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Reinventing-agriculture-From-drip-irrigation-to-smartphone-farming-591644
2. https://www.wipo.int/edocs/pubdocs/en/wipo_pub_gii_2015-chapter9.pdf
3. https://water.org/our-impact/kenya/
4. https://reliefweb.int/disaster/dr-2014-000131-ken