The Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund (UTNWF) has unveiled an ambitious plan to expand its ongoing source water protection initiatives in the Tana catchment area.
The Fund, which was initially established by The Nature Conservancy, Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company and Pentair to help secure the source of water for Nairobi, launched its five-years strategic plan that focuses on strengthening partnerships, cascading scientific and innovative approaches to source water conservation, and building a sustainable financial base to expand its outreach to an estimated 300,000 small holder farming community within the Upper Tana.
The launch of the 2022 – 2026 Strategic Plan follows a recent transition of the water fund into a fully independent organization and marks a new chapter that will see the very first water fund in Africa continue to expand its conservation activities while developing new partnerships as an independent conservation organization.
One of its immediate tasks is to capitalize the Sh500,00 million endowment fund that will guarantee the operations and activities of the fund in perpetuity.
So far, the water and soil conservation programs upstream have positively impacted lives and livelihoods of an estimated 50,000 smallholder farmers.
“We have grown the Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund to an organization that delivers tangible results for people and nature. This water fund is well on its way to becoming the first financially sustainable water conservation initiative in Africa”, said Eddy Njoroge, President and Trustee, Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund.
Over the next five years, the fund seeks to expand its farmers outreach program by an additional 20,000 households from the current 50,000 beneficiaries.
Furthermore, it plans to install an additional 5,000 water pans to the current 15,000. It also plans to increase forest coverage by planting 3 million more trees to hit a target of 7 million by 2026.
During the occasion, several corporates made contributions and pledges to boost the endowment kitty. East African Breweries Limited and KCB Group Foundation gave Sh5 million each while UPS Foundation contributed Sh2.5 million.
Covering a geographic area of approximately 17,000 hectares, the Upper Tana hosts two of Kenya’s most important sources of water and generates half of the country’s total hydropower and is the source of 95% of Nairobi’s water supply.
With funds raised from Global Environment Facility (GEF), private sector and corporate foundations, the water fund has engaged over 50,000 farmers with subsidized water pans, fruits trees, tree seedlings, napier grass, biogas cook stoves and drip irrigation kits among other items as part of the tool box for practicing land conservation on mostly steep farms.
The work done has seen siltation level in rivers drop by 30 percent while water flows increased by 55,000 cubic meters daily. Farmers’ incomes have increased significantly with nearly Sh400m being earned annually from various farming activities.
The water fund model was started by US NGO, the Nature Conservancy (TNC) – the world’s largest environmental conservation nonprofit – in Quito, Ecuador 22 years ago. The model was first replicated on the African continent in Kenya through endorsement of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of a GEF funding.
The success of the model requires downstream beneficiaries (industries and cities residents) to provide incentives for those whose daily activities upstream sustain the ecosystem – a model knows as payment for ecosystems (PES).
Ademola Ajagbe, TNC Regional Managing Director Africa said there was a need for public policy initiative that would guarantee public funding to go towards conservation.
“We feel that continuous fundraising in not sustainable, we would like to propose public policy measures through water, hydropower and infrastructure tariffs that generate substantial public funds for conservation. We will be engaging the private sector and the authorities on these measures.”
Emmanuel Rurema, Executive Director – Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund said the Trust remains very ambitious and will drive engagement with key stakeholders to ensure the source waters of Nairobi are protected sustainably.
“Our 2022 – 2026 strategic focus will see us work closely with communities up- and downstream to implement and measure the impact of the integrated interventions aimed at protecting water sources and improving water supply. We will also continue to focus on improving livelihoods, food security and local economic development, as well as building a robust knowledge management and learning system.” he said
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