Corporates set up Sh1.5 billion fund to improve water supply

Corporate firms last week launched a Sh1.5 billion endowment fund to improve Nairobi’s water supply and boost farmers’ earnings.

The money will go towards conservation efforts to protect Tana River, which feeds Ndakaini Dam that supplies 85 per cent of the capital city’s water. The river benefits farmers in Murang’a, Nyeri and Nyandarua counties.

The companies that have committed to supporting the fund include Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, KenGen, Coca-Cola and East African Breweries.

The endowment fund was established after the success of a water conservation concept, the Nairobi Water Fund, launched last year.

According to data from the Nature Conservancy, a global environmental agency managing the fund, the financial support led to a 30 per cent rise in farm production in the area around Tana River. This was the result of there being 40 per cent more irrigation water for 13,600 farmers in Murang’a, Nyeri and Nyandarua.

Phillip Gichuki, the CEO of Nairobi Water and Sewerage Company, added that the fund had increased water supply in the city.

“After the water fund was established, Nairobi is now receiving a total of 552 million litres of water every day, up from the 520 million litres it previously received. This means that pipes of water from Ndakaini Dam to Nairobi are now full,” he said.

“Further, 550,000 more people in informal settlements now have reliable water supply.”

Upstream areas

Fred Kihara, the water fund’s director at the Nature Conservancy, said a water fund is a public-private partnership that seeks to protect water supply by investing in conservation in upstream areas of a river basin.

“It is the first water conservation innovation in Africa that brings together the Government and private sector partners to save water for a large city’s needs,” said Mr Kihara. The water fund concept has been embraced in large cities in Brazil, Colombia and Chile.

Through the fund, farmers have been involved in water conservation interventions, including planting trees, setting up water pans and drip irrigation pipes, and constructing bench terraces that have reduced soil run-off into the river.

Kihara said the greatest threat facing Tana River is the high amount of soil sediment from the surrounding slopes, which increases the cost of water treatment and electricity generation.

“The continuous funding may not be the solution to ensuring future generations’ access to water. However, the endowment fund will ensure that the money we have collected attracts a favourable interest rate that will ensure conservation activities in the Tana water shed are perpetual and gainful for our children’s children,” said Eddy Njoroge, the president of the Nairobi Water Fund.

He added that the vision of the water fund is to bring value to key market sectors, such as electricity, agriculture and environmental conservation, as well as minimise water supply interruptions in Nairobi.

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