Is affordable housing plan trying to solve the wrong problem?

Nanyuki Affordable Housing project is expected to meet the housing demand in the region, on March 22, 2025 [File-Standard]

There is an old story often told in development circles. An international organisation visited a rural community where women walked long distances every day to fetch water. Seeing the obvious hardship, the organisation set out to drill boreholes and connect every household to a water supply main. It was the perfect solution, or so they thought. The community rejected it.

It made sense when an anthropologist spent time in the village and uncovered what the project designers had failed to see. For the women, the daily walk was never just about fetching water; it was their “me” time. The water point was where they found their support system, their therapy session and their opportunity to laugh, complain and simply breathe away from the demands of home. The donors sought to solve the problem they saw, not the one the community lived. In so doing, they created a solution the community wasn't interested in.