ADDRESSING THE DEFICIENCIES IN COMMUNITY BASED WATER RESOURCE GOVERNANCE IN KENYA

Kenya is home to a huge diversity of human and wildlife systems, each relying on a renewable but highly variable and limited water resource. Water resource management in the country has evolved through a decentralization... [ view full abstract ]

Kenya is home to a huge diversity of human and wildlife systems, each relying on a renewable but highly variable and limited water resource. Water resource management in the country has evolved through a decentralization process that, at a fundamental and most basic level, has placed the sustainable management of the resource in the hands of local communities. With the process of devolution, and as highlighted by key legislation in the country, environmental as well as human needs are increasingly being considered in the management of water resources.

Despite these changes, actions on the ground are slow to reflect these provisions. As a result, decreases in water quality and quantity have led to conflict within and between different social and environmental stakeholders. While the complexity of dynamic interactions and water resource conflicts can be described, and significant driving forces identified, future outcomes in water resource management remain uncertain. It is critical therefore to understand the role communities can play in natural resource management, the limiting factors hindering progress in community based water resource management and the key approaches being used to address these deficiencies.

This presentation will provide an overview of the tools and approaches that are being used to sustainably manage natural resources in North and North Central Kenya within the context of community based conservation. Using case studies from Laikipia and Isiolo Counties and also within Lake Naivasha and Lake Victoria Basins, the role of traditional and community based institutions in natural resource governance and the systems being used to strengthen natural resource governance within these regions. It will also highlight the policy influencing strategies that are shaping water resource management in the country. This should therefore assist in the future development of sustainable community based management actions that can be implemented at regional scales within the country.