This archive report was first published on 2 October 2019.
Kenya: Farmers Mix Tradition With Tech to Protect Drying Mara River ¶
Ilula village, southwestern Kenya - The Mara River, a vital water source for over a million people, has been drying up due to population growth, illegal logging, and overuse of its waters. To combat this, farmers in southwestern Kenya are using a new digital system to report water use violations and adapt to the river's changing water levels.
Isaac Chereger's farm in Ilula village is a hub for community conservation efforts. The loud singing coming from his farm is actually a group of women calling to order a meeting of a local religious charity that teaches villagers how to conserve the forest around their homes.
For more than a decade, environmental groups have raised the alarm over the Mara River, warning that its water levels have dropped dramatically. At the meeting on Chereger's farm, some villagers volunteered to plant saplings where their fields meet the river, while others agreed to get training on why the unplanned felling of trees along the river could worsen the impact of drought.
The Empowering Lives International Centre, which put on the meeting, has joined other local organisations in an effort to give their traditional conservation work some technological muscle. The pilot scheme, run by the Stockholm Environment Institute, trains villagers to use a water evaluation and planning (WEAP) tool that generates a digital forecast on the health of a water source.
When communities know what to expect from the Mara River's changing water levels, they can more quickly adapt and find the most effective ways to slow the drying of the river. The group in Ilula village say they are keen to add the system to their conservation toolbelt.
"The Mara River gives us pasture and water for our cattle. If this innovation can help in preventing bad use of the river, then we are ready to work with it," said Chereger.
Technology has become a vital tool for protecting the river, said Emmanuel Nkurunziza, director general of the Nairobi-based Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development. Digital innovations such as the WEAP have made it easier for communities, development organisations, and governments to detect changes in the Mara's water level and quality, and helped them reverse or adapt to those changes.
"Technology enables the tracking of threats to the Mara river over a period of time. With this, it is possible to identify whether these threats are caused by human activities or climate change," Nkurunziza said.
Because the project is still in the pilot phase, figures on how many farmers are taking part are not yet available. However, Nkurunziza was confident the system would play an important role in tackling climate change threats.
Published on October 2, 2019, by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
