Communities that are living within catchment areas of rivers that drain into Lake Baringo have received a Sh8.8 million grant from the Dutch Embassy in Kenya through World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to steer environmental conservation sensitisation.
Speaking outside the County governor’s office in Kabarnet when he presented a cheque to Narosura Water resource users association from Eldama Ravine, the Chief Technical Advisor for World WWF Dr William Ojwang said the project which is implemented by his organisation seeks to empower residents living along Esageri, Emining and Narosura rivers to do conservation activities.
Dr Ojwang stated that the project has three components including creating awareness, knowledge management and supporting the local water associations to pay attention to increasing water risks and stress.
“We want to make sure that by the end of next year, we shall come back and document lessons with the rest of Kenyans so that they can embrace better water resource management practices going forward,” he said.
The WWF official exuded confidence that the project will be successful in the county which is not only water scarce but also stressed in terms of management of natural disasters like flooding and drought.
Baringo Governor Benjamin Cheboi said the project is timely since it will address massive siltation and poor quality of water in Lake Baringo which has been contributed largely by human activities within the catchment areas.
“This is a vital step towards enhancing the protection of water sources and empowering local communities through targeted capacity building initiatives,” said Cheboi.
He challenged the communities living around rivers and other catchment areas to ensure that they adopt good agricultural practices like planting pasture and crops that prevents soil erosion in order to check on quality water downstream as well as preventing land degradation.
By Benson Kelio and Christopher Kiprop
