A water borehole is changing the fortunes of a village in Turkana West Sub County that previously used to bear the brunt of drought in the county.
Residents of Nakodopus village, Nanam ward do not have the trouble of having to trek hundreds of miles in search of water in the midst of biting drought that has been occasioned by failed rains.
Area village administrator Sam Ikeny said 1,250 households now depend on the borehole.
The residents have settled and need not to move from their village unlike the past where they migrated during the drought seasons and have even embraced crop farming.
Already, the committee that oversaw the implementation of the borehole is involved in farming of sorghum, maize and water melons.
The borehole was part of the projects identified by residents and supported under the Kenya Development Response to Displacement Impacts Project (KDRDIP).
(KDRDIP) is a National Government initiative, supported by the World Bank to improve the lives of refugee-hosting communities.
It is a Community Driven Development (CDD) where communities identify, plan, implement, monitor and sustain their own development projects. The projects identified by the communities are integrated into the Community Development Plans (CDPs) before they receive funding.
Project management committee member Felistus Lopute hailed the KDRDIP programme for supporting the drilling and equipping of the borehole at Nakodopus village which has reduced the problem of women having to trek long distances in search of water.
She said the borehole has also solved the hygiene problem where locals shared drinking water from laggas with other domestic animals like dogs.
World Bank team leader Mathew Stephens said the decision by the community made sense because it enabled the locals to get water for their consumption and their livestock.
“We are happy to see the project is fully functional and the livestock are using the water supply in a community that previously lacked water supply,” he said.
Ikeny says if another borehole is sunk, it would help address water problems in other areas and help them embrace farming to achieve food security as well.
KDRDIP has sunk and equipped 41 boreholes in Turkana west Sub County.
The World Bank team also toured the Losajait water project that solved water woes of the area including a school that depends on the water.
By Peter Gitonga
