Kenya’s plans for a 3km-long dam and a £28bn transportation corridor including a new port city in Lamu have led to fears about erosion and pollution

In his 49 years, Zablon Katende had never thought of leaving his hometown of Kipini in coastal Kenya. But now, looking at his dwindling mango trees, the farmer worries the harvest will not be enough to provide for his five children. “Every year there is less water,” he says, pointing at the murky Tana river which washes the shores of his village.

Despite being Kenya’s longest river, the Tana is struggling to keep up with the country’s ever-growing demand for water and electricity. It is the backbone of the country’s economy, providing up to 80% of Nairobi’s water and half the country’s electricity through hydroelectric plants.

Its water also irrigates thousands of hectares of cash crops such as tea, coffee and rice. However, erosion, pollution and excessive water capture are threatening the livelihoods of many who, like Katende, depend on the river.

The government is currently planning to divert even more of Tana’s water for irrigation and power, but a study (pdf) by Wetlands International and the Vrije University in Amsterdam warns this management model is not ecologically sustainable.

Kenya’s big plans

Despite concerns, Kenya’s government wants to use more of the Tana river’s resources to ensure economic prosperity for the country’s fast growing population. Known as Vision 2030, the plan includes 1m acres of monocultures, a 3km-long dam and a £28bn transportation corridor including a new port city in Lamu, near the Tana delta.

Experts, however, warn the river’s resources are not unlimited. “Ignoring nature has a price,” says Julie Mulonga, programme manager of Wetlands International in Kenya. According to Mulonga, the government’s water management style focuses on the short-term benefit of industries around the capital, such as flower farms and breweries, and disregards the needs of people and animals downstream.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Tana river is Kenya’s longest river, starting in the Aberdares National Park and Mount Kenya and finishing in the Tana Delta. Photograph: Wetlands International

The consequences are already being felt, especially in Tana’s delta where most locals live off fishing, raising cattle and growing sustenance crops. Without enough water, fish cannot breed, crops fail and animals are too emaciated to sell. “Without the river, nothing lives,” says Katende, who worries that the construction of another dam will mean even less water for his mango trees.

Tourism is suffering, too. Tana’s delta is a wildlife refuge for hundreds of species, from hippos to monkeys. But water scarcity increases deforestation and animal poaching. What’s more, local authorities worry that competition over water will lead to violent clashes between pastoralist and farming tribes, which in 2012 resulted in 50 deaths and forced several hotels to close.

The Kenyan government rejects the suggestion that their plans are putting strain on the environment, communities and business that relies on the river.

“There is no need to compete over water because all economic activities on the river are complementary,” says Robinson Gaita, director of irrigation and water storage at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation.

Gaita is overseeing the development of a new 10,000-acre maize farm near the middle section of the Tana, which he says is already improving food security. The government recently donated 62,000 bags of maize from this plantation to communities suffering from drought in the river’s delta.

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As for the colossal dam, Gaita says it will actually help downstream farmers like Katende because it will give the state the ability to prevent excessive flooding and increase the availability of water in case of drought – both of which are happening more frequently because of climate change.

The role of Coca-Cola

Private businesses could have a big role to play in the Tana’s conservation. Some of the country’s largest companies, including Coca-Cola and East African Breweries, have joined the Nairobi Water Fund, a scheme which aims to raise £8m to help preserve Tana’s ecosystems by planting trees or teaching farmers better soil-management practices.

Nushin Ghassmi, communications manager for Frigoken, Kenya’s largest vegetable processing company, says working with the fund is important because “preserving our natural resources is crucial for our business survival”. Coca-Cola estimates the annual water treatment and filtration costs for their Nairobi bottling plant at more than $1m.

Yet even with increased corporate responsibility, the Tana will continue to deteriorate if the government does not scale down its ambitious infrastructural projects, warns Pieter van Beukering, director of the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije University. If the economic benefits are not shared equally along the river this could also increase upstream migration. “Money follows water. And people follow money,” says Beukering.

Many of Katende’s neighbours have already left Kipini looking for greener pastures for their cattle or cleaner waters for their nets. “But I’m a farmer,” says Katende, “I can’t abandon my land.” Instead he has joined a local conservation group to help raise awareness about the importance of preserving the Tana.

Despite this year’s failing crop, he is hopeful. “We will find a way to give water to everybody,” he says. “We have to.”



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