Upper Tana Trust Fund Executive Director Patrick Nyaga, Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Environmental Officer Scholastica Ngari, and Haleon Site Director Paul Arunga during the unveiling of a partnership on sustainable water stewardship. [Benard Orwongo, Standard]
Nairobi's water future may depend as much on the health of farms hundreds of kilometers upstream as it does on the taps and treatment plants serving the city.
A new partnership announced this week between consumer health company Haleon Kenya and the Upper Tana–Nairobi Water Fund Trust seeks to tackle growing threats to the Upper Tana watershed, the vast catchment that supplies nearly 95 per cent of Nairobi's water and about half of Kenya's hydropower.
The three-year initiative will support thousands of smallholder farmers living within the watershed through conservation measures aimed at reducing soil erosion, improving water quality and increasing water availability downstream.
The Upper Tana region has come under mounting pressure in recent years from population growth, land degradation and the effects of climate change. Environmental experts warn that unsustainable farming practices on steep slopes have accelerated soil erosion, causing rivers and reservoirs to fill with sediment while raising the cost of treating water for urban consumers.
