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TitleRain water harvesting in Kenya : social economic issues research report
Publication TypeMiscellaneous
Year of Publication1994
AuthorsMbugua, J
Paginationxii, 65, 21 p.: 28 fig., 15 tab.
Date Published1994-01-01
PublisherInternational Rainwater Catchment Systems Association
Place PublishedNairobi, Kenya
Keywordsarid zones, attitudes, beliefs, cab95/2, economic aspects, gender, kenya laikipia district, kenya nakuru (district) roda pwani, livestock, maintenance costs, operation, questionnaires, rainwater harvesting, rainwater storage, social aspects, storage tanks, sustainable development, water demand, water resources, women
Abstract

This research examined existing rainwater harvesting practices and factors that have hindered the acceptance and implementation of rainwater harvesting technologies. It also explores cultural, economic, social, and psychological barriers that impede the promotion of these technologies, reasons for the success of on-going water harvesting projects, and their effect on agricultural production, health and sanitation status in rural and urban Kenya. The specific objectives of the study included: i. an examination of rainwater harvesting practices and their relationship to rainfall patterns in the study area; ii. determining (in the context of the existing water harvesting technologies) the beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes of people in the study area; iii. an analysis of the socio-cultural structure of the people and its influence on the acceptability and use of water harvesting technologies not indigenous to the area; iv. an exploration of how rainwater harvesting systems have developed in the area, i.e. either at household or community level; v. determining the stage at which the introduction of rainwater harvesting technology is most vulnerable, and factors associated with this; vi. establishing a "state of the art" of the rainwater harvesting in Kenya as documented by various organizations such as NGOs, Governments, Bilateral and Multilateral agencies; and vii. establishing the most common rainwater harvesting technologies and estimating how widespread the technology is in Kenya. The study selected two groups in order to collect information on socio-economic and cultural issues, one representing smallholder subsistence farmers (at Roda Pwani in the Nakuru District) and the other representing pastoralist herdsmen (at Mukogodo in the Laikipia District). Among the findings was that the technology had a high initial capital cost, which arose because the storage, catchment and sometimes treatment structures, were seen as being expensive.

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