Ten years on: Enabling the success of locally-led water investments in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties

The brief evaluates 62 of 95 water investments established between 2013 and 2018 in Kenya's ASAL regions, finding that functionality generally declined between 2019 and 2023 due to poor maintenance funding, governance gaps, and insufficient climate data. It recommends integrating indigenous knowledge, securing dedicated operations and maintenance budgets, and adopting landscape-level management to ensure long-term resilience.

• The overall functionality of water investments in most studied counties declined between 2019 and 2023, with the exception of Garissa.
• Sustainability was hindered by a lack of dedicated budget allocations at the county level for the operations and maintenance (O&M) of existing CCCF climate projects, making it difficult for communities to fund routine upkeep.
• Governance challenges impacted project longevity, specifically regarding the capacity of committees to manage water revenues, poor coordination by county governments, and ambiguous roles and responsibilities between government and community actors.
• The failure to use sufficient climate data and information led to the incorrect siting of several investments, resulting in a need for frequent repairs or total non-functionality.
• While the principle of subsidiarity fostered community ownership, sustainability was undermined by low transparency and accountability within local implementation committees and insufficient oversight from county departments after the project phase ended.
• The document suggests that integrating indigenous knowledge and traditional institutions, such as the Detha system, can improve the effectiveness and legitimacy of local climate resilience actions.

APA

Osumba, J., Jebiwott, A., Karaho, E., du Toit, M., & Redda, R. (2024). Ten years on: Enabling the success of locally-led water investments in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/CDKN%20Policy%20Brief%20-%20Functionality%20study%20Kenya_WEB.pdf

Chicago

Osumba, Joab, Alice Jebiwott, Esperanza Karaho, Michelle du Toit, and Robi Redda. Ten years on: Enabling the success of locally-led water investments in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2024. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/CDKN%20Policy%20Brief%20-%20Functionality%20study%20Kenya_WEB.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Osumba |first1=Joab |last2=Jebiwott |first2=Alice |last3=Karaho |first3=Esperanza |last4=du Toit |first4=Michelle |last5=Redda |first5=Robi |title=Ten years on: Enabling the success of locally-led water investments in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties |publisher=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |date=November 2024 |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/CDKN%20Policy%20Brief%20-%20Functionality%20study%20Kenya_WEB.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{osumba2024ten, author = {Osumba, Joab and Jebiwott, Alice and Karaho, Esperanza and du Toit, Michelle and Redda, Robi}, title = {{Ten years on: Enabling the success of locally-led water investments in Kenya’s arid and semi-arid counties}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/CDKN%20Policy%20Brief%20-%20Functionality%20study%20Kenya_WEB.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }