Assessing the effectiveness of locally-led public good climate investments in water infrastructure in Kitui County

A 2023 study of 12 water infrastructure investments in Kitui County, Kenya, found that while 59% remain functional or partially functional, many fail to provide water during dry seasons. Non-functionality is primarily driven by a lack of maintenance, insufficient funding for spare parts, and design flaws that ignore climate and hydrogeological data. The report recommends integrating landscape restoration, establishing sustainable financing for operations, and strengthening the capacity of local management committees.

• As of October 2023, 59% of the water infrastructure investments were either functional or partially functional and were considered sustainable for livestock and domestic use. However, 16% were non-functional, and three sites were not in use during the visit due to seasonality.
• Many investments failed to provide water during the driest seasons, often only offering adequate water during and shortly after the rainy season. In some instances, women were required to walk over 5km and spend entire days or nights fetching water.
• Non-functional infrastructure resulted from a lack of maintenance and repairs, ranging from minor issues like damaged fences and gates to major failures such as breached embankment walls. The Mutethya Nzaini Earth Dam is cited as an example that transitioned from partially functional in 2019 to non-functional in 2023 due to a breached embankment wall, vandalism of the fence, and poor spillway design.

APA

Jebiwott, A., Osumba, J., Orindi, V., Ododa, K., Magoma, I., Mwendwa, S., Muendo, C., Kimwilu, F., Karaho, E., Redda, R., & April, A. (2024). Assessing the effectiveness of locally-led public good climate investments in water infrastructure in Kitui County. Climate and Development Knowledge Network. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/Technical%20Brief_Kitui_FINAL.pdf

Chicago

Jebiwott, Alice, Joab Osumba, Victor Orindi, Kennedy Ododa, Ivy Magoma, Sam Mwendwa, Caleb Muendo, et al. Assessing the effectiveness of locally-led public good climate investments in water infrastructure in Kitui County. Climate and Development Knowledge Network, 2024. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/Technical%20Brief_Kitui_FINAL.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{jebiwott2024assessing, author = {Jebiwott, Alice and Osumba, Joab and Orindi, Victor and Ododa, Kennedy and Magoma, Ivy and Mwendwa, Sam and Muendo, Caleb and Kimwilu, Fredrick and Karaho, Esperanza and Redda, Robi and April, Amanda}, title = {{Assessing the effectiveness of locally-led public good climate investments in water infrastructure in Kitui County}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, year = {2024}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/2024-11/Technical%20Brief_Kitui_FINAL.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }