Adopting road water harvesting

This case study describes the experience of Edward Ndolo, a retired police officer in Kitui, Kenya, who implemented road water harvesting on his 3-acre farm to combat low rainfall and climate change. By diverting road runoff through a channel—including one crossing a neighbor's land—Ndolo has increased his agricultural productivity and profitability compared to neighboring farmers who do not use the technique.

• Edward Ndolo adopted road water harvesting in 1990 to divert runoff from surrounding roads to his 3-acre (approximately 1.2 ha) farm in Kitui, Kenya, supplementing his existing use of terracing since 1967.
• The implementation of road water harvesting is hindered by high labor and financial costs; Ndolo spent 20,000 Kenyan Shillings (approximately 200 Euro) to construct a 50-meter channel, primarily for hiring manpower.
• Road water harvesting has led to higher agricultural productivity and profit for Ndolo compared to his neighbors, allowing him to sell beans, maize, and fruits to those who do not harvest water.
• Ndolo observes that climate change has altered rainfall patterns in Kitui; for example, in 2016, the long rainy season, which usually starts around October, did not arrive until November 1st.

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (2017). Adopting road water harvesting. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/travellingfarmer/

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. Adopting road water harvesting. 2017. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/travellingfarmer/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=Adopting road water harvesting |date=31 January 2017 |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/travellingfarmer/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnership2017adopting, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{Adopting road water harvesting}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, year = {2017}, month = jan, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/travellingfarmer/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }