Affordable and Safe Drinking Water in Kenya Report 2022

Running Head: SAFE AND AFFORDABLE WATER 1
Affordable and Safe Drinking Water in Kenya
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Introduction
As per 2018, Kenya Gross National Income (GNI) per capita was $1620, and hence it is
classified as one of the developing country. Five years after countries signed the 2030 Agenda
for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), they have put in measures to achieve them. The
provision of safe water is an essential aspect since it is necessary for energy and food security,
poverty eradication, and human health. According to the SDGs report of 2019, the number of
people using safe drinking water between 2000 and 2017 had raised from 61% to 71%. However,
in most developing countries like Kenya, most of their population relies upon getting water from
unimproved sources like rivers, ponds, and shallow wells. In 2019, 41% of Kenyans did not have
access to safe water (Nilsson, Griggs & Visbeck, 2016). Due to the underlying historical,
cultural, and structural conditions in Kenya, it is hard for it to achieve equitable access to
affordable and safe drinking water for all by 2030. This essay aims to critically analyse the
cultural, structural, and historical aspects that influence this goal in Kenya.
Historical, cultural and structural factors
The attainment of this goal needs adequate and effective efforts geared towards it. Kenya
is a country that experiences a lot of water scarcity, and hence attaining this goal is a hard task
and requires a lot of expansion and development directed towards the sector. Lack of access to
safe drinking water mainly affects women and children. Women and children strain a lot while
looking for water, especially for domestic use since they are primarily tasked with this role.
Some of the factors that hinder the attainment of this goal include;
Historical factors

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Forest Degradation
Deforestation is one of the historical factor that influences access to safe water.
Deforestation is the cutting down of trees. Forests are essential in the protection of water
catchment areas. Cutting down of trees negatively influence ecosystems like water. In Kenya,
logging for fuel is one of the highest reason forests are at risk (Ndahi & Maitho, 2017). The acts
of cutting trees have resulted in low rainfall. For instance, the largest Kenya forest located in
Mau, which distributes water to eight wildlife reserves, 10 million Kenyans depend on the water
for living and six lakes. However, farmers and loggers have damaged almost a quarter of the
forest, about 400,000 hectares. This has resulted in an enlarged runoff, which has undesirable
effects on both the rainy and the succeeding dry season. It has resulted in decreased rainfall and
increased dry seasons and hence a low level of water (Luo et al., 2018). Due to this forest
degradation, it is difficult for Kenya to achieve equitable access to safe drinking water. Also, the
provision of safe drinking water is hard because it experiences low levels of water.
Droughts
Over the past decade, Kenya has been experiencing a lot of droughts. Global warming in
the country is one of the factor that is worsening the condition. Kenya has continually
experienced sequences of lengthy droughts, and these lengthy cycles of droughts have increased
over time. According to the International Livestock Research Institute, the amount of rainfall
experienced in Kenya has considerably reduced in the past five years. Hence, desertification
continues to hit the state’s semi-arid countryside. This has reduced the available water and thus
caused insufficient access to safe drinking water (Musyimi, Nduru, Huho & Opiyo, 2018).
Cultural factors

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One of the significant cultural factor that affects the achievement of this goal is the
perception by Kenyans that water should be a service and commodity provided by the
government for free. The belief by Kenyans that water is a human right has resulted in private
investors not willing to invest in the water sector. This has created a culture of lack of
unwillingness to pay for water in Kenya, which results in rising the Non-Revenue Water in
Kenya. This has resulted in a condition of unsustainable water institutions in Kenya due to
inadequate revenues from the provision of water in the country. Also, private investors fear the
government might interfere and dictate the prices they should charge. This will compromise
Kenya towards achieving the goal since there is low revenue for water institutions to be able to
provide adequate safe water drinking water (Mputhia et al., 2019).
Contamination of water
The incapability of Kenya not maintaining clean water is one the reason worsening it
chances to achieve safe drinking water. Many Kenyans use wells to obtain water that can be used
for domestic purposes, but at the same time, ` use pit latrines which are in most instances located
near the wells. The culture of establishing pit latrines near the wells causes contaminations since
microorganisms easily travel from pit latrines to the wells. The wells ought to be located at least
15 meters from the pit latrines, and they ought to be in an elevated area at least 2 meters above
the water table, but this is not the situation in many overcrowded places in Kenya (Schäfer,
Dietrich & Mbilinyi, 2016). This makes the goal of attaining safe drinking water unattainable.
Another cultural source of contamination is the tendency of children to throw objects in the
water.
Structural Factors

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Poor management of Water Supply
For many years in Kenya, there has been a necessity to provide sound management to
ensure proper water supply. There is a necessity for the development of effective management,
funding, and good water sources, especially due to the increasing population in Kenya. The
actions the government of Kenya has taken seem ineffective in enhancing it to achieve this goal.
It has failed through mismanagement of land and water use policies, pathetic water distribution
practices, degradation of aquifers, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and other water catchment areas and
growing pollution (McCord, Dell'Angelo, Baldwin & Evans, 2017).
Population growth
Kenya has quite a high growth in population that is influencing its capability for
achieving equitable access to clean water. Sustaining the high population growth in Kenya is a
hard task. The population in Kenya has continued to increase while its resources and economy
struggle to keep up (Ali, Shafiee & Berglund, 2017). According to the census conducted in
Kenya in 2019, the total population is 47.6 million. This indicates a high growth rate in the
population, and with an intensification in the population, accessibility of water becomes less.
The increasing population puts water resources under pressure through the land, agriculture, and
energy uses. The condition is worse in rural areas since there are more people who live in rural
than in urban areas. Due to this, water accessibility in rural areas is a big problem (Langat,
Kumar & Koech, 2019).
Success story
Despite all those historical, structural, and cultural factors, Kenya is committed to
achieving safe and accessible drinking water to all. Communities have started running water

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projects, and they are proving to be effective. The Water Sector Trust Fund, when launching a
report on ‘’catalyzing low-cost green technologies for sustainable water service delivery in
Kenya,” acknowledged that the communities establish the most fruitful water projects.
Companies like AfricAqua, SwissQuest, and Water Forever International are supporting the
achievement of this goal. The companies are supporting the achievement of this goal through the
following measures;
 Establishment of a water treatment plant. A company like AfricAqua has drilled a
borehole where treatment and packaging of water occurs; this ensures safe drinking
water.
 Micro Distribution Centers (MDCs). The establishment of outlets has ensured easy access
to safe drinking water.
 Last-Mile Delivery concept. This ensures that residents can directly contact the Micro
Distribution Centers and place their water orders through the phone. Also, by the use of
tuk-tuks, existing water vendors, and donkey carts, these companies can easily transport
water from the MDCs directly to the shops and household doorsteps. This has enhanced
easy access to safe drinking water (Ochungo, Ouma, Obiero & Odero, 2019).
 Provision of subsidiary services. Companies like Water Forever International provides
water all over Kenya at a subsidized price. It aims at providing safe water for all Kenyans
forever. People pay a small amount of about 0.02-0.08 USD per 20 litres can. In return,
they enjoy full services like replacement and repair of infrastructure at the end of
lifetime, preventive measures all free of charge (Ochungo, Ouma, Obiero & Odero,
2019).
Recommendations

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Some of the interventions that can be undertaken to enhance the achievement of equitable
access to affordable and safe drinking water for all by 2030 include;
 Protection and rehabilitation of indigenous forests should be undertaken. This will help
in promoting sustainable management of forests and hence reserve water catchment areas
while increasing forest cover.
 Establishing management of water resources information. This can involve the
installation of hydro-metric in ground and surface water. Records of water usage should
be well-kept, and water should be rationed to ensure equal access (Stafford-Smith et al.,
2017).
 Development of water harvesting and storage. This can be done by building multi-
purpose dams with large storage capacities. It will help in increasing water supply for all
and hence support in the attainment of achieving the goal.
 Educating Kenyans on the importance of maintaining clean water. This will help in
ensuring they avoid water contamination (Amiri, Eslamian, Arshadi, & Khozaei, 2016).
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is evident from the essay that it is hard for Kenya to achieve the goal of
enhancing equitable access to safe and affordable drinking water for all by 2030. The underlying
structural, cultural, and historical conditions in Kenya are making this goal difficult to achieve.
Contamination of water, high population growth, forest degradation, and droughts are some of
the factors that are affecting Kenya’s capability of achieving this goal. With effective measures,
problems like poor water management, forest degradation, and poor water management are
solvable. But issues like droughts are a result of ongoing climate change, and it has a likelihood
of upsurging in the foreseeable future. Also, population growth is bound to increase. Hence,

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Kenya has to undertake measures like the establishment of large storage dams to enhance equal
access to safe and affordable drinking water.
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