Water scarcity hits economic growth

The Kenyan government appealed on Tuesday to Kenyans to manage the country's scarce water resources more effectively, the 'East African Standard' reported. The newspaper quoted the permanent secretary in the ministry of environment and natural resources, Muhammad Isahakia, as saying the degradation of water resources had placed a "significant macroeconomic burden" on Kenya's economy, had severely affected many Kenyans' quality of life, and was threatening long-term economic growth in the country.

Isahakia added that Kenya's per capita water supply was about 696 cubic metres per year, which compared with the global standard benchmark for a country to be considered adequately supplied with water of 1,000 cubic metres per capita per year, making Kenya a "water-scarce" country.

According to Isahakia the government was currently reviewing its water resources policy, and had made proposals to encourage private investment in the water sector, and to establish community participation in water resource management. "The main objective is to facilitate the implementation of the [1999] water act now under review," Isahakia said.

Poor rainfall during the March-June long rains period in the severely drought-affected northern and eastern pastoral districts of Kenya meant the livelihoods of many communities had been severely eroded, the USAID-funded Famine Early Warning System Network (FEWSNET) said on 17 September. FEWSNET warned that high food insecurity, coupled with a poor rains forecast for the September-December short rains period, meant that close monitoring of the worst-hit pastoral districts was "critical".