Annexe 3: Rainwater harvesting in Turkana

The population of the Turkana District, northwest Kenya, is approximately 220,000, of which 165,000 are pastoralists. The remainder are centered around the settlements and Food-For-Work (FFW) camps. Pastoralism -- goats, sheep, cattle, camels, and donkeys -- remains; therefore, the primary economic activity, supplemented by fishing and agriculture in some areas. The FFW camps originated in 1980, following a severe famine in the north of the district, which lead to a total of 80,000 people receiving relief food aid through an EEC-funded project. This number has steadily declined, and figures for 1986 indicate that about 10,000 people were employed on FFW schemes in the District. Much of this FFW has been on large-scale water-harvesting related schemes. (author)

This paper includes sections on:

• History of the Turkana Water Harvesting Project (TWH);
• Construction of sorghum gardens;
• Animal draught;
• Project staff and staff training;
• Extension methodology;
• Food for work;
• Women and water harvesting;
• Costs and benefits of water harvesting;
• Social costs, problems and benefits; and
• The future of TWH.