While many theories have been advanced for the conflict between pastoralists and farmers in Laikipia county, conservationist Julius Mbithi is convinced that it all boils down to an often overlooked factor: water shortage.
The county has been the epicenter of raids in recent months that have displaced thousands and destroyed property worth millions of shillings.
“Prolonged periods of droughts have increased conflicts related to shortage of water and pasture,” Mbithi told the Star in Nanyuki town.
Mbithi said water from the Ewaso Ng’iro river is dwindling, making matters worse.
He said in the past, rains used to come, reducing each other time, but there was no drought like the current one.
Laikipia Water Services director Joseph Maina said the county has been reeling from water shortage for a long time. He said the wanton violence that has characterised the county is “not a problem but a symptom”.
“When the pastoralist community does not get water, they have to come up and look for it, and in the process, they graze in the agricultural land and conflict erupts. If we can solve the water problem, people will have enough water and they will never come up looking for that water,” he said.
Maina said water shortage has long been a big problem in Laikipia but this time, they need to solve it in a more technical, visible and sustainable manner.
Pastoralists have been invading private land, raiding homes, burning property and driving livestock into farms, claiming that they are looking for water and pasture.
Some of the attackers, believed to be bandits, have been streaming in from Baringo, with the violence often blamed on political incitement.
But these may only be catalysts. The root of the problem is a shortage of the resource without which no one can survive: water.
WATER HARVESTING
Maina, who is also an acting accounting officer for Water department, said the county receives minimum rains of 500mm per year, meaning it needs to harvest at least 5 billion cubic metres.
“We want to emphasis on water harvesting. We want to harvest water in all levels; we want the peasant farmer to have pans on their farms. We want to have communal medium dams and we also want to finally have large mega dams,” he said.
Maina said with enough water, neighbouring communities that have been causing havoc could be provided for.
He said water harvesting is a crucial measure that has not been practised in not only Laikipia but also most parts of the country.
“This is why we are facing the big problem of water shortage. Just think of it, when we have heavy rains, the streams and rivers overflow with water going downstream through counties such as Isiolo, causing a lot of havoc and ending up in the Indian Ocean. If only we can harvest that water and retain it in Laikipia county, we will be able to use it and the problem will be solved,” he said.
Residents, particularly those depending on Ewaso Ng’iro basin, say the basin is under assault by large-scale farmers upstream, who have diverted most of its water to their farms. They worry that the river could soon die as a result.
Wildlife has not been spared either.
Ewaso Ng’iro basin chair Stanley Kirimi said there is a serious competing need for water in the 10 counties he covers.
Kirimi, who is also the Mt Kenya-Ewaso Ng’iro water partnership coordinator, said water is not enough for wildlife, agriculture and domestic use, with only 30 per cent of what is produced allowed to flow downstream.
“The unfortunate thing is that this is very erratic. It’s there at times and not there at times. We decided as a partnership to look at the volumes we have and what we are using,” he said, adding that the underground water system is yet to be explored.
Kirimi said two studies are currently going on to inform how much water is there and the action that needs to be done.
He said there there has been an acute water shortage since December, due to lack of water conservation.
RATIONING PROGRAMME
Timothy Mutie, the acting regional manager of Water Resource Management Authority, said solving shortages is hard.
"We try to manage with what we have and see how best it can be shared. Upstream usage needs to be regulated to ensure this water gets downstream,” Mutie said.
Mutie called for collaboration so that those downstream understand what those upstream are doing. He said whenever there is water shortage, residents should agree on a rationing programme.
“But sometimes when there is drought, it calls for other measures, such as enhancing efficiency, so people use less water and leave the rest for those downstream,” he said.
Mutie cited the county and national governments as another area where collaboration can come in handy.
"Sometimes we need political goodwill to implement these measures," he said.
Mutie said people over-exploit water, using it to irrigate their farms.
"Some of these are commercial farmers who have leased land, though it is not easy to get hold of them. Sometimes they also use organised youth groups to try protect their interests," he said.
Mutie said various plans have been developed, some of which need to be revised to reflect emerging issues, such that measures deemed to be effective in solving challenges can be implemented to ensure water for all.
He urged security committees to enhance law enforcement from county to subcounty level, noting that restraining pastoralists is met with resistance.
"Pastoralists have been coming up even here in Laikipia. Enhancing security may require the central government to come in strongly to try to repel these invaders," he said.
Mutie said enforcing the law is also costly, as one has to go to where farms are diverting water to disconnect appliances.
"This means that one will need security officers, a lot of resources and time. It becomes a security issue because a lot of time is lost, while most have invested in their crops and they want to make sure that they irrigate until they harvest and take to the market," he said.
"You can imagine what will happen when these people are trying to protect their interests," he added, citing a case where enforcers were held hostage half a day by farmers recently.
Mutie said water resources in many contexts are becoming scarce, polluted and contested. He blamed this on increasing population, agricultural expansion, infrastructure development and climate change.
The Watershed Empowering Citizens project, launched at the Nanyuki Sports Club on September 25, sought to come up with clever ways to address these problems.
SANITATION AND HYGIENE
The programme is a five-year strategic partnership for 2016-20 by the Dutch Foreign Affairs ministry, IRC, Simavi, Wetlands International and Akvo Foundation Netherlands.
IRC supports the local and national government to ensure that people get better water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The Watershed project has been designed to improve water, sanitation and hygiene governance. The project rides on the fact that people who deserve to be helped are increasingly concentrated in regions with inadequate financing, accountability and public participation.
Set to be carried out in two counties — Kajiado and Laikipia — the project will use evidence-based decision making, planning and implementation.
The Ewaso Ng’iro River finds its source on the northwestern slopes of the iconic Mt Kenya, and flows through arid and semi-arid lands into the Merti Aquifer and Lorian Swamp, after which it passes through Somalia, joining the Juba River.
It supports livelihoods of approximately 3.6 million people.
On September 11 to 15, a five-day camel caravan advocated the conservation of the Ewaso Ng’iro river.