Kenya: Challenges facing the implementation of IWRM in Lake Jipe Watershed

The Lake Jipe Basin Integrated Management Plan (2009-2014) was developed in a consultation with various stakeholders including government, civil society, private sector and the local communities. It focuses on improving farming systems, sustainable livestock production, conservation and management of water, fisheries, and forest resources. The Plan is an enabling guideline that outlines actions to achieve sustainable and equitable use of land and water resources in the basin for sustainable livelihoods. In terms of the social systems, the management plan aims to create awareness on wetlands values and wise use principles, capacity building of the riparian community and involve them in participatory action research. Furthermore, there is a clearly defined monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress and ensure successful implementation of the management plan.

Also, the Government of Kenya and Tanzania have signed a memorandum of understanding for the joint transboundary management of the Lake Jipe basin. The MoU aims to establish a joint cooperative framework for sustainable development and management of the ecosystems and set up institutional arrangement for the management of ongoing projects, programmes, and initiatives within the basins. It is worth noting that the MoU is silent on key issues such public participation and collaborative research efforts.

Despite having a 5-year management plan for the lake Jipe watershed, the catchment is experiencing severe environmental degradation. The management plan has proved to be ineffective mainly because the basin is not in a protected area therefore there is increased encroachment at the shores of Lake Jipe and the nearby tributary rivers in attempt to secure food security. Poor governance is a contributing factor to the failure of the management plan. This is because there is lack of complementary conservation by-laws which makes it difficult to enforce the proposed strategies into actionable deeds. In addition, there is lack of ground personnel to monitor compliance. Lastly, the continuous loop of dependency on natural resources in the basin due to lack of diversified livelihood options limits wetland conservation efforts.

Over 90% of population adjacent to lake Jipe live in rural areas and depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood. The impact of bad agriculture practices includes soil erosion and siltation of rivers and Lake Jipe, reduced flow, lowering of water table, more sediment load produced into the rivers and water bodies increase nutrient level, which create conducive environment for growing of, water weeds. Since most farmers do not have user rights, they are not willing to invest in permanent soils and water management techniques thus resulting in soil and land degradation. The issue was well recognized in the planning stage, however, it was not fully addressed in actions.