Mara River Basin: A Model of Sustainability
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Making Kenya's Mara River Basin a Model of Sustainability for Africa and The World
The Mau Mara Serengeti Sustainable Water Initiative was launched, a new public-private-partnership of Dutch, Kenyan and German partners to develop and conserve the Mara River Basin. The four-year programme has a 10.7 million Euro budget, with 75% provided by The Netherlands Embassy in Kenya and 25% by HSBC Bank and the partners themselves. "This public-private partnership is an excellent example of the Dutch policy transition from aid to trade", Rose Makenzi from the Embassy explains, "and brings together a unique wealth of knowledge and expertise".
Improving water safety and security
The Mau Mara Serengeti (MaMaSe) Sustainable Water Initiative will support interventions leading to more water wise and environmentally sustainable economic development, while preserving the ecosystems and wildlife of the famed Mara-Serengeti landscape. The MaMaSe consortium is led by UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, in close cooperation with WWF Kenya, and includes a wide range of experts from government authorities, private sector, knowledge institutes and NGOs from Kenya, The Netherlands and Germany. Programme leader Michael McClain (UNESCO-IHE) is confident of achieving the common goal of improved water safety and security in the Mara river basin "thanks to the strength and experience of the partners involved, the priority given to change on the ground, and the spirit of cooperation with other actors in the basin".
Empowering the people of the basin and promoting self-reliance form the core principles of the Initiative. Activities are being planned in close cooperation with local stakeholders to address the basin's priority needs. One of the identified priorities is capacity building of regional and community-based water authorities to improve integrated water resource management, a task that UNESCO-IHE and the Regional Water Authority Brabantse Delta will pick up. The CEO of the Kenyan Water Resource Management Authority (WMRA) Philip Olum looks forward to the "assistance of the experts in the WRMA programmes, such as the revision and development of catchment management strategies".
Furthermore, farmers in the headwaters of the basin are being helped to produce water wise and profitable products by SNV and Wageningen University and Research Centres. Key private sector partner Mara Farming Ltd connects local farmers to international markets, including major supermarket chains like Albert Heijn. Also rangeland communities near conservation areas are supported by WWF Kenya to improve rangeland management and set up eco-tourism businesses. ITC-University of Twente supports this effort with new satellite-based monitoring tools supplying relevant information.
To ensure a sustainable change in the Mara basin, innovative financing mechanisms for water resources management are being developed in cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ). The lessons learned and new decision-support tools developed by MaMaSe will be adapted for wider use by Egerton University, Masai Mara University, UNESCO-IHE, ITC-University of Twente and Deltares.
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