Reliable and secure water resources for rural communities in Africa continue to be at the forefront of the challenges facing these communities in the last 20 years, particularly for smallholders, agricultural sector productivity, food security and economic development increasingly exacerbated by climate change and rapidly growing urban populations. Addressing these challenges requires well-structured policy in the water sector, to implement commitments and investments effectively, and ultimately ensure the quantity and quality of water supply. The AWV 2025 for Africa was commissioned by the World Water Council in 2000 to create a framework to target these aspects in Africa. We examine the progress towards achieving this vision after two decades, through the initiatives, government policies and water strategies that have been implemented. We take a closer look at the top-down impact of the AWV 2025 in the national context of Kenya and its rural population. While the water sector has evolved since 2000, it remains difficult to meet international standards, both at the continental level and in Kenya. This requires continued efforts to strengthen good governance in the water sector, address the financial challenges associated with the expansion of the infrastructure, and developing decentralized approaches to water supply provision.
The African Water Vision 2025 emphasized the disadvantages of the rural population in the context of water supply infrastructure, water management, and access. The vision extolled the virtues of providing improved decentralized governance and localized actions to deliver on this agenda. Furthermore, policies and investment should support climate resilience, by strengthening the security and availability of adequate water quality and quantity in rural communities, for example, by mainstreaming the adoption of rainwater harvesting systems. This is reflected in the government policy alignment towards enabling a devolution of responsibilities to regional and local political structures, while addressing concerns linked with water availability, climate change, and its impact on a country's water resources in Kenya. Despite efforts through different strategic plans and policies, there is a perceived gap between the general understanding of the importance of the RWH system at the national level and actions at the operational level in the counties. An absence of formal policy frameworks and coordination of investments has resulted in insufficient adoption and implementation of RWH systems in Kenya to date. This is despite the fact that in some counties, RWH systems are considered a key solution for increasing climate resilience and suggestions for improvement have been formulated by the affected communities. This analysis shows that RWH systems strengthen the resilience of rural populations but are dependent on a well‐formulated governmental structure, which could be improved by refining national policies and investment in RWH systems.
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