GRAPHIC | LISA WAMUGUNDA
One in three homes in Kenya still lacks access to a safe source
of drinking water, putting their occupants at risk of disease and
premature death.
As the world marks World Water Day today, water and sanitation data reviewed by Nation Newsplex
showed that only 12.5 per cent, or one in eight, of rural dwellers in
Kenya have access to water piped into a dwelling or plot, compared to 40
per cent, or four in 10, of urban dwellers.
Significant
numbers cannot yet afford to have piped water, with nearly 40 per cent
of rural dwellers spending half an hour or more in search of drinking
water.
Dirty water and poor sanitation cause diarrhoea
in children, which kills about 5,400 children aged under five in Kenya
annually, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).
Diarrhoea
is the second leading cause of death in children aged under five years
old worldwide and the third in Kenya, after complications related to
birth and pneumonia, Unicef data also shows. Diarrhoeal diseases also
rank among the top five causes of illness in Kenya, for both adults and
children.
Around
the world, 660 million people or a tenth of the world's population, do
not have access to safe water, yet it is crucial for economic growth.
“Access to a safe and reliable water supply and sanitation services at
home and the workplace, coupled with appropriate hygiene, is critical to
maintaining a healthy, educated and productive workforce, said Mr
Stefan Uhlenbrook, Co-ordinator of the World Water Assessment Programme.
WATER WORKERS "UNRECOGNISED"
The
theme for this year's World Water Day, “Water and Jobs”, was chosen to
highlight how water can create decent, paid work and contribute to a
greener economy and sustainable development.
From its
collection, through various uses to its ultimate return to the natural
environment, water is a key factor in the development of job
opportunities.
Some are directly related to its
management including supply, infrastructure and wastewater treatment,
while others are related to economic sectors that depend heavily on
water such as agriculture, fishing, electricity generation,
manufacturing and health. The farming, fisheries, and forestry sectors
alone employ nearly one billion people around the world.
Investments
in water-related infrastructure can be highly cost-effective,
generating positive returns across different sectors of the economy. For
example, in the United States, Mr Uhlenbrook says, every job invested
in the water and sanitation sector generates three jobs outside the
sector.
Around the world, the World Health Organisation
(WHO) estimates that every shilling invested in improving water supply
and sanitation services yields gains of Sh4 to Sh12, depending on the
type of intervention.
“Water is work. It requires
workers for its safe and clean delivery. At the same it can improve the
quality of the lives of workers,” said ILO Director-General and Chair of
UN-Water Guy Ryder in a video message.
Fishermen
depends on the quality of fresh water for their catch while farmers
depend on clean water to grow crops and raise animals.
Despite
their importance, workers in water-related occupations, who amount to
half of all the workers in the world, remain unrecognised and
unprotected. “About 1.5 billion people work in water, many of whom are
not recognised for the work they do, or protected by basic labour
rights,” said Mr Ryder.
A young woman in Kenya who has
to walk for hours to fetch water for her home does a taxing job that is
neither paid nor recognised. If the delivery of water to homes were
assured, she would use the time saved to learn skills or generate an
income.
LOOMING SCARCITY
In
fact, nearly 40 per cent of rural households and 11 per cent of urban
households in Kenya spend half an hour or longer in search of water for
drinking.
Water scarcity already affects almost every
continent and more than 40 per cent of the people on our planet. By
2025, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with
absolute water scarcity, and two-thirds of the world’s population could
be living under water stressed conditions, according to the Food and
Agriculture Organisation.
Kenya is on course to be
among these countries. Today, Kenya’s water towers are threatened,
putting 70 per cent of Kenya’s water supply at risk.
Between
2000 and 2010 Kenya suffered a loss of 62 billion litres of water as
well as a loss in aquatic biodiversity and resources accompanied by a
rise in respiratory diseases and malaria. During the same decade, the
country lost about 1.7 million hectares, or nearly three per cent, of
its forest cover.
Kenya has 29 water towers spread
across the country from the South Coast mangroves in the country’s south
most tip to Loima Hills in Turkana County. According to the Kenya Water
Towers Status Report that was released recently, 11 of the 29 have not
been gazetted and need to be gazetted to ensure, protection,
conservation and enhancement for the benefit of future generations.
Forest
cover is crucial to a water tower and plays a crucial part in the water
cycle by influencing the interception of rainfall, evaporation, the
infiltration of water into soil and underground storage
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