UPDATES: TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP ON THE KENYA WATERSHEDS SERVICES IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME (KEWASIP) EMBARKS ON A SCOPING MISSION

The multi-institutional technical working group newly established to design and implement the ambitious Kenya Watersheds Services Improvement Programme (KEWASIP) has embarked on a significant technical identification mission in the target locations of Mt. Kenya and Mau Forest ecosystems to help inform the design of the programme.

During the mission, the team will engage respective County Governments, KFS Ecosystem Conservators, NEMA County Directors of Environment, Water Resources Authority Regional Officers, Kenya Water Towers Regional Officers, Community Forest Associations, local community conservation groups and other key stakeholders including development partners to assess the challenges and opportunities related to implementation of the programme, agree on results areas, and discuss technical, fiduciary, and environmental and social systems assessments.

KEWASIP is a five-year programme supported by the World Bank, whose overall objective is to restore degraded landscapes in priority degraded hotspot areas which include the country’s water towers, small holder rain-fed agricultural areas, and rangelands in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and facilitate the implementation of the National Landscape and Ecosystem Restoration Strategy

This programme is being developed jointly by the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry (with NETFUND as the lead agency); Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage; Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation; Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development; Ministry of East African Community (EAC), the ASALs and Regional Development; and County Governments.