Water is life and if mismanaged, we could be looking at some real trouble in future. We are already seeing some signs of trouble as far as lack of proper water management is concerned but on the bright side, cooperates and conservancy bodies are stepping up to stem any foreseeable water trouble.
This morning for example, in a commitment to water issues facing the country, Coca Cola announced a grant of Kshs.160 Million to the Nature Conservancy’s Upper Tana – Nairobi Water Fund. This was at a breakfast event which was graced by Dr. Susan Mboya, President of the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation. Dr. Susan also officially presented the grant funds to the conservation body. The funds will be used for soil conservation efforts as well as management of upstream water. The grant was also just in advance of the World Water Day which will be celebrated on March 22nd.
Nairobi Water Fund was founded in March 2015 and is one of the pioneer water funds in Africa. It is mandated with running conversation programs that benefit communities. It is recognized for conserving the health and vitality of Kenya’s water situation. The end game is to improve service delivery for upto 600,000 people in Nairobi, as well as provide development skills by training 16,000 people.
This is not the first time that the Coca-Cola Africa Foundation is supporting the Nairobi Water Fund, having made a contribution of Ksh.20.7 Million in 2015. This was the first water endowment fund in Africa.
The current partners and investors to the Upper Tana-Nairobi Water Fund are Nairobi City Water & Sewerage Company, Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen), Pentair Inc, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation (TCCAF), East Africa Breweries Ltd, International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), The Government of Kenya, Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA), Tana & Athi Rivers Development Authority (TARDA), International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD) and Frigoken Kenya Ltd.