In Bungoma County, access to clean groundwater is transforming lives, improving health outcomes, and fostering community well-being.
AMREF Health Africa and the County Government of Bungoma have been actively educating students in schools on the importance of safeguarding water sources from pollution and protecting against waterborne diseases.
The availability of reliable, clean water is essential for drinking, sanitation, and hygiene, significantly reducing the burden of disease in the region. By ensuring water is accessible and safe, the efforts are directly improving health outcomes in schools and health centers across the county.
Beyond health, groundwater is helping local communities thrive economically. Reliable water access supports agriculture and domestic use, reducing the time spent fetching water and allowing families to engage in more productive activities.
Groundwater also plays a critical role in climate resilience, providing a dependable water supply during droughts.
However, to maintain these benefits, sustainable groundwater management is crucial. As this resource continues to change lives in Bungoma, it is clear that protecting it is vital for the community’s future health, livelihood, and resilience.
Unlikely scarcity
The lush greenery in Bungoma and the presence of multiple rivers can easily fool one into thinking that the residents in the area have never and probably, will never have any challenge accessing clean and safe water.
But far be it from the truth, despite being home to the majestic Mt Elgon, which is a major water source for tens of rivers traversing Kenya’s Western Region and Eastern Uganda, the residents are struggling to access water for their domestic use.
Moses Wambusi, a Public Health Officer, in the county reveals that the prevalence of diseases arising from poor sanitation and lack of clean water in the devolved unit accounts for a whopping 19.5 percent of all diseases in the region.
To prevent such happenings, Wambusi says the county is working alongside partners such as the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) and Community-based organisations to secure Mt Elgon which is the key source of groundwater in the entire lake-economic region.
“If anything bad happens to Mt Elgon which is our water catchment area, the entire population in this area will suffer. We are therefore working round the clock to ensure that water held below the surface is not contaminated,” he says.
As part of its project, NBI has conducted a Shared Aquifer Diagnostic Analysis (SADA) which is a comprehensive analysis of hydrogeological, environmental, socio-economical, policy and institutional aspects of shared groundwater resources. In this case the Mount Elgon Transboundary Aquifer that is shared between Kenya and Uganda was the subject of study.
This saw data from the Kenyan and Ugandan part of the aquifer collected by specialists from various disciplines, to be subsequently compared. The results from the analysis are not yet substantive primarily due to lack of groundwater monitoring but there have been some tell-tale signs that all is not well.
Water quality
Solomon Mwaniki, Programmes Manager, AMREF Health, Africa says that recent granular survey mappings conducted in the four counties under the Nile basin region, including Bungoma showed that soil-transmitted diseases have the highest prevalence in the region.
According to Mwaniki, these diseases include bilharzia which though is a focal disease in specific wards, is not endemic in Mt Elgon.
Improving the quality and availability of water could help combat soil-transmitted diseases and enhance overall public health. Photo by Jesse Chenge.
Mwaniki emphasizes the urgent need for improved water sources in the region, particularly highlighting the importance of accessing clean groundwater.
He believes that enhancing the quality and availability of water would help in combating soil-transmitted diseases and improving overall public health.
Mwaniki urges local governments and communities to invest in sustainable water infrastructure to safeguard the health and well-being of the population in the Nile basin region.
Rapid population growth is also putting a high pressure on the water resources as more people need more water for drinking, households, cattle and agriculture.
Increased agriculture and urbanisation have also seen land cover affecting the aquifer recharge. There is also the sinking of thousands of latrines by locals who often do not guarantee the safe disposal of human waste.
Cognisant of the effects of urbanisation on the aquifer, NBI has been on the forefront working with Bungoma County to educate the masses on the importance of proper sanitation.
This increased level of cleanliness and hygiene will not only ensure the environment is taken care of but the water seeping through the soil does not contaminate the groundwater.
“We are working to ensure that everyone has a pit latrine, human waste is well disposed of so that water coming to the ground is not contaminated,” says Mwaniki.
Sanitation and hygiene ambassadors
According to Florence Wakesho, an official in the Ministry of Health’s Division of Vector Borne and Tropical Diseases, the state found that locals in Bungoma are greatly affected by water-borne as well as diseases caused by poor hygiene.
This has seen the government focus on reducing or entirely eradicating the illnesses in the region by administering medicine to the residents.
“This is a situation that can be averted if only the residents boost their methods of protection and sanitation. We also ensure the children are taught these subjects in school so that they tell their parents,” she notes.
In addition to promoting better sanitation practices, Wakesho advocates for the protection of groundwater resources. She emphasizes the importance of safeguarding water sources from pollution and over-extraction, as they are essential for both drinking water and irrigation.
By educating the community on sustainable practices, Wakesho believes that a healthier environment can be achieved for everyone.
Her sentiments were echoed by Wycliffe Peter Omondi, Head, Vector Borne and Neglected Tropical Diseases Unit at the Ministry of Health who reveals that they are equipping the children with health education geared towards control and elimination of priority neglected tropical diseases.
“Intestinal worms will impact the economy because you will not have the strength and health to work and therefore not help the economy of your county and of course, nationally,” he says.
Rwanda Primary school Headteacher, Judith Kimtai says they had settled on the pupils to be their ambassadors in spreading the word on the importance of hygiene.
“We teach them that they must wash their hands and initiate having such items for handwashing at home. We also tell their parents to buy them shoes, the affordable ones. We want shoes to be part of their uniform to reduce cases of intestinal worms,” she says.
Kimtai emphasizes advocates for groundwater access saying this could play a crucial role in promoting hygiene.
Access to clean groundwater could improve sanitation practices, as it provides a reliable water source for washing hands, cleaning surfaces, and maintaining overall cleanliness.
This story was produced with support from NBI Secretariat (Nile-Sec), which, in partnership with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and with funding from the Global Environment Facility (GEF), implemented a program across the Nile Basin focused on shared groundwater aquifers. The project’s goal was to improve water resource management at both the national and basin levels.
The first phase concentrated on building knowledge and capacity for the sustainable use and management of significant transboundary aquifers within the Nile Basin. Three aquifer areas were selected for intervention: the Kagera aquifer shared by Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi; the Mt Elgon aquifer shared by Uganda and Kenya; and the Gedaref-Adigrat aquifer shared by Sudan and Ethiopia. These aquifers are located in various climates, including arid, semi-arid, and tropical regions.
Initially, the phase involved gathering existing data and creating a Shared Aquifer Diagnostic Report (SADA) for the three selected aquifers. The subsequent phase engaged in groundwater modeling to enhance understanding of the aquifers and analyze scenarios based on changes in climate and groundwater use.
