Project Background information

PROJECT BACKGROUND
Mt.Kenya is one of the five water towers in Kenya whose water yield contributes close to 49% of the flow of Tana River. The river supports: close to 50% of the hydropower generated in Kenya; irrigated agriculture; fisheries; livestock production and biodiversity conservation in the lower Tana basin and is thus strategic to Kenyas economic development.
Over the years, there has been growing concerns that these life supporting functions are systematically being lost due to degradation within the upper and middle catchment of the river. Increasing destruction of forest cover, inappropriate land use practices in the farmlands and overgrazing in the pastoral lowlands have triggered an increasing soil erosion that continues to contribute a high sediment load for the Tana, its tributaries and the hydroelectric dams.
With increasing soil erosion, land productivity has declined causing increased poverty to people largely dependant on agriculture for their livelihood. With more volatile areas being opened for cultivation, the ability of the land to hold rainwater is also being reduced causing fluctuation in river regime during the rainy season and depressed base flows in the dry season thereby impairing water supply. Ultimately, the allocation of water resources has become a sensitive issue with potential to trigger ethnic tension and conflicts within the project area.
It is with the desire to intervene and reverse this vicious degradation cycle that the MKEPP project was conceived and formulated by the Government of Kenya (GOK) following which, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) was approached for assistance in project financing

PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND TARGET
The design of MKEPP is based on a conceptual framework in which, poverty is clearly identified as the core driving force to environmental degradation, which ultimately generates more poverty.
The overall objective of the project is to reduce poverty through improved food security and income levels of farmers particularly and rural women. This is by promoting effective use of natural resources, improving access to water and introducing better farming and water management practices for sustainable use of land and water resources.
 Activities of MKEPP, which incorporate strategies for Kenya’s Economic Recovery Strategy, Poverty Reduction Strategy and attainment of Millennium Development Goals, are targeted at a population of about 600,000 people (136,000 households) who are considered to be poor and are at the risk of sliding deeper into poverty. 

PROJECT LOCATION
The project is located in an area with dualistic characteristics; i.e. one area with high agricultural potential and the other with marginal potential(Arid and Semi Arid Land); rainfall ranges between 1100-2300 mm in the south-eastern parts of Mt Kenya while the lowlands receive unreliable rains of between 300-700mm annually; the districts have got different capacities in terms of project implementation with newly created districts being most disadvantaged. This scenario calls for development of viable district specific sub-strategies taking into account the varied conditions and priorities of each district.

The project is initially being implemented in five selected River Basins namely: Kapingazi and Ena (in Embu District) Tungu and Mutonga (in Meru South) Kathita and Mutonga (in Tharaka District) Rupingazi and Ena (in Mbeere District) Kathita and Kithenu (in Meru Central). These River Basins were selected on the basis of the following criteria (a) high concentration of the poor people (b) perennial flow (c) high number of abstractions with high water use inefficiencies;(d) cutting across agro-ecological zones;(e) traversing a number of districts (f) diverse use of water (irrigation, urban and heavy domestic).

PROJECT UNIQUENESS
1. Project Focus: The project focus is on natural resources management. Natural resources degradation is undermining the livelihoods and future opportunities of large number of the poor. This is most evident in agricultural systems, which underpin the livelihoods of the fast majority of the rural poor. The degradation of soils and water resources is a major threat to improving agricultural productivity, the cornerstone of poverty reduction strategies. Fighting poverty and hunger requires sustainable management of land, water and biodiversity resources. The project therefore addresses issues related to: mismanagement of water (inefficiencies) and alternative water sources ;soil erosion and poor farming methods; conservation of natural resources i.e. water catchments, forests, parks and reserves and community empowerment so as to enable the Communities make appropriate decisions affecting their lives.
2. Implementation approach: The project uses a mix of both the top-down and bottom-up approaches in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. This is in order to ensure national policy focus as well as taking cognizance of both the local community priorities and project sustainability. A condition of project funding and implementation is that the Annual Workplan and Budget (AWPB) must incorporate activities derived from the Community Action Plans (CAPs) Being a pilot project emphasis is on technological innovativeness; learning from past experiences and up scaling of the successes.
3. River basin approach: The achievement of social-economic goals is highly dependent on availability of good quality and quantity of water as well as sustainable utilization, development and management of the natural resources, which fundamentally, underpin the achievement of long term goals. The project supports the end age that ‘water is life’ and therefore has taken water as the entry point to natural resources management and poverty reduction. 
   

PROJECT FUNDING
The total project cost is US$ 25.53 million and is to be implemented within a period of 7 years from 2004 to 2011 for the IFAD loan and five years for the GEF grant. The Project Completion Date for IFAD loan is September 30, 2011 and Closing Date is March 31, 2012, while the completion date for GEF is 31st March 2012 and a closing date of 30th September 2012.

Breakdown of project funding by Source

SOURCE	USD(MILLIONS)	% CONTRIBUTION
IFAD	16.74	66
GEF	4.7	18
GOK	1.78	7
COMMUNITY	2.31	9
TOTAL	25.53	100
Source : Project Appraisal Report -2002
GEF funding was negotiated in June 2006