Applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to promote Ecosystem Based Adaptation in the Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment, Kenya

The project seeks to apply EbA and the nexus approaches to facilitate the co-production of resilient Water-Energy-Food (WEF) knowledge with stakeholders (policymakers, local community groups, private sector, and Non-Governmental Organisations) to inform decision and policy-making.

The project will contribute towards several development objectives which are in line with the Kenya Vision 2030 priorities, the Ewas Nyiro North Development Area (ENNDA) Integrated Regional Development Plan (2010-2040), the ENNDA catchment management strategy and the reformulation and implementation of CIDPs. These include increasing food security, especially pastoral livestock production; resilience through livelihoods diversification; employment creation through EbA solutions; agricultural growth; the conservation and safeguarding of critical habitats, including wildlife-protected areas and community wildlife conservancies. At the governance level, the nexus approach is expected to promote cooperation among actors and policy coherence across “policy silos”, i.e. sectors, levels and scales and the key added value of the nexus approach is in integrating across the various plans and strategies, promoting synergies and generating co-benefits.

Expected Results

1. WEF nexus models and development scenarios for Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment Area (ENNCA)
2. Identification, validation, and promotion of innovative Ecosystem-based nexus solutions among key stakeholders in the ENNCA region
3. Increased awareness of cross-sectoral interactions (water, energy, agriculture, and land) during the implementation, upscaling, out scaling, and transfer of ecosystem-based nexus solutions at the sub-national and national level

Partners and Funders

1. Center for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD)
2. Merti Integrated Development Programme (MID-P)
3. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).
4. The National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), Kenya

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMU)