Fruit growers in southeastern Kenya are bouncing back after years of declining harvests due to erratic weather patterns. Working with development organizations such as the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa and World Agroforestry, growers are tapping rainwater runoff from roads flanking their plots, redirecting it into basins and ponds.
From these storage methods, they are able to have a year-round supply of water, even as climate change continues to trigger prolonged droughts in Kenya.
The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 40% of the world’s population is living in water-scarce regions. In Kenya, which has an annual supply of renewable freshwater below 1,000 cubic meters per capita, many farmers live in arid or semiarid regions. Water-stressed farmers used to wait for a rainy season, with two cycles per year for growing food crops such as maize, beans and sorghum.
Source: devex.com
Photo source: Dreamstime.com
