Director,
T.E.(Terry)
Manning,
Schoener 50,
1771 ED
Wieringerwerf,
The Netherlands.
Tel:
0031-227-604128
Homepage:
http://www.flowman.nl
E-mail:
(nameatendofline)@xs4all.nl : bakensverzet
and
"Money is not
the key that opens the gates of the market but the bolt that bars them"
Gesell, Silvio The
Natural Economic Order
Revised English edition,
Peter Owen,
“Poverty is created scarcity”
Wahu Kaara, point 8 of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty, 58th
annual NGO Conference, United Nations,
Water is perceived as a major
problem especially in rural market centres and isolated rural areas.
The
average annual precipitation in the area is
There are two rainy seasons, long rain season goes from March to August.
The short rain season is between October and November. These seasons are
appropriate for agricultural growth. Both crop planting and harvests are done
during these two seasons.
Current sources of drinking water are piped water, boreholes, springs, ,
wells and rainwater from roof catchment.
The supply of water is inadequate to sustain both the domestic and
industrial needs, because the available water sources have not been fully
harnessed. Springs are protected by various agencies dealing with water and
sanitations.
In the project area there at present just 16 boreholes, and about 62
wells most of which in just a few localities. All of these sources are
privately owned and cannot be used for the purposes of the project. Most of
them are owned by farmers who have sunk their own private shallow wells. All of the localities in the project area are
therefore totally deprived of publicly-owned clean drinking water sources.
Piped schemes are too expensive for the area because they are diesel operated.
Average amount of drinking water currently available is only
The water resources in the District are mainly, surface and sub-surface
sources. The surface water is obtained from Rivers flowing from Gucha and
Nyanchwa hills.The main river is the Gucha which is joined by a number of
streams on its way to lake Victoria. From Riana, the Nyamache and feed the Gucha river.. It flows into the Gucha River as it winds its way towards Lake
Victoria The waters from these rivers have a potential for harnessing and
purification for industrial applications and irrigation. There are some streams
in the project area which make their way to
The cost of water depends on the availability of the water and the
degree of treatment if any it has undergone. The average distance from the
homesteads to the water source is about
Where water is purchased or where carriers are hired to fetch it, the
average cost can be as much as € 3,75 per person per month, which alone is more
than the total monthly contribution of a family of five to this integrated
development project. Very few people, even in Kiogoro town, have piped water in
their homes.
Water is stored in pots, tins and tanks.
Water
from open wells and from rivers and streams is contaminated and is usually
consumed without further treatment for drinking, cooking and personal needs.
Water-borne diseases such as malaria, typhoid, dysentery, gastroenteritis, and
skin diseases are endemic. They affect the quality of life and the productivity
of the people, and medicines consume vital parts of the incomes of those
affected.
Rain
water harvesting is done by a few people who have large storage facilities. The
rainwater is collected scale in ferro-cement tanks, large plastic tanks, and
dams. Water tanks are cleaned at least once a year before the rains.
Hot
water is not common and is practically limited to hotels. The amount of hot
water used by the population is very low. Hot water must be heated using wood
fuel. It is expensive and not cost effective.
Of
the 50 villages in the project area, 10 have private wells, 7 have private
boreholes, and 33 have neither wells nor boreholes. The wells and boreholes
that are present are privately owned and
cannot be used for the purposes of the project. The presence of wells in at
least 20% of the villages indicates that the water table in those villages is
not very deep, so that new water sources for the project could probably be
hand-dug rather than drilled. Where no wells are present, it is thought that
water can be found at depths between 40 and
Next file :
03.03 Agricultural production and its storage in
the project area.
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