Applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to promote Ecosystem Based Adaptation in the Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment, Kenya
In Kenya's Ewaso Ng'iro North Catchment Area (ENNCA), climate change impacts such as increased severity and frequency of floods and droughts are being exacerbated by rapid changes in agriculture, energy systems, water and land use. This leads to increased water abstraction, land degradation and deterioration of ecosystem health, ultimately threatening water, energy and food security. The project addressed knowledge gaps on the impacts of climate change. It facilitated the production of knowledge on the impacts of climate change on water, energy, agriculture and land use, and the benefits of ecosystem-based adaptation. This was done in partnership with the county governments of Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo, Meru and Nyeri, their local communities, private agribusinesses and NGOs. The project promoted cross-sectoral collaboration to support decision and policy making.
- Countries
- Kenya
- IKI funding
- 876,526.00 €
- Duration
- 01/2022 till 06/2025
- Status
- completed
- Implementing organisation
- Stockholm Environment Institute
- Political Partner
-
- National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) - Kenya
- Implementing Partner
-
- Center for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD) - Kenya
- Merti Integrated Development Program (MID P)
- Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (Potsdam-Institut für Klimafolgenforschung e.V. - PIK) - Germany
State of implementation/results
- Project completed.
- Three training workshops were held on County level: in Meru County in 05/2024, in Samburu County in 08/2024, and in Nyeri County in 11/2024. The workshops focused on LEAP (Low Emissions Analysis Platform) and WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning) modelling and involved county governments, energy, water and agriculture experts, and other key stakeholder groups including local communities, resource users associations and NGOs.
- Policy consultations were conducted in all five counties of the Ewaso Ng’iro North River catchment area (Laikipia, Samburu, Isiolo, Meru, Nyeri), as well as a national policy dialogue in 10/2024, involving relevant stakeholders from government institutions, civil society, local communities and the private sector.
- In parallel, data is being collected to establish a baseline for ecosystem services and socio-ecological vulnerabilities in the watershed, with a focus on the interlinkages between water and energy systems and changes in land use, population dynamics, and climate. The data is being used to model water-energy-food scenarios using SEI’s WEAP (Water Evaluation and Planning) and LEAP (Low Emissions Analysis Platform) toolkits for the five counties.
- The modelling of water changes using SWIM (Soil and Water Integrated Model) has been completed, forming the basis for developing scenarios on water demand and supply using WEAP.
- Initial energy and water models have been shared with technical experts from county and national government institutions and are being further developed through training sessions.
Latest Update:
12/2025
Further links
- A collaborative approach to empowering Kenya’s counties to manage water, energy, and food security (July 2024)
- Balancing act: applying the Water-Energy-Food Nexus to promote ecosystem-based adaptation in the Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment, Kenya (August 2024)
- Promoting Ecosystem-Based Adaptation in Ewaso Ng’iro North Catchment
- Driving climate resilience through the water-energy-food nexus in Kenya
- Training in SEI’s water and energy planning tools aims to enhance climate resilience and resource management in Kenya
Project relations
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