Complete 5 pages APA formatted article: The Baringo District, Kenya. Temperatures range from 16°-30°c (BDVS, 2005).The mean density of people is 33.1 per km² (BDVS, 2005). However, this figure varies,

Complete 5 pages APA formatted article: The Baringo District, Kenya. Temperatures range from 16°-30°c (BDVS, 2005).

The mean density of people is 33.1 per km² (BDVS, 2005). However, this figure varies, and most settlements and populations are found near water resources. 62% of the population don’t have enough food to maintain a healthy living.

20,000 Ha of land is used for cultivation of food and cash crops. However, despite the large size of farmed land, the water supply from rivers and lakes is inadequate to meet domestic, livestock and irrigation needs.

The WWF (World Wide Fund) states that ‘freshwater is essential to human health, agriculture, industry and natural ecosystems, but is now running scarce in many regions of the world. Figure 2 highlights the reasons for current water shortages.

According to Lomborg (2001), the world’s water consumption has almost quadrupled since 1940. Many experts and environmental agencies including the UN Environmental Report GEO 2000 claim that the water shortage constitutes a ‘full-scale emergency’, where ‘the world water cycle seems unlikely to be able to cope with increased demands over the coming decades’.

Mismanagement of existing boreholes, irrigation furrows and dams have to lead to lengthy periods of disrepair, siltation and dereliction of Baringo’s water supplies. Facilities are also often polluted by human and animal waste.

For a district that is water-deficient, most of the rainwater that does fall goes to waste due to a lack of appropriate harvesting technologies, especially at a household level according to the Baringo District Vision and Strategy: 2005-2015.

‘There is a need to improve the efficiency of distribution and use of water’ (Gange, 1965). Kenya’s current National Development Plan emphasises the promotion and utilization of rainwater for sustainable development. Non-profit organisations such as Kenya Rainwater Association (KRA) aim to unite communities and bring individuals, institutions, landowners and organisations together to enhance rainwater harvest and utilization techniques.&nbsp.