Rainwater Harvesting Technologies in Makueni County, Kenya

Rainwater harvesting has been in existence for many years and has positively impacted life,<br>agriculture and economy. Despite these known benefits of rainwater harvesting, Makueni County’s population<br>is slowly adopting rainwater harvesting technologies. Water scarcity still remains a major constraint to life and<br>economic development in the County. The aim of this paper is to evaluate rainwater harvesting technologies and<br>the factors contributing to adoption of the technologies in the ASAL areas with Makueni County being the case<br>study. The study was conducted in Wanzauni and Itetani locations in Tulimani division, Mbooni West district,<br>Makueni County within Kenya’s Eastern Region which lies within the arid and semi arid ecological zones of<br>Kenya. A total of 160 household questionnaires were administered, focus group discussions and key informants<br>interviews done during data collection exercise. The data was analyzed using Statistical package for social<br>scientists (SPSS). Various rainwater harvesting technologies (RWHTs) are used within Makueni County<br>including macro-catchment (earth dams, sand/sub-surface dams), micro-catchment (Zai pits, strip catchment,<br>tillage, contour and semi-circular bunds) and rooftop rainwater harvesting technologies with rooftop catchment<br>being the most commonly used technique. However, adoption of these RWHTs in Makueni County is slow<br>irrespective of their potential to improve livelihoods. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to predict<br>factors affecting adoption of RWHTs within 160 households in Makueni County. Some of the factors found to<br>have statistically-significant positive effect on the adoption of RWHT are gender, literacy levels, social and<br>economic status and technological know-how on RWHT. Ways of promoting the adoption of RWHTs such as<br>capacity building and training, poverty alleviation through enhancement of income generation activities,<br>enhanced formation of community groups aimed at water development activities, and improved designs<br>incorporating mechanized technologies in favour of women and children, are recommended.

雨水收集的实践已有多年历史，对民生、农业及经济发展均产生了积极作用。尽管雨水收集具备上述公认益处，但肯尼亚马库埃尼县（Makueni County）的民众却正缓慢接纳雨水收集技术。当前，水资源匮乏仍是制约该县民生改善与经济发展的核心瓶颈。
本研究旨在评估雨水收集技术，并以马库埃尼县为案例研究对象，剖析干旱半干旱土地（Arid and Semi-Arid Lands, ASAL）生态区内雨水收集技术的普及驱动因素。
研究区域选定位于肯尼亚东部区域的马库埃尼县姆博尼西区图利马尼分区的万扎乌尼（Wanzauni）与伊特塔尼（Itetani）两个地点，该区域属于肯尼亚干旱半干旱生态区。
数据采集阶段共发放160份家庭调查问卷，同时辅以焦点小组讨论与关键知情人访谈。本次研究采用社会科学统计软件包（Statistical Package for Social Scientists, SPSS）完成数据分析工作。
马库埃尼县境内应用的雨水收集技术（Rainwater Harvesting Technologies, RWHTs）类型多样，涵盖大型集水工程（土坝、砂石/地下坝）、微型集水工程（扎伊坑、条带集水区、耕作法、等高线种植与半圆形土埂）以及屋顶雨水收集技术，其中屋顶集水是目前应用最为广泛的技术形式。
尽管此类雨水收集技术具备改善当地民生的巨大潜力，但马库埃尼县内的技术普及进程依然缓慢。
研究针对该县160户家庭开展了逻辑回归分析，以预测影响雨水收集技术采用的相关因素。结果显示，性别、受教育水平、社会经济地位以及雨水收集技术相关专业知识，均对该技术的采纳产生了具有统计学意义的正向影响。
最后，研究提出了多项推广雨水收集技术的可行路径：包括开展能力建设与技术培训、通过强化创收活动缓解贫困、推动以水资源开发为目标的社区团体建设，以及优化适配妇女与儿童需求的机械化技术设计方案等。