Kenya Resilient Arid Lands Partnership for Integrated Development (K-RAPID)

From 2015 through 2020, the Kenya RAPID program will focus on five Northern Counties with high poverty rates, chronic food and water insecurity and low access to basic services: Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Turkana and Wajir. It seeks to increase the average water coverage rate in the five counties from 37% to more than 50%. The program also is designed, to create a model that can be adapted for use by other counties. Three strategic objectives (SOs) will guide the program:

• SO 1: A responsive and accountable governance framework is in place and operational at county government level that ensures sustainable provision of water and pasture;
• SO 2: Replicable and scalable business models for sustainable WASH and livestock service delivery have been developed and operationalized; and
• SO 3: Communities have increased access to sustainable WASH services and improved rangeland management.

The Kenya RAPID program uses a public-private partnership model to combine the assets and experience of development actors, private and public institutions, to address the complex problems created by inadequate water access and poor governance of natural resources in the ASALs. It acknowledges that:

1. Strong county institutions are a necessary pre-condition to long-term sustainability;
2. Enhanced coordination and integration of development programs across sectors will result in more-coherent and efficient support to county governments, increasing impact;
3. Private-sector participation in the WASH and livestock sectors will increase investment and options for improved and financially viable water-service delivery;
4. Communities must be empowered with the knowledge and ability to exercise rights and responsibilities for water and rangeland resources.