Real Impact: Kenya - African Cities for the Future

Summary

The majority of Kenya's urban population lives in informal settlements -- densely packed temporary housing with poor municiple services.  Less than a quarter of these residents have household water connections.  Most rely on private vendors, paying up to 14 times more for water than those with a formal connection serviced by the local water utility. Much of the piped water supplied to informal settlements is "lost" through leaks, theft, or metering inaccuracies; this non-revenue water accounts for almost all fo the water there and results in service gaps, increased prices, and reduced water quality for residents. 

Sanitation is also a challenge. In Nairobi's informal settlements, less than one quarter of the population have household latrines, resulting in 50 to 150 people sharing each communal latrine. Six percent have no access to facilities at all and are forced to resort to makeshift solutions such as defacting into plastic bags, which leads to comtamination of food and water sources.

Case Studies
Produced By
USAID Bureau for Economic Growth, Education and Environment (E3) Water Office
Population Focus
Urban
Related Countries