Kangundo North Ward is one of the four wards in Kangundo Sub- County- Machakos County. It has two Locations; Kitwii and Kanzalu. Kitwii location is comprised of two sub- locations; Kitwii and Kawauni while Kanzalu location comprises of four sub locations; Ndunduni, Mbilini, Kikambuani and Kiliku. These sub- locations are also known as villages under the County Administration and are under Village Administrators. The largest part of the ward occupies Kanzalu Hill and this explains why the terrain is very steep. The amount of rainfall received in the area has gone low due to the changing climatic conditions.
The Ward covers an estimated area of 36.6 Sq. Km and according to KNBS census 2019, it has an estimated population of more than 22,000 persons and 4400 households. Its average population is therefore 603 persons per Sq. Km.
In the past, this region used to receive adequate rainfall but things changed with the advent of the Global Warming and it's now categorized as a semi-arid area. The Ward prides itself of only two seasonal rivers, the main one being river Miu and the Kathithyamaa river. There is indeed inadequate water supply in the area and this gap needs to be filled by undertaking necessary interventions aimed at increasing water supply in the area.
How the project was selected?
There was a PCRA workshop which was held in May 2023 at Misyani Catholic Church Hall. The community identified drought as the main hazard which affects it. It further listed a number of inventions which would be put in place so as to make it resilient to the drought. These interventions ranged from drilling of boreholes to construction of earth dams in different area in the Ward. After ranking of the proposed projects, it was agreed that Construction of Kawauni irrigation Weir would help the community to cope better with the drought issue. Kawauni sub- location is majorly located on slopes of Kanzalu hill and its boarders Kitwii sub- location to the south and Mwala sub- county to the East. This irrigation Weir will thus be in a strategic position to serve a large population. The residents here are much involved in subsistence and mixed farming, which is explained by the high population and small pieces of land they own.
Why the project needs to be funded?
More than 80% of the residents depend on rain fed agriculture as the main source of livelihood. There used to have two rain seasons in a year; the long rains which used to fall from mid- March to May and the short rains between November and December. This has however changed with the climate change and the rains are no longer reliable. The change of weather and climate patterns has led to shortage and skipping of the rains and drought has become a common phenomenon. The level of poverty has increased since most of the residents are not been able to engage in a profitable agricultural practice. The young ones, the elderly, women and the teenage girls have been found to be the most affected groups by the adversities of the drought. The vegetation population has also gone low due to the drought and much of the land has been left bare, with no trees. There has also been a serious problem of sand harvesting along river Miu and its tributaries, most of which originate from the tops of Kanzalu hill. This has caused the water table to drop and severe erosion along the streams leading to some people loosing fractions of their small pieces of land during the rainy seasons. It's common nowadays that this river and its tributaries runs dry in dry seasons, contrary to its past state where they could hold water throughout the year. The county government of Machakos has a sand harvesting Act in place and this is commendable. However, a mechanism to reverse this situation is of great importance. Funding this project will greatly help in reversing the effects of the drought with more than 4000 people accessing irrigation water from this project. Food production will thus increase because most of the residents will engage in irrigation farming. Water table will rise and our wetlands will be restored.
How the hazard affects the community?
Food production is the backbone of the community's economy, majority of which rely on subsistence farming. Drought has caused domestic and gender-based violence, especially for married women who walk far and long distances in search of food and water and they return home late. Peace at home is indeed a rare virtue when and where there is no food. Teenage girls have been out of school to search of safe water. PLWD, the elderly, and the young ones especially those of the age between 0 and 5 years old sometime are left without care givers because those care giver are busy looking for water and food. The drought has also caused death of animals as well as the malnutrition of people for lack of proper diet. The implementation of this project will see the people around it having enough food on their tables and money, from the sale of the surplus, in their pockets. This is obviously in line with the Governor’s main agenda which is summarised by her slogan Chakula mezani, Pesa mfukoni.
