Kenya—Integrated Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Project (KIWASH)

By combining nutrition programming with improved access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), the U.S. Agency for International Development designed the Kenya Integrated Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene Project (KIWASH). KIWASH enabled nearly 900,000 Kenyans across nine counties to gain access to improved water security, sanitation, and hygiene services (WSSH) and assist households in gaining access to irrigation and nutrition services.

As county governments take on responsibility for investment in and oversight of service delivery to keep their constituents healthy—and their economies thriving—there is great opportunity to expand service delivery through public-private partnerships that bring new actors into the WSSH sector. KIWASH partnered with water and sanitation service providers to develop bankable business plans, improve operations, and facilitate access to financing. In parallel, behavior change communication activities linked to community-led total sanitation and hygiene stimulated demand for improved household sanitation, hygiene, and nutrition. Our target counties were Busia, Kakamega, Kisumu, Kitui, Makueni, Migori, Nairobi, Nyamira, and Siaya.

Sample Activities

• Assist water service providers (WSPs) to improve service delivery and business operations.
• Facilitate access to financing for WSPs and WASH enterprises.
• Ensure women have equal access to the opportunities created by KIWASH activities.
• Support achievement of the Government of Kenya’s Community-Led Total Sanitation targets.
• Incubate private sector WSSH enterprises to develop innovative products and approaches.
• Integrate WSSH and nutrition best practices into Kenyan health services delivery.

Select Results

• Extended basic drinking water services to more than 874,388 people; another 69,566 gained access to basic sanitation services with 1,687 villages verified open-defecation free with monitoring plans in place.
• Mobilized $44 million in new sector funding to expand the services or increase the efficiency of water service providers.
• Supported 22 projects to install solar power.
• Provided training and technical assistance to 13 partner WSPs to improve their performance and ability to qualify for financing that can expand and improve water services; the focus is to achieve greater cost recovery from users, increased efficiency in service, improved governance, and access to financing.
• Provided training to 231 WSSH enterprises on water sector reforms and rights to water access, basic computer skills, business planning, and strategic marketing, accompanied by on-the-job coaching and mentoring to help enterprises improve access to WSSH services for targeted communities.
• Trained 78 public health officers to initiate community-led total sanitation programs in their respective areas.
• Facilitated the establishment of 12 farming demonstration sites to showcase low-cost methods for producing nutritious food and improved irrigation technologies that can significantly increase crop yields and raise incomes.
• Trained 24 Water Resource Users Association (WRUAs) to understand and plan for effective conservation; protected 68 springs and planted 153,400 indigenous trees around water sources.
• Established 234 demonstration farms at farmer’s homesteads to showcase various technologies for adoption by community members; trained more than 4,400 farmers on establishing kitchen gardens, with 5,949 kitchen gardens established in eight counties.
• Collaborated with Busia Water Company to decrease non-revenue water by 66 percent and establish more than 200 new water connections, benefitting more than 1,000 people.
• Launched mobile payment options in light of COVID-19 crisis.
• Equipped 583 schools and health facilities with handwashing stations.
• Reached 528,666 people with WSSH COVID-19 messaging.