Guyatu does not own a donkey, the animal commonly used to carry water in this area; so she carries the water on her back. She slowly inches her way up the gentle slope of the Somare water pan, carefully watching her each step. She repeats this strenuous routine every other day, but she is extremely satisfied.

Guyatu is among some of the poorest women in northern Kenya. She is widowed and lives with her four children and grandchildren. None of her sons is gainfully employed and they do not own any livestock. Guyatu and her family rely on wages paid for herding other people’s animals or from selling firewood and charcoal. Their income is meagre and irregular and they often struggle to pay for a daily meal.

‘My life has improved greatly,’ says Guyatu, ‘because I have access to water; our lives are dependent on water’. Guyatu’s house is about a kilometre from the Somare water pan and since this pan was rehabilitated in 2008, the water has not dried up. ‘We used to walk for over eight hours to Lami wells on the Ethiopian side of the border to buy water; a 20-litre jerry can would cost Kshs100 ($1.25), which was just too expensive for me,’ adds Guyatu.

The vast distances between water sources and the grazing lands is not the only challenge facing the largely livestock-keeping tribes in the Horn of Africa. This zone is rife with conflicts mainly emanating from fierce competition over the scarce water and pasture. In Torbi village in Kenya, the Borana and the Gabra communities parted ways after the 2005 armed conflict that led to the killing of over 60 people including 20 school children.

Run-off water

A ridge separates the two tribes and whenever it would rain on one side of the mountain, the other community would only hope for run-off water; a rarity in the scorched plains of northern Kenya. Livestock died for lack of water or pasture, resources that were within reaching distance, but inaccessible due to the conflict; but beginning January 2010, lengthy and numerous peace meetings have began bearing fruit.

At the Torbi water pan, we find Dokata Elema, a Borana herder clearing mud and dung from a section of the watering hole, located in a predominantly Gabra area. He is bitter about the events of the past but jubilant and hopeful of the future. ‘I lost 11 cows and three donkeys during the long-standing conflict, but now I’m glad that we are living together peacefully, sharing water points and pasture land’.

Northern Kenya and the Horn of Africa is rightfully associated with extreme poverty and frequent natural disasters. In many cases, this grim situation is exacerbated by continuous poor development depicted by a lack of basic infrastructure and services. The Disaster Risk Reduction programme that is funded by the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department of the European Commission (ECHO) is helping communities to better prepare for hazards such as droughts. Since 2006, mitigation projects worth € 70 million have been implemented; but despite the success, this programme is only addressing a small fraction of the needs in this region.

Benoit Collin is the head of the Disaster Risk Reduction programme: ‘The projects implemented through the programme are improving the lives of communities; but our main purpose is to showcase the working solutions to governments and development agencies.'

The Programme has repaired and expanded water pans, constructed wells and boreholes, and trained communities on better use and management of water and pasture; among other activities. Benoit Collin however adds: 'Disaster risk reduction remains the responsibility of the respective governments; we can only urge governments to adopt these examples.' In 2010, the European Commission has committed € 20 million, which will only fund between 20 and 25 projects across that Horn of Africa; just a drop in this vast dry ocean.

The elderly but energetic Guyatu Bagaja is perhaps just one of the many women celebrating an improved everyday life, but millions are yet to taste the liberation that comes with a year-round water source that is only a few minutes walking distance. And while the projects in the Horn of Africa demonstrate sound solutions, the ultimate choice whether to adopt and put these lessons into further practice, is a choice solely for the national authorities and governments.

Guyatu and Dokata Elema maintain that these solutions have made a big difference in their lives and those of their communities.