Inside Impact Kenya: Wilo-Foundation visited funding projects and institutions and NGOs that are relevant for the water sector

The inhabitants of Kinakoni in Kenya are applying new solutions to hunger through the project - here on a project field. Photo: Stiftung stern e.V.

In the middle of July, Evi Hoch (member of the Executive Board) and David Höltgen (Manager Communications & Funding Projects) travelled to the East African country on behalf of the Wilo-Foundation. The aim of the visit was to gain some first-hand impressions of the Wilo-Foundation’s funding projects in Kenya, learn more about their implementation and the impacts achieved over the last few years, and on that basis define strategic priorities and criteria for the future. Another key aspect was to get to know the foundation’s local project partners personally and to gain a better understanding of their working methods on the ground. During their trip, the Wilo-Foundation representatives were accompanied by Belete Matebe (Managing Director, Wilo East Africa) and Christine Amira (Sustainability & Marketing Manager, Wilo East Africa).

Job-oriented design lab for the Generation Z

The project trip began at the Technical University of Kenya (TU-K) in Nairobi where, with financial support from the Wilo-Foundation, the three-week learning and exhibition format “NICE Lab 50/50” was launched, which targeted design students of Technical University Nairobi, University of Pretoria and Dortmund University of Applied Sciences and Arts, and also involved young creatives from the socially disadvantaged settlement Viwandani. The aim of the innovative concept was to promote vocational training in digital and analogue creative production techniques and strengthen collaboration between the two countries.

Water tank for vulnerable communities in Laikipia

On the second day, the members of the foundation travelled north and made a four-hour drive from Kenya’s capital Nairobi to Nanyuki in Laikipia County, where a WASH project (WASH = Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) funded by the Wilo-Foundation was implemented in the period 2018-2020 by the internationally renowned NGO Habitat for Humanity. Thanks to a solar pump, the community has now had clean water for four years. Every day, the water is pumped into a 10,000 liter high tank, giving the approximately 700 inhabitants access to water for the irrigation of vegetables and grain crops. A specially trained water committee is responsible for maintaining the tank and the water pipes connected to it.

In Laikipia County, the Wilo-Foundation supported a solar pump that transports clean water to a 10,000-litre elevated tank every day. Photo: Habitat for Humanity

The Wilo-Foundation, together with the internationally renowned NGO Habitat for Humanity, is supporting a WASH project in Laikipia County. Photo: Habitat for Humanity

Agricultural test plots, water tanks and entrepreneurship

The second part of the week featured the visit of the ongoing project Kinakoni – a village against hunger (running from 2022-2024). About 5,000 people live in the village of Kinakoni in southeastern Kenya, about 250 kilometres from Nairobi. Two years ago, the village was selected as a project site by the Stern Foundation and Welthungerhilfe. The project aim was to use the example of Kinakoni to examine the structural problems that cause hunger and malnutrition whilst developing practical solutions that can later be replicated in other villages as well. The Wilo-Foundation has been a funding partner of the project right from the start.

What makes the project so special is that solutions are being developed by people from Kenya, such as scientists or entrepreneurs from the Kenyan start-up community. During the visit, Christian Schniepper, Country Director of Welthungerhilfe in Kenya, took the foundation team on a tour of the village and showed them the many new initiatives that were set up in the course of the project, such as farming cooperatives that have introduced climate-resilient cultivation practices, with guidance from agricultural institutes. Another project outcome is that the honey from Kinakoni (which has a long beekeeping tradition) will soon also be on sale in the Kenyan capital, thanks to a new cooperative that has partnered up with young businesses from Nairobi. There is also a new computer room, a cooltainer for storing vegetables, and even a Wifi network covering the centre of the village. The foundation team, together with local water experts, also looked at the new water tanks that were set up at the start of the project. These tanks are used to harvest the rainwater running off the central rock and store it for dry periods.

The stern e.V. foundation from Hamburg has launched the project in Kinakoni together with Welthungerhilfe Kenya. Photo: Stiftung stern e.V.

Water and food security through sand dams

On the return journey from Kinakoni, the focus was on access to water again, but from a very different perspective. In Machakos County, the Wilo-Foundation had supported a project in the period 2016-2017 under a climate adaptation initiative of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The project was implemented by the association arche noVa - Initiative für Menschen in Not e.V., Dresden, an initiative specialising in water supply. In collaboration with the local organisation Africa Sand Dam Foundation, arche noVa had set up sand dams to harvest rainwater and store it for the dry season, using hand pumps or solar pumps. The foundation team was deeply impressed with the project and its approach: the local project team works not only for the communities but, above all, with them. The central aim of the measures is to secure drinking water supply, increase food security and create new sources of income.

Visiting World Vision and a water education institute in Nairobi

In addition to visiting various project, the Wilo Foundation was also able to learn more about the work of the global NGO World Vision and its Regional East Africa Hub in Nairobi since a representative of World Vision Germany also happened to be in Nairobi at the time and the foundation had the opportunity to meet the management team of World Vision East Africa.

The foundation also had a meeting at the Kenya Water Institute (KEWI) in Nairobi. KEWI is considering enlarging its training programme in the water sector in the future by adding a start-up module and presented this approach and the campus to the Wilo-Foundation and to Wilo Kenya.

Hand pumps make it easier to withdraw water in Machakos County. Photo: arche noVa - Initiative für Menschen in Not e.V.

In cooperation with the local organization Africa Sanddam Foundation, sand dams were built to collect rainwater. Photo: arche noVa - Initiative für Menschen in Not e.V.

Closing event at the German Embassy

The impressive project trip was rounded off by a networking meeting, which was held at the German Embassy Nairobi at the invitation of the Wilo-Foundation. Around 70 guests, including the Wilo Foundation's funding partners as well as representatives of water, science, education and culture NGOs, community-based organisations and Wilo East Africa's sustainability partners, accepted the invitation and used the opportunity to build networks among each other and also learn more about the foundation's activities on the African continent.

In his opening remarks, Deputy Ambassador Alexander Fierley recognised the outstanding work and personal commitment of the Wilo-Foundation in Kenya and gave an overview of the current situation in Kenya, emphasising that sustainable partnerships are of key importance. The next speaker was Evi Hoch (representing the host of the evening, the Wilo-Foundation) who, in her welcome speech, emphasised the potential of cooperation projects between different stakeholders in society and their personal networks – for developing sustainable solutions, and for making a strong impact with current and future initiatives supported by the Wilo-Foundation.

In a moderated conversation with Christine Amira, Wilo-Foundation manager David Höltgen said he was deeply impressed by the trip: “Our experiences on this trip show just how valuable the work of the Wilo Foundation is for many people in different places around the world.”

Inside Impact Kenya: Wilo-Foundation visited funding projects and institutions and NGOs that are relevant for the water sector

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