Community Liaison Programmes

TARDA Plant Nurseries

Catchment Rehabilitation Programmes – as one of the core mandates of the Authority, TARDA has been carrying out conservation programmes within its two river basins particularly in conserving the riparian lands, plant planting programmes and establishment of plant nurseries not only in TARDA land but also in conjunction with communities, county governments and institutions. The Authority has established and maintains six plant nurseries which are certified for the purposes of management of the catchment area within Tana and Athi Rivers basins. The plant nurseries are: Machakos, Wote, Masinga, Kiambere, Tana Bridge & Kinangop.

The nurseries have a holding capacity of 2.5 million seedlings. Apart from the six plant nurseries, the Authority is also working with the communities in the regions in seedlings production and planting in the catchment areas.

The plant species present can be classified as:

• Fruits
• Nuts
• Medicinal plants
• Timber
• Ornamentals

Tree Planting

TARDA is mandated to undertake environmental conservation within its catchment through seedlings planting. The Authority undertakes seedlings planting individually and in collaboration with other key stakeholders such as Kenya Forest Services (KFS), learning institutions (Universities and Public schools), Prisons, County Governments and the local communities within our area of jurisdiction. The seedlings planted are ecologically suitable for the specific area and are usually produced in our nurseries. The planted seedlings are of great value hence the communities get an alternative source of livelihood through sale of fruits, nuts, poles and posts. Some of the seedlings planted also have medicinal and aesthetic values.

The plants enhance the ecological aspects such as carbon sequestration and soil erosion control.

Soil and Water Conservation

The Authority engages in soil and water conservation activities including terracing and construction of check dams. The programme also engages farmers in commercial afforestation as part of catchment rehabilitation and riverine protection.

Kiambu, Murangá, Nyeri, Embu, Makueni, Kajiado & Tana Delta Counties – TARDA has carried out promotion of food security and employment in dry and semi-arid areas of the above counties through enabling the communities gain access to water for their family food production. This includes construction of water pans, solar propelled boreholes, water intakes development and reticulation systems.

In the financial year 2013/14, TARDA under the National Water Harvesting programme constructed seventy seven (77) water pans and earth dams in various counties in Phase which benefited 16,880 households.

In the financial year 2016/17 in phase II, eight (8) water pans and earth dames were constructed to benefit 12,400 households. TARDA also participated in the drought mitigation programme by rehabilitating sixty seven (67) boreholes which were targeted to benefit 12,430 households.

Kenya Climate Change Adaptation Programme (KCCAP)

TARDA’s mandate and jurisdiction contributes positively to several sectors of the economy and development. Some of the key sectors that TARDA’s activities in socio-economic development have had impacts over the years include; Natural Resource Studies, Conservation of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Food Security; Energy Generation, Tourism Development, Water Harvesting and Storage and Technological Transfer. The achievements realized in conservation, natural resources development and management as well as climate change mitigation programs can be attributed mainly to good governance and the ability to manage the shared resources.

The main objective of the integrated adaptation programme is to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change for communities in various Counties within TARDA jurisdiction in order to increase food security and environmental management.

Specific objectives to be addressed while undertaking projects and programs is;

• Enhancing Climate resilient agricultural, agro-forestry, pastoral and agro-pastoral production systems to improve food security in Kenya.
• Improving climate resilient water management systems to enhance food security in Kenya.
• Disaster risk reduction among targeted vulnerable communities for climate related risks in Kenya.
• Strengthening institutional capacity, knowledge management, awareness raising and promotion of adaptation mechanisms to improve resilience on climate change to selected vulnerable communities in Kenya

As a response to the challenges posed by climate change to Kenya, the Authority has contributed in efforts to curb the adverse impacts of climate change through the adaptation and mitigation measures. For instance, TARDA projects and programmes are geared towards achievement of food security in key sectors such as agriculture, water resource management & utilization, Tourism, Livestock/pastoralism and physical infrastructure including transportation and telecommunication networks.

Some of the sectors TARDA has contributed include the National water harvesting programme in construction of over 100 water pans and earth dams, drought mitigation programme by rehabilitating over 70 boreholes, construction of water supply pipelines and road roads networks. The Authority also successfully constructed the Masinga and Kiambere multipurpose reservoirs.  Under food security, the Authority has huge chunks of land in Kiambere (10,000 acres), Masinga (4,000 acres) Tana Delta (31,000ha) and other farm enterprises in Kibwezi and Emali.

Within the Integrated Programme to build resilience to climate change and adaptive capacity of vulnerable communities In Kenya, a programme that was funded by the Adaptation Fund, TARDA is implementing five (5) projects. These projects are meant to enhance climate change resilience for improved food security in selected Counties, improve on the climate resilient water management systems by establishing appropriate physical assets and infrastructure for water harvesting, storage and irrigation.

Some of the projects being undertaken currently under the climate change programme in TARDA include:

1. Construction of a Fish cold storage plant at Ekalakala to serve 400 fishermen (20 Beach Management Units), in Machakos County.
2. Construction of a community fruit processing plant in Muranga County.

• Establishment of a Milk cooling plant and processing plant at Emali, Kajiado County.

1. Construction of 4 No.  check dams to reduce siltation and provide water for domestic and small scale irrigation in Embu, Makueni, Murang’a and Nyeri counties and
2. Complete the establishment of a 80 hectare small holder community Irrigation Scheme in Ngetani area of Masinga sub-county in Machakos County to serve 80 households and 400 direct beneficiaries.