Luwesi, Cush N.Kinuthia, W.Mutiso, Mary N.Akombo, Rose A.Doke, Dzigbodi A.Ruhakana, Albert2024-01-122024-01-122015In Atakilte, B. (Ed.). Agricultural water institutions in East Africa. Uppsala, Sweden: The Nordic Africa Institute. pp.43-60http://repository.seku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/2570tinent. According to the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report, climate change is causing an increased incidence of drought, and growing variability and uncertainty in rainfall, and these changes are putting Africa’s food security and survival at risk (IPCC 2012). In Kenya, for instance, the combined economic impacts of recurrent drought and related shocks is estimated to cost the economy 0,7–1,0 percent of the GDP (Demombynes and Kiringai 2011). A recent report by the International food policy research Institute (IFPRI) indicates that climate change is a major factor in water conflicts in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) (Priscoli and Wolf 2009, IFPRI 2015). Minimising these risks is a priority for the continent and there is a sense of urgency in improving the provision, security and utilisation of water resources for food, feed and fibre and other products (CAADP 2003). Second, global pressure on and competition for water is also rapidly growing across the SSA region. Since the late 2000s, regional and global food and energy demands and insecurity have increased dramatically. Following the food and oil crisis of 2008, the proportion of land and water resources that have been transferred to investors, both foreign and domestic, for commercial farming has increased dramatically (Land Matrix 2015). In these transfers, water is the key resource that attracts investors (Mehta, Velderisch and Franco 2012; Woodhouse and Ganho 2011). A recent study indicates that the volume of water transferred in these large-scale land deals is equivalent to the volume of water that would be required to address the food insecurity of, and malnutrition in, the countries that are hosting the investments (Rulli, Saviori and D’Odorica 2013). The pattern observed is that the land allocations take place in areas where water is available, mainly along rivers and lake basins. Construction of largescale dams is also booming in parts of Africa, as in the case of the Nile and Lake Victoria Basins.enKenyatta UniversityKenyatta UniversityBook