Localising Agenda 21 in Kenya

Nakuru, the fast growing capital of the Rift Valley Province, Kenya, is a good example of a town which serves as an urban centre for a predominantly rural area. It demonstrates rural-urban linkages and shows the need for ecological protection of its own natural environment. The Localising Agenda 21 programme promotes practical measures to improve urban governance, combining the use of strategic structure plans with urban pacts to create a process of vision, action and communication.

Nakuru is an important centre for the storage and processing of agricultural produce and agro-industry. However, current water demand outstrips provision. To ensure adequate water for all, several proposals are being considered, including the commercialisation of water and sewerage services, harmonisation of community-based water supply projects and awareness campaigns. In the Nakuru Strategic Structure Plan, the Municipal Council advocates the protection of agricultural areas from urban encroachment, by, for example, enhancing partnerships with civil society. There are also plans to improve and extend existing markets, relocate the wholesale market to a more convenient area and provide new retail markets in newly urbanising areas.

Urban encroachment, agricultural activities and quarries are some of the activities found near the border with Lake Nakuru National Park. The Strategic Structure Plan proposes to carry out environmental protection awareness in urban and rural settlements, establish mutually beneficial activities between the park and population of Nakuru and promote eco-tourism. A pollution monitoring system has been developed by stakeholders for the conservation and protection of the Lake Nakuru basin ecosystem. To ensure that the lake continues to provide ecological and economic advantages to the town, improvements to solid and liquid waste management are planned, as well as community awareness-raising activities. It is also proposed to protect riverbeds and riverbanks from various pressures such as using sand for construction and river water for washing.

Simon Kiarie
Municipal Council of Nakuru
P.O. Box 124
Nakuru
Kenya

T +254 37 40361 or 213619

la21nku@net2000ke.com

Jean-Christophe Adrian and Rafael Tuts
UN-HABITAT - P.O. Box 30030
Nairobi
Kenya

T +254 2 623228 or 623726

jean-christophe.adrian@unhabitat.org

raf.tuts@unhabitat.org

See also
www.unhabitat.org. 'Nakuru Strategic Structure Plan: Action Plan for Sustainable Urban Development of Nakuru Town and its Environs', 2000

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