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Key takeaways

• Innovative flood protection projects in Kenya face four main implementation challenges: community resistance, information fragmentation, disjoined efforts, and governance inefficiency
• Ad-hoc workarounds like technology demonstrations, building community relationships, and strategic communication can successfully address immediate implementation barriers
• Effective stakeholder management requires balancing short-term workarounds with long-term governance building strategies
• Mobile flood barriers provide both flood protection and water retention benefits, making them ideal for regions facing both flooding and drought
• Creating identity and ownership among local stakeholders is critical for sustainable flood protection projects in developing regions

Challenges in weak institutional contexts

Implementing flood protection innovations in Kenya presents unique challenges stemming from institutional limitations. Unlike in regions with established governance systems, project teams cannot rely on standard processes or clear authoritative structures to facilitate implementation. Research identifies four challenges that hinder effective implementation:

Community Resistance: Upstream landowners often see no direct benefit from flood protection measures targeting downstream areas. As one Water Resources Authority (WRA) employee explained, "Not all people upstream want to retain water for the people in the city downstream. Not everyone has much land and then finds it unacceptable that their land should be used."

Information Fragmentation: With Kenya's governance system evolving through recent constitutional changes and new water acts, information exists in disconnected silos across different agencies. Project implementers must navigate multiple offices to gather necessary data, and even then, the information may be incomplete or unreliable. Data collection is often difficult to verify, leading to gaps filled with "gut feeling" rather than evidence.

Disjoined Efforts: Multiple uncoordinated initiatives often target the same flood-prone areas without synchronization. Counties write their own policies despite water flowing across administrative boundaries, and geographic dispersion of offices complicates collaborative efforts.

Governance Inefficiency: Unclear responsibilities and bureaucratic processes significantly slow implementation. One respondent noted that "many temporary solutions are devised because it is unclear who is responsible for what." Official permissions take excessive time, data sharing between partners is restricted, and corruption risks further complicate project execution.

• The 2018 floods in Kenya resulted in 183 lives lost and displaced over 225,000 people, including 145,000 children
• Flooding closed more than 700 schools during the 2018 disaster events
• The damage to infrastructure caused by the 1997/1998 El Niño rains was approximately $1 billion USD
• Isiolo County is one of 21 flood-prone areas identified in Kenya
• 60% of all disaster victims in Kenya result from flood-related fatalities
• Climate change is expected to increase both frequency and intensity of extreme weather events like floods
 

“Experience shows that many temporary solutions are devised because it is unclear who is responsible for what. These ad-hoc workarounds can eventually lead to more fundamental ecological pathways, resulting in systematic governance models.”

— Johan Ninan, Lead Researcher, TU Delft”

Key insights or benefits

Successfully navigating these challenges requires balancing two complementary approaches: ad-hoc workarounds for immediate progress and systematic governance building for long-term sustainability.

Ad-hoc workarounds enable immediate progress

In the absence of established systems, innovative workarounds emerge as essential tools. These include:

1. Demonstrations and experiential learning: Live demonstrations of the WaveDam technology help stakeholders understand its benefits firsthand, creating buy-in and ownership. These events were covered in national media, expanding their impact beyond direct participants.
2. Novel access methods: When traditional data request processes proved ineffective, sending team members alongside WRA employees or submitting signed letters added legitimacy to requests, producing same-day results. As one practitioner explained, "It helps to submit a signed letter with the official application or physically visit offices."
3. Leveraging volunteer organizations: Water Resources Users Associations (WRUAs) operated as voluntary bodies that could bridge gaps between formal institutions, connecting communities with government agencies.

Identity building creates sustainable buy-in

Creating a shared identity around flood protection efforts transforms stakeholder perception from "their project" to "our solution." When communities see themselves as part of the intervention's story, resistance diminishes and protection of infrastructure increases. This identity-building occurs through educational initiatives that highlight how flood protection contributes to overall community development and resilience.

Real-life examples/case studies

Isiolo county demonstrations

When the WaveDam team organized a demonstration in Isiolo County, they invited 34 participants from diverse organizations including Kenya Red Cross, Water Resources Authority offices, National Drought Management Authority, and local Water Resources Users Associations. This multi-stakeholder approach allowed potential users to experience the technology firsthand while creating connections between previously disjoined efforts. The demonstration received national media coverage, further legitimizing the technology and extending awareness beyond direct participants.

Strategic data collection

When researchers needed climate data that was technically available but practically inaccessible through normal channels, they adopted a novel approach. A team member accompanied a Water Resources Authority employee during a visit to the Centre for Training and Integrated Research in ASAL Development (CETRAD) in Nanyuki. This simple adjustment to standard protocol resulted in same-day access to critical datasets that might otherwise have taken months to obtain through official channels.

Voluntary coordination networks

The Water Resources Users Association (WRUA) in Isiolo emerged as a critical bridge between formal institutions and local communities. Operating on a voluntary basis, WRUA members felt "some sense of responsibility or affection to the community with issues surrounding water resources." This intrinsic motivation enabled them to navigate complex stakeholder landscapes more effectively than formal structures alone, creating vital connections between government agencies, NGOs, and local communities.

Conclusion: Effective flood resilience in a weak institutional context requires balancing immediate workarounds with long-term governance building.

The implementation of flood protection innovations like WaveDam in Kenya reveals important insights about navigating weak institutional contexts. While traditional approaches to project implementation often assume the existence of functional governance frameworks, the reality in many developing regions demands more adaptive strategies. The Kenyan experience demonstrates that successful implementation requires balancing immediate workarounds with long-term institution building.

Rather than viewing ad-hoc solutions as temporary compromises, they can be understood as crucial stepping stones toward robust governance systems. By creating societal acceptance through demonstrations, building shared identity around flood protection, and fostering volunteer networks, project implementers create the foundation upon which more formal structures can eventually thrive.

The future of flood resilience in regions like Kenya depends not on choosing between ad-hoc workarounds and systematic governance, but on skillfully integrating both approaches. This balanced strategy acknowledges the urgent need for protection while investing in sustainable systems that will eventually make workarounds unnecessary. As climate change increases flooding risks worldwide, these lessons from Kenya offer valuable guidance for resilience efforts in any region where governance frameworks are still evolving.