KISUMU —For decades, residents of Nyando in western Kenya have watched floodwaters swallow their homes and farmland, year after year. Now, there’s finally a sign of change.
On Wednesday, the government broke ground on the construction of a 50-kilometre dyke along River Nyando. The project aims to protect thousands of families and farmland from recurring floods that have become a cruel seasonal pattern.
The Lake Basin Development Authority (LBDA), which is leading the initiative, launched the works at Kadika, a low-lying area particularly prone to flooding.
“This is long overdue,” said Wycliffe Ochiaga, LBDA’s Managing Director. “Every year, families are displaced. Crops are destroyed. Lives are upended. We’re here to stop that.”
The first phase of the dyke will cover four kilometres. The rest, Ochiaga said, will be built as more funding becomes available from the government.
A familiar disaster
The floods in Nyando are not new. Every rainy season, entire villages are marooned. Schoolchildren miss weeks of class. Livestock drown. Crops rot in the fields.
Ochiaga said the new dykes would not only keep floodwaters at bay but also protect farmers’ produce. “This region grows rice, sugarcane, and horticultural crops,” he explained. “Flooding destroys it all. We want that to end.”
He believes the project could dramatically reduce post-harvest losses, allowing produce to reach markets in good time and condition.
Local leaders have welcomed the project.
Jared Okello, the area’s Member of Parliament, said getting the plan off the ground took months of lobbying and urgency. “We went to the ministry and asked for help,” he said at the launch. “At the time, the budget hadn’t been finalised, so it wasn’t easy.”
Eventually, the Ministry of East African Community, ASALs (Arid and Semi-Arid Lands), and Regional Development stepped in. The Treasury released emergency funds, allowing construction to begin.
“This isn’t just about the river,” Okello added. “We’re also dealing with backflow from Lake Victoria. The entire water system here needs proper management.”
A community tired of waiting
For residents, the work couldn’t come soon enough.
Jane Anyango, a local woman known for her passionate public pleas during previous floods, was candid.
“Every year, it’s the same story,” she said. “The water comes, and we run. We lose everything our homes, our food. We get sick.”
She called on the government to ensure the full stretch of the river is covered, not just a section. “We don’t want promises. We want to see the work done.”
The Nyando project is part of a wider government push to build climate resilience in western Kenya. While such infrastructure has long been recommended, experts say follow-through has often been patchy.
Whether this latest initiative brings lasting relief remains to be seen. But for now, there is at least a foundation both literal and political on which to build hope.
