𝑷𝑺 𝑲𝒊𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒐 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝑯𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒗𝒂𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑫𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒐𝒐𝒍, 𝑴𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑴𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝑫𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒍 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 

The Principal Secretary for Irrigation, CPA Ephantus Kimotho, CBS, today presided over the handover of the Water Availability and Demand (WAD) Tool from the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) to the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) at the NIA Headquarters, marking a major milestone in Kenya’s transition to data-driven and digitally enabled water governance. The event brought together senior officials from the State Department for Irrigation, IWMI, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Kenya Water Institute (KEWI), and was hosted by NIA Chief Executive Officer Charles Muasya, MBS, alongside the Authority’s management and staff. In his remarks, PS Kimotho emphasized that the WAD Tool is fully aligned with the Government’s strategy to scale irrigated agriculture, strengthen food security, reduce food imports, and catalyze investment across irrigation value chains. He noted that integrating the WAD Tool into the National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP) Management Information System will embed water availability, demand analysis, and irrigation performance data into a unified sector-wide platform, strengthening transparency, coordination, and results-based management. The PS underscored that Kenya’s priority is to move beyond pilots and isolated interventions towards systematically scaling high-impact irrigation and water management investments. He highlighted blended finance as a key enabler, noting that credible, transparent data from platforms such as the WAD Tool will improve project design, de-risk investments, and support the development of bankable irrigation projects, structured Public–Private Partnerships, and impact investments aligned with national development objectives. Developed through collaboration between NIA and IWMI under FAO’s WaPOR Project, the WAD Tool leverages satellite technology and digital dashboards to convert complex earth observation data into actionable insights. The platform enables users to assess water availability and agricultural water demand, analyze crop patterns, identify suitable locations for on-farm water storage, and compare supply and demand to guide strategic investment decisions. To ensure sustainability, staffs have been trained on system administration and data management, with NIA assuming full ownership of the tool following the handover, supported by continued technical backstopping from IWMI. PS Kimotho reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to partnerships that deliver measurable results, unlock blended finance, and scale climate-resilient irrigation solutions, noting that the handover of the WAD Tool represents a decisive step towards a more coordinated, investment-ready, and future-proof irrigation and water sector.