Indigenous Knowledge and Practices for Sustainable Water Resources Management: A Case of Luo and Banyala in Kenya

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge is a social capital used by communities to live harmoniously and manage their environment. This knowledge has evolved over many years of observation and experience to grant the communities a tested experience for sustainable management and development of their resources. This study focuses on the application of indigenous knowledge and practices among the Luo and Banyala communities in Kenya for sustainable water resources management. Water resource is an integral component among the Luo and Banyala communities as it cuts across their social, cultural, economic, and political spheres. Religious and traditional teachings and practices shape directly or indirectly ways of management of water resources among these communities. These traditional and religious foundations and the resultant informal rules and norms characterize communities’ response to water resources challenges especially scarcity and excesses that the Luo and Banyala face from time to time due to the topography of their habitat. The success of integrated water resources management introduced in Kenya in 2005 and emphasized in Water Act 2016 to involve communities in the management of water resources within their catchments has the potential to gain from traditional institutions existent among the communities.