The ITC is slated to be incorporated as a special sixth faculty of the UT starting on January, 1 2010. In the past, there have been incidental cooperation links between both institutions, for example, the exchange of scientific staff, but the Kenyan water research project is the first official cooperation project. 'This is the beginning of a good cooperation between the UT and the ITC on a larger scale,' says professor Anne van der Veen, who spends four days a week working as a professor of governance and spatial integrated assessment at the ITC and one day a week as a professor of spatial economics at the CTW faculty.
The study examines the effects of flower growth in the area surrounding Naivasha Lake, a known tourist destination in Kenya, where many Dutch farmers have settled to produce flowers and vegetables for the export market. This East African country remains the largest rose supplier for Dutch supermarkets. On a daily basis, two to three cargo planes that are loaded with flowers make the long distance to the Netherlands from Kenya.
In order to properly cultivate the plants, water is pumped from the lake close by, which in turn creates a significant decrease in water levels. A second problem arises from the lake being fed water by a higher elevation river. Some of the local farmers living up stream, use manure, chemicals and pesticides and these end up in the lake causing it to be polluted. As a measure of prevention, professional gardeners in the valley are required to pay to supply clean water, safeguarding the area around the lake, which is an official protected waterfowl area and making it ecologically sustainable.Still, research must be conducted to show how these plans will fall in place.
The research project is conducted by the UT and ITC in cooperation with the University of Nairobi, the Egerton University in Nakuru and the World Wilfdlife Fund. In East Africa five PhDs will be recruited, who will work partially in Kenya and also at the ITC. The research group plans to work on different areas, including social-economical and institutional aspects and will rely on the knowledge the ITC has in the area of geo-information and earth observation. Satellite images will show precipitation, soil moisture and vaporization. One post-doc in integrated assessment will collect all the information together to create development scenarios.
According to university lecturer Robert Berk of the ITC, the project represents an important investigation. 'The Naivasha Lake is seen as a testing ground for integrated water management in Africa. It provides an example of how to deal with the economy, ecology and water. On one hand, there are environmental interests to preserve the lake and the surrounding areas being protected, but on the other hand, you also have to address economic interests because about fifty thousand Kenyans directly depend on the flower production. People in other parts of the world face this same dilemma, which is why this project is of particular international interest.'
