Paper short abstract:

Indigenous knowledge systems have shown to contain potential transformative tools if effectively integrated in the water sector of development to improve development and management systems not only as a matter of redress but also to enrich the current systems.

Paper long abstract:

The better part of the 1990s decade saw growth being discussed in the context of social capital and development which encapsulated indigenous knowledge as part of mainstream development. The late dates of the same decade however experienced tensions between the indigenous and western claims. Local knowledge rejected western science’s claim to universality and its institutionalization that it can be archived and transferred. Since then, there have been more claims that indigenous knowledge has failed to impact on development over the years. Three most commonly mentioned thematic areas are that indigenous knowledge is locally and geographically specific, doubts as to how the knowledge can be formally integrated with formal science and, issues of appropriation of indigenous knowledge into the prevailing discourse of neoliberalism. Indigenous knowledge systems have nevertheless shown to contain potential transformative tools if effectively integrated in the water sector of development to improve development and management systems not only as a matter of redress but also to enrich the current systems. This paper, based on a study carried out in the period between 2018 and 2020 among the Maasai pastoralists and Kamba agropastoralists inhabiting the south eastern arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs) of Kenya sought to identify and interrogate the indigenous knowledge practices in water resources development and management and, establish its claim with specific reference to locating, constructing, quality treatment and governance. The utilized data collection methods were survey questionnaires, key informant interviews and observations. The findings indicate that failure to recognize and accommodate traditional tenets in developing and managing water affairs in the ASALs milieu may result in disappointments. Resulting from the letdown of the state to provide efficient water structures combined with the challenges the ASALs face with regards to water, the inhabitants use their knowledge to meet their water needs. The knowledge is socially constructed having been acquired through accumulation of experiences, society-nature relationships, community practices and institutions passed down through generations. Significantly, the latest water institutional dispensation brought by the water sector reforms takes cognizance of grassroots institutions, providing space for the traditional knowledge they possess which is enshrined in the successes gained in managing the ecological and hydrological environments. This may provide some saving grace.

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