Relief for farmers after Egypt grants state Sh500 million for sugarcane irrigation.
The government has secured a Sh500 million grant from Egypt to boost irrigation of cane farms in Bungoma.
This is likely to boost the supply of cane whose shortage is blamed for the closure of Nzoia Sugar factory.
Read: Nzoia Sugar shut down over debt, lack of raw materials The grant was issued through the Water Resources Development Project.
Abdel added that they will partner with Kenya to show how farmers in Egypt do cane irrigation.
"We want to partner with Kenya to help them learn how we do irrigation so that they can improve their crop," he said.
The Egyptian minister further said that they will partner with Kenya to show them how to store water during the dry season.
Water CS Eugene Wamalwa said the project will help in making cane develop faster.
He said the irrigation technology will see sugarcane mature in 10 months as opposed to the normal 18 months.
"With this technology, we know farmers will be earning properly as their cane will mature faster," he said.

Waimea trail draws hikers despite recent citations.
Noah De La Cruz, 19, and Ani Case, 18, were mulling over the idea of hiking the trail while they were parked Saturday morning along the road hikers often take to access the trail, which leads to an overlook and flume.
“I’ve always lived in Waimea and I never got a chance to do it,” said Case.
The trail’s a popular one on the island with many hikers headed to a water flume — a constructed irrigation waterway that adventurers use like a water slide — that drops 35 feet into a shallow pool, according to the Department of Land and Natural Resources.
Several steps to take The first gate hikers would need to cross marks the beginning of property leased by the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.
Beyond that is a second gate belonging to the Department of Land and Natural Resources and marks the boundary of the Kohala Restricted Watershed, part of the Kohala Forest Reserve.
Ward also noted the dangers of hiking the trail, citing damage done by the 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake.
“I don’t mind if people go, just gotta be safe.
Kaniho, who lives up the road from the trailhead, said he hasn’t hiked the trail but he’s seen fewer people in the last week, and that the state should just let hikers go.
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Billions of People Still Lack a Safe Drinking Water Source.
Around 2.1 billion people don’t have immediate access to a safe water source in their homes, while 4.5 billion do not have a proper sanitation system.
As expected, most of these areas are found in rural regions.
This is worrying, since hygiene and proper sanitation of a water source shouldn’t be a privilege.
Everybody on Earth needs these to be healthy and live a good life.
We need to improve these services in all communities Since 2000, a lot of areas received a proper water source for their citizens.
This leads to them developing diseases which might turn out deadly.
Over 361,000 children younger than 5 die each year because of diarrhea, and are at risk of becoming infected with other diseases, such as typhoid fever, dysentery, or hepatitis A.
By doing this, we assure the safety and health of our future generations, and give them a chance to a better tomorrow even if they live in poorer areas.
Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

The importance of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities has gained global and national recognition in the last decade, generating both political momentum and opportunity for addressing this fundamental aspect of human development.
Overcoming this crisis of water and sanitation through a concerted local and national response would act as a catalyst in public health, education, environmental betterment and poverty reduction by tapping into human potential that would have been lost due to waterborne diseases.
These human costs and economic waste is associated with the water and sanitation deficit.
Surface and ground water pollution is a major environmental concern posing a serious threat to human development.
The water and sanitation problem is above all a problem of the poor.
A majority of people in Pakistan in rural areas lack access to clean water and basic sanitation.
This is indicative of inadequate social welfare policies and requires proactive public actions.
In Sindh, the overall state of water supply, sanitation and hygiene is below satisfactory level.
Water supply is irregular and the institutional capacity of municipalities and line departments to manage and maintain the systems is steadily declining.
For example, the standards for drinking water are much higher than most other types of water use.

Buck fighting for conduit system to provide clean drinking water for Southeast Colorado.
But for many citizens of Southeastern Colorado, access to fresh drinking water is a challenge.
This important project will transfer fresh water from its source — the mountains that feed the Pueblo Reservoir — to the Southeastern plains.
You probably have heard of the Arkansas Valley Conduit already — the project was authorized by Congress in 1962, but slowed to a halt because local communities couldn’t fully fund their contribution.
But now our local communities are committed to completing the project.
Without an alternative water source, the cost for water providers to supply fresh water to the Lower Arkansas River Basin will be passed on to consumers.
The conduit will offer that alternative source of water.
The federal government will advance funds to local governments to help speed the project to completion and those local governments will repay those funds through contract payments for non-project water storage in the Pueblo Reservoir.
The conduit offers a solution to our drinking water issues in Southeastern Colorado, which is why I’m fighting in Washington to make sure the federal government provides the funding we need.
All Coloradans deserve clean drinking water.

Questions about drinking water flow at EPA meeting in East Chicago.
EAST CHICAGO — Residents on Saturday sought answers about whether their drinking water is safe and when EPA might test a black substance they’re finding in toilets and sinks.
Residents were hoping to hear from Miguel Del Toral, EPA Region 5 water division regulations manager, who recommended in January residents assume they have lead service lines and use a properly certified filter for drinking water.
‘Is my water safe to drink?’
Carla Morgan, an attorney for the city, said there is no safe level of lead, and the city, IDEM and EPA are working to make the water safer.
In the meantime, residents can go to the East Chicago Water Department to request a free filter, she said.
The city began using sodium hexametaphosphate with IDEM’s approval, but later discontinued its use after EPA asked IDEM to work with the city to make the change, officials said.
East Chicago will soon be replacing lead service lines at approximately 400 homes in the USS Lead Superfund site.
Reporting like this is brought to you by a staff of experienced local journalists committed to telling the stories of your community.
Support from subscribers is vital to continue our mission.

Parched poor: No countryside for drinking water.
NEW DELHI: The war for water has spread to the well-quenched corridors of power.
About 140,000 children die in the country from diarrheal diseases each year, after using dirty water, says the latest WaterAid report.
For a government that is aiming to cover 80 per cent of the rural population by 2022, the drinking water ministry has admitted to its inability to achieve the target due to fast drying up of funds.
Already, the money flow for revival of the existing yet impoverished water sources is getting down to a trickle.
“The Budget Estimate of 2017-18 is Rs 6,050 crore.
If the government is to have pivotal role, we must continue National Rural Drinking Water Programme and must have annual funding as high as possible but at least to the tune of around Rs 16,900 annually—10 per cent incremental increase over Rs 10,500 crore provided during 2012-13.
However, the MoF is suggesting to restrict the requirement at the present BE level for 2017-18 and 10 per cent annual increase for the subsequent two years,” the draft Expenditure Finance Committee note, dated July 3, stated.
The Central government will have to pitch in if it wants to achieve the target of covering 80 per cent of the rural population with drinking water access by 2022 at a faster pace, according to a Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation note.
Thus there was a shortfall of about Rs 30,000 crore in this period itself ,” the ministry note said.

Water ATMs transform lives of villagers in Greater Noida.
Narrow lanes that come to a standstill every time a car passes by, fields are sown with crops of the season, idle kids engaging themselves in novel games, veiled women washing clothes by the community pond, this village looks like many others.
Installed by an enterprising villager who had seen his village falling victim to water borne diseases with alarming frequency, the Save Water Station is slowly changing the fortunes of Ranhera.
Twenty eight-year-old Rahul Sharma brought this water station which provides clean, potable water to more than 250 families, in 2015, after he decided to do a homecoming from the neighbouring city of Faridabad, Haryana.
I grew up drinking ground water which is contaminated with all sort of chemicals.
What started with a handful of people two years ago now has people drinking literally out of the water station’s hands.
Villagers can buy a 20 litre can of filtered water for Rs 6.
The story does not end with a tumbler of safe water.
Drinking clean water has also improved the overall health of the villagers, something Dr Sunder Sharma, village general practitioner will vouch for.
Sharma, who is listening to this conversation, however, feels that there is still a long way to go.

Questions about drinking water flow at EPA meeting in East Chicago.
EAST CHICAGO — Residents on Saturday sought answers about whether their drinking water is safe and when EPA might test a black substance they’re finding in toilets and sinks.
Residents were hoping to hear from Miguel Del Toral, EPA Region 5 water division regulations manager, who recommended in January residents assume they have lead service lines and use a properly certified filter for drinking water.
‘Is my water safe to drink?’
Carla Morgan, an attorney for the city, said there is no safe level of lead, and the city, IDEM and EPA are working to make the water safer.
In the meantime, residents can go to the East Chicago Water Department to request a free filter, she said.
The city began using sodium hexametaphosphate with IDEM’s approval, but later discontinued its use after EPA asked IDEM to work with the city to make the change, officials said.
East Chicago will soon be replacing lead service lines at approximately 400 homes in the USS Lead Superfund site.
Reporting like this is brought to you by a staff of experienced local journalists committed to telling the stories of your community.
Support from subscribers is vital to continue our mission.

Parched poor: No countryside for drinking water.
NEW DELHI: The war for water has spread to the well-quenched corridors of power.
About 140,000 children die in the country from diarrheal diseases each year, after using dirty water, says the latest WaterAid report.
For a government that is aiming to cover 80 per cent of the rural population by 2022, the drinking water ministry has admitted to its inability to achieve the target due to fast drying up of funds.
Already, the money flow for revival of the existing yet impoverished water sources is getting down to a trickle.
“The Budget Estimate of 2017-18 is Rs 6,050 crore.
If the government is to have pivotal role, we must continue National Rural Drinking Water Programme and must have annual funding as high as possible but at least to the tune of around Rs 16,900 annually—10 per cent incremental increase over Rs 10,500 crore provided during 2012-13.
However, the MoF is suggesting to restrict the requirement at the present BE level for 2017-18 and 10 per cent annual increase for the subsequent two years,” the draft Expenditure Finance Committee note, dated July 3, stated.
The Central government will have to pitch in if it wants to achieve the target of covering 80 per cent of the rural population with drinking water access by 2022 at a faster pace, according to a Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation note.
Thus there was a shortfall of about Rs 30,000 crore in this period itself ,” the ministry note said.