Global Water Partnership has described Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) as an ecosystem approach that ensures the coordinated development of water, land and related resources to optimise economic and social welfare without compromising on the sustainability of environmental systems. Rainwater harvesting fits very well in this description.
In Kenya, rainwater harvesting is crucial for both economic and social activities that can improve living standards. From one harvesting storage structure can arise a myriad of interrelated activities including kitchen gardens, poultry keeping, zero grazing, biogas digester installations, manure harvesting, drip irrigation for horticultural crops production and fish farming among other economic activities. All these activities have a projection on increased income generation, improved nutrition status, improved sanitation and personal hygiene, creation of on-farm employment leading to poverty reduction and conservation of the environment.