UK-backed climate initiative lays groundwork for water resilience in Horn of Africa

25 September 2026 Consultancy.africa

***A UK ***government programme is on its way to unlock groundwater resilience for the Horn of Africa. That is according to a Midline Evaluation of the Regional Climate and Nature (ARCAN) Programme, carried out in partnership with international consulting firm Ecorys.

Announced at COP26 in Glasgow, the ARCAN Programme supports the World Bank’s Sustainable Renewables Risk Mitigation Initiative (SRMI) to help regions around the world adopt renewable energy technologies and storage scale, and seeks to boost sustainable energy generation by pairing battery storage alongside solar, wind, and other technologies. It has been funded by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).

The ARCAN programme as a whole has received over £100 million in funding from International Climate Finance (ICF) aims to boost several different climate and nature-related efforts across Africa, covering things like renewable energy, forest protection, and water management. The Ecorys evaluation looks more specifically at the Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) programme, a multi‑donor trust fund managed by the World Bank, a part of the larger ARCAN programme that focuses on water resilience in the Horn of Africa, specifically.

The Horn of Africa is home to over 140 million people spread across the countries of Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia, and the partially recognised country of Somaliland. The region is geographically diverse, but in large part is dominated by arid and semi-arid landscapes, which have been impacted by climate change.

Much of the region has suffered under severe drought conditions since 2023, especially in Somalia, a war-torn country lacking basic infrastructure. Tens of millions of people are currently affected by, or at risk of famine.

This is the backdrop for international development project and the Ecorys evaluation of its progress so far. Some of the main recommendation are to develop regionally aligned national standards for groundwater projects, apply lessons from other groundwater interventions, and to engage graduate students to consolidate technical data and research.

Mixed progress on the ground

The evaluation, which focused on a UK-backed effort called Cooperation in International Waters in Africa (CIWA) found a mixed picture. On one hand, researchers found real signs that the programme is helping countries in the region talk to each other about shared water resources for the first time in a meaningful way.

On the other hand, the actual work of building wells and water systems on the ground in places like Turkana County in northern Kenya is running into serious problems. For example, evaluators visited four planned well sites in Turkana and found that, none of the local contractors had even begun construction yet. The report warns that unless the programme changes its approach, it risks failing.

Money is not the primary issue

The report makes clear that funding a well is the easy part. The harder problem is keeping it running for years afterward. Researchers found that communities in the borderlands, many of whom have never had to pay cash for water, often cannot or will not pay enough to cover repairs.

New sources of water can also, in some cases, become a catalyst for conflict. The report describes a case where a newly drilled well meant to serve two rival communities was vandalised after a dispute broke out over who controlled it. Researchers found that the programme has started factoring in strategies for managing these disputes, but it is not yet clear whether those measures are strong enough.

“Boreholes may create resentment between communities that are not served, leading to vandalism of new infrastructure while water tariffs may create perverse incentives to partake in illicit activities, such as charcoal production, to generate cash,” notes a press release from ARCAN.

Positive steps in cooperation

Despite these struggles, the report found genuine progress at a higher level. Government officials in the region increasingly see groundwater, rather than rivers, as an easier starting point for cooperation, since it is less politically sensitive than shared rivers like the Juba and Shebelle.

Somalia, Kenya, and Ethiopia are now working together through the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and are beginning to build the kind of trust needed to eventually share data on their water resources.

Lessons for the road ahead

The evaluators offered several recommendations, including working more closely with organisations like Oxfam that have already tested different ways of running local water systems, and making sure lessons learned in one country are not lost when staff move on to other jobs. They also suggested that groundwater projects alone cannot solve the water crisis in the region and that broader government policy, such as programmes that let wealthier communities subsidise poorer ones, will likely be needed for lasting change.

Overall, the report concludes it is still too early to say whether the current phase of the programme, known as Groundwater for Resilience, will succeed where past efforts have failed. But it credits UK-backed funding with helping lay the groundwork for a level of regional cooperation that did not exist before.

“Evidence of mutual benefits and a shift in mindset within government agencies from competition to collaboration supported by CIWA activities is leading to tangible progress on data sharing and transboundary aquifer management, which could contribute to future collaboration on other issues,” notes ARCAN.