Kenyan Borehole Project Approaches next Milestone with Validation Audit
In advance of the final stage of the registration process with Gold Standard, Ipek Topuz, First Climate Carbon Project Manager, visited the partner project, Maji Bora, where hundreds of boreholes have been newly installed or rehabilitated in Kenya. While there, Ipek, along with partner, Griot Consulting, held multiple stakeholder meetings, conducted technical checks, and assessed related WASH (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) practices.
The Maji Bora Project is transforming water access in Turkana and Kilifi County, Kenya, through the installation and rehabilitation of nearly 300 boreholes across both counties , supported by First Climate’s carbon experts. This climate action initiative not only addresses local water scarcity issues by providing low-emission solutions, but it also strengthens community-wide health measures by improving Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) practices. By making access to clean water reliable, the project contributes significantly to improving public health standards and reducing environmental and social challenges associated with water scarcity. First Climate was brought on board to develop and lead the associated validation and registration processes for Gold Standard registration.
The most recent site visit allowed First Climate and Griot Consulting to complete the final aspects of the validation phase for their joint borehole project. Activities during the recent visit included holding stakeholder meetings, taking water samples, and assessing the current status of ongoing WASH trainings, some of which were handled in conjunction with a local, third-party auditor. "It was important for us to be here for this milestone. The independent audit adds a layer of transparency, validates environmental impact, and upholds the high-integrity of carbon credits—turning sustainable intentions into measurable, verifiable climate action," says Ipek Topuz, Project Manager, Nature Based Solutions at First Climate.
With the support of First Climate’s carbon experts, the Maji Bora project has newly contructed or successfully refurbished around 290 boreholes, providing local communities with convenient, safer, and more sustainable water sources. These low-emission boreholes offer a critical solution to the community, where residents regularly walked up to 20 kilometers to obtain clean water– generally used for drinking, sanitation, animal husbandry, and healthcare.
The counties of Turkana and Kilifi, are among Kenya’s driest and poorest regions and have faced prolonged droughts, exacerbating water scarcity, triggering health and livelihood crises. The Maji Bora project’s borehole rehabilitation initiative provides a critical lifeline, reducing the burden of water collection and improving community health by addressing waterborne illnesses, where the largest refugee camp sheltering around 200,000 people from conflict-ravaged areas in Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Ethiopia.
The Maji Bora project and its activities in rehabilitating boreholes is an important building block for a sustainable improvement of the situation, which reduces the human burden of fetching water, actively promotes the fight against water-borne diseases, and significantly improves living conditions overall.
Photo credit: ©Griot Consulting
Captions: (1) Women and mothers from the local community warmly welcome the Maji Bora team; (2) Ipek Topuz and Hywel George (l-r) arrive at a borehole location; (3) In the absence of safe water sources, women are mainly responsible for searching for and collecting water for their household and animal husbandry needs; (4) Members of the Griot team clean the area surrounding a borehole; (5) clean water flowing at a restored borehole in Turkana ; (5) a local woman tests the improved flow of water; (6) a woman collects clean water; (7) Ipek with a local mother in Turkana.
Assessment and Accountability
A third-party audit in the validation phase is one of the critical steps to getting a climate change mitigation project approved for carbon market financing. The upcoming conclusion of validation phase is therefore an important step in project development. The auditor assigned to Maji Bora assessed a selected number of boreholes to ensure their functionality and performance in line with the project’s stated goals as well as conducted spot saline and taste tests to make sure quality standards have been met. Ipek explains, “We are in the final steps of receiving the validation report from the auditor and intend to get the design certification of the project in Q1 2025 . Once the project design has been certified, the project can start laying the groundwork for generating carbon credits and further scaling.”
In addition to borehole rehabilitation, the project will launch a comprehensive Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) program, anticipated to be implemented next year. “At stakeholder meetings, we heard from doctors and medical personnel, who emphasized the urgent need for improved water quality due to the negative impact on health issues arising from current water scarcity and contamination, leading to a rise in waterborne illnesses,” Ipek reports. The WASH trainings are a proactive measure to empower the community to independently and sustainably manage their water resources and reduce health risks associated with poor sanitation.
Empowering Communities for Sustainable Impact
One of the central pillars of the Maji Bora project is the strong collaboration with local stakeholders on different levels, including community members, medical experts, and local leaders. In line with the project’s design, local experts and community leaders are now preparing to take over the continued management and upkeep of the systems to ensure their longevity. With the rehabilitated boreholes and a structured WASH program in progress, the Maji Bora carbon project is securing a lifeline to Turkana's communities, advancing access to clean water, promoting health, and fostering a sustainable environment through carbon financing. First Climate will continue to share developments as the Maji Bora project advances. “Seeing Maji Bora through the eyes of the families and the local audit team really brought home to us that we were undeniably changing the lives of hundreds of thousands of rural Kenyans,” emotes Hywel George, CEO and Founder of Griot.
First Climate will continue to report on the ongoing activities of the Maji Bora Project as they develop.
