Africa’s first water fund has been launched in Kenya with the aim of providing clean water to 9.3 million people through protecting the basin of the country’s longest river.

Reuters reports on the public-private partnership which hopes to raise $15 million for the Tana River Basin. The Nature Conservancy, a U.S.-based charity, says it will provide $2 in benefits for every $1 invested.

Through the fund, investments will be made in agroforestry, drip irrigation, terracing and planting vegetation on riverbanks. It has begun with a pilot involving 5,000 farmers planting trees through the Green Belt Movement, founded by Kenya's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, the late Wangari Maathai.

The Tana River supplies 95 per cent of Nairobi’s water and provides half of Kenya's hydropower-generated electricity. It also supplies water to a million farms.

“Deforestation and quarrying have caused massive soil erosion at the source of the 1,000 km long Tana River,” says the article, adding that sediment is washed into the water, reducing both quality and supply.

It is hoped the fund will serve as a model for other water-stressed African nations dealing with the impacts of climate change and population growth.

Read the full story: Kenya launches Africa's first water fund to combat shortages