The project has significant support in

Women wait for fish after a catch by fishermen at Lake Baringo in Kampi ya Samaki, Kenya, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)Women wait for fish after a catch by fishermen at Lake Baringo in Kampi ya Samaki, Kenya, Thursday, July 21, 2022. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)

Baringo is one of ten lakes in Kenya’s Rift Valley that have been expanding over the past decade. The entire Eastern African rift system, which stretches south to Mozambique, and the Western Rift - all the way to Uganda - are also affected. The rainfed waters have submerged villages and islands and brought the fierce Nile crocodiles face-to-face with residents.The rising lake waters have displaced more than 75,000 households, according to a 2021 report on the expanding lakes by Kenya’s Ministry of the Environment and Forestry and the United Nations Development Program.Flooding around Lake Baringo has been among the most severe, according to the report, with more than 3,000 households destroyed.

Lake Baringo remains an important source of freshwater for villagers, livestock, fisheries, and wildlife. But scientists fear it could someday merge with a large salt lake not far away, the also-expanding Lake Bogoria, contaminating the freshwater.Keben remembers when the shoreline was a short walk from their home and the hippos and crocodiles stayed deep inside the lake.

“They never attacked people or animals,” Keben said. “Today they attack everything.”

Deadwood trees are partially submerged at Lake Baringo in Kampi ya Samaki, Kenya, Wednesday, July 20, 2022. (AP Photo/Brian Inganga)Palestinian children scrape a pot for leftover food after all meals were distributed at a community kitchen in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on Friday, May 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Demonstrators light flares during a protest demanding a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)Demonstrators light flares during a protest demanding a cease-fire deal and the immediate release of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Tel Aviv, Israel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

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