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Figure 3-1 – Overview of Wote’s Development Concept
The Development Concept is guided by existing planning documents that inform planning strategies in Wote Municipality and the wider County:
> Makueni County Vision 2025 > County Spatial Plan (CSP) 2019-29 > County Integrated Development Plan (CIDP) 2018-22 > County Urban Institutional Development
Strategy (CUIDS) 2018 > Wote Physical and Land Use Development Plan 2021-30 > Municipal Spatial Plan (MSP) and the Municipal
Integrated Development Plan (MIDP) 2021-25.
The proposed UEP model for development in Wote is founded on the UEP principles and has been developed in collaboration with Wote’s stakeholders. It aims to strengthen the Municipality’s economic position based on its competitive and comparative advantage whilst taking a citizen-centred approach to green growth and sustainable investment.
Figure 3-1 outlines the development concept that integrates Wote’s UEP Vision with the key economic sector plans (Section 4) which include the soft initiatives, the priority VCs and the supporting infrastructure development interventions. This will enable climate resilient and socially inclusive economic growth across Wote Municipality.
Figure 3-1 – Overview of Wote’s Development Concept
Economic Sector Plans (1) Agriculture and Livestock (2) Agri-Processing and Manufacturing (3) Trade and Services
Soft Initiatives
VCs / Anchor Projects
Urban Development Strategy and Focus Areas
Climate Resilient Infrastructure Proposals / Anchor Projects
Supporting and developing the aggregation network; building upstream capacity of farmers and organising cooperatives; increased sector resilience to climate change
Enhanced value addition and commercialisation of agricultural and livestock produce; improved access to finance and focused technical support Enhanced market infrastructure and public realm to support sector development; improved access to focused business support, with opportunities to benefit from key economic development projects
Anchor Project Aggregation Centre VC1 - Juice Bottling / Canning VC2 - Municipal Solid Waste
Aggregation Centre Agri-processing in Kalamba Wote CBD
Aggregation Accessibility Network Model
Targeted Rural Access Interventions: River Kaiti Crossings
Industrail Access Road Upgrade: Road Upgrade and Junction Improvements
Improved Water: Wastewater and Drainage for Agriprocessing at Kalamba
Wote JuaKali Market Improvement
Bus Park Relocation
Solar Refrigeration Systems Solar Power for Agriprocessing at Kalamba Streetlighting
Solar Irrigation
Improved Linkage to Northern Corridor and Key Urban / Market Centres Kaiti River Park
Urban Centre Transport Network Improvements & Management
Accessible Public Toilet Blocks
Cross Cutting Infrastructure
Decentralised Wastewater / Sludge Treatment Facility
Water Supply for Low-income Households and Rural communities
Source: Atkins analysis
3.1 UEP Vision
A visioning exercise was undertaken at the Diagnostics and Technical Briefing Paper Workshop on 27th January 2022. Stakeholders were asked to consider the key elements of their UEP vision. The stakeholders’ responses were collected following the workshop and analysed for common elements. These included:
> Environmentally friendly. > Sustainable, inclusive and prosperous. > Vibrant and dynamic. > Modern, attractive and clean. > Organised and orderly. > Industrialised, and an industrial hub. > Economic hub and centre of excellence. > Adequate infrastructure provision.
The proposed vision that best represents the stakeholder’s aspirations is stated here and adopted by the UEP:
3.2 Setting the Concept
Makueni County is keen to promote polycentric growth across the key centres of the County (described in more detail in the Diagnostic Report in Appendix A), linking the multiple urban centres and maximising their local growth through specialisation and minimising competition for resources. In support of this polycentric development approach, the primary centres identified are Wote and Kalamba. The increasing prominence of the Northern Transport Corridor (A104) has impeded Wote’s competitiveness, as towns along the Northern Corridor gain competitive advantage in trade and services along the Nairobi/Mombasa economic corridor.
In light of Wote Town’s significant competition from Machakos, and the emerging towns along the Northern Corridor, it needs to develop a more focused, yet diversified economic base, that serves the surrounding agricultural hinterland by establishing it as the anchor node in the polycentric urban fabric of the County.
In parallel, and rather than compete with Emali, improved connectivity between Wote and Emali (B107/C99) will enhance the distribution of value-added goods and services to the Northern Corridor and beyond. Thus, access to the existing and future growth node and logistics hub in Emali, coupled with improved transport linkages between Wote and Emali (see proposed transport infrastructure projects) will support and enhance Wote as the anchor node for the County’s aggregation, value addition and distribution network. The development concept seeks to establish Wote Town as the shared service centre of the County agricultural network through the development of the proposed Aggregation Centre and improvements to the Jua-kali Market, aiming to bolster the local foundation of the service sector. The UEP development concept also focuses on supporting smaller scale local centres of agricultural production across the County to enable inclusive growth, linking these centres to Wote Town as the key central hub for aggregation and supporting agricultural services. The promotion and further strengthening and development of the agri-processing VC at Kalamba (the Makueni Fruit Processing Plant) will help to create a critical mass for value addition, which in conjunction with the Aggregation Centre will foster innovation, services provision and circular economy benefits.
To further strengthen Wote’s position, proposed improvements to the Town’s existing bus park will also enable the local business and trading community to take advantage of the connectivity to the wider county as well as the Northern Corridor, which will directly enhance economic opportunity and local amenity for Wote’s growing population.
Finally, the consolidation of, and proposed investments in the Makueni Fruit Processing plant in Kalamba reinforces the economic argument for, and takes advantage of, the improved transport connectivity between Wote, Emali and the Northern Economic Corridor.
3.3 Supporting Elements to the Concept
The development concept of the UEP is anchored on the following priorities:
Climate resilient development – Makueni, as a semi-arid County with a high reliance on agriculture, is vulnerable to a number of climate hazards and experiences strong variability in yields from year to year due to a changing local climate. The County’s experience with the County Climate Change Fund has positioned Makueni as a leader within Kenya in adapting to climate change and building resilience. Leveraging this strong foundation as well as the relatively high level of awareness of climate change and its issues, an aggregation network and hub ‘model’ is proposed as an opportunity to provide a range of supporting services throughout the County. This will further strengthen agricultural resilience and ultimately improve both the reliability of the supply of produce to the proposed VCs and improve farming practices and livelihoods.
The central Aggregation Centre in Wote will provide support to a wider network of smaller local aggregation centres across the County. Whilst the primary benefit of the central aggregation centre is to improve the quality and consistency of produce supplies, it will also provide numerous other benefits including improved access to technology and better farming practices and advice on finance and insurance, resulting in enhanced and stabilised farm incomes. The Aggregation Centre will focus on support for agri-tech, agri-fin and smart farming innovations and technologies that will increase climate resilience of the agriculture sector more broadly. As such, it will have the potential to enable access to seed funding through climate finance initiatives, including the County Climate Fund.
Liveability in the Municipality (quality and attractiveness of Wote CBD) - A key aspect of the development concept is to position Wote Town as a desirable place to live for the existing population and to appeal to future workers and potentially residents from Machakos, Konza and the surrounding hinterland. This longer-term aspiration will require considerable investment in enabling infrastructure (see proposed infrastructure projects for water and sanitation, drainage, solid waste, energy and transport) and urban infrastructure to enhance the appeal and quality of life in Wote Town and to attract private investment.
As the centre of the County and Municipal governments, as well as providing health and educational facilities and institutions, along with other social amenities it is imperative to the Town’s future that it can create a desirable environment to attract private investment to enhance the living experience and employment opportunities for all residents. Interventions in key infrastructure provision, affordable housing and public realm enhancements are central to the UEP’s development concept.
Resource Management - Given that the County is situated in the ASAL zone, it is water-scarce and suffers from water insecurity, especially during the dry season. Water scarcity and increasing drought conditions act as existing barriers which are exacerbated by climate change and threaten growth, not only in the agriculture sector but more broadly in the town’s future population trajectory. Valuable natural resources and rivers, such as the River Kaiti and its tributaries, are being polluted, degraded and encroached due to uncontrolled urbanisation, poor agriculture practices and lack of solid waste management. It is imperative to protect these valuable resources, thus the UEP adopts a blue-green infrastructure network approach viewing water as a holistic system and aim to:
> Recognise the importance of scarce natural resources, particularly water, within Makueni County > Highlight the potential risks and vulnerabilities from existing and future human and economic activities, population growth as well as climate change effects > Identify green and climate resilient projects that demonstrate how to manage an interconnected set of challenges that affect the water system including water resource management (surface and ground water), water quality and supply, sanitation, solid waste management, flooding and droughts, and conservation of natural ecosystems and green open spaces.
Green and blue resilient infrastructure interventions will enable Wote Municipality to address existing and future infrastructure needs in an integrated way, considering synergies between different economic and other activities and interventions to ensure the protection of the natural ecosystem.
3.4 Spatial Framework for Development
The Spatial Framework consists of a spatial plan with a focus on three key development areas, with proposals for a range of climate resilient and inclusive urban and infrastructure interventions and projects. The three development focus areas considered by the UEP are shown in Figure 3 2. These are:
> Wote CBD > Agri-processing in Kalamba > An Aggregation Centre located at the Kwa Kathoka ATC.
The relationship between these areas is important and therefore factored into considerations for their respective roles within the wider Makueni County and regional ecosystem, their infrastructure requirements, and how effective linkages, both soft and hard, can drive socio-economic benefits for all communities both urban and rural.
