Driving around Nairobi and Kampala over the last three months has been a study of contrasts for me. Just before the rains started falling at the end of March, both Uganda and Kenya had gone through a prolonged season of drought. It was so bad that the dust even showed on people’s faces! Heathen and Saints alike were praying for rain.

And now the floods. In Nairobi, 15 minutes of rain is guaranteed to cause flooding. And Nairobi is a town of contrasts. As the rains continue to pound down on our poorly drained streets, piped water is being rationed. The alibi from the authorities is that the town’s water reservoir is empty. Never mind the stormwater that is covering the roads.

To put it in proper perspective (and anyone who is following the climate change debate is acutely aware of this), water shortage is a global crisis. It is actually projected that in a short 7 years (by 2025), 60 percent of the world will be water-stressed. It is a common belief that water will be at the center of the conflict that will escalate into World War III.

But people who know these facts also know that in most cases, the crisis is not about having too little water. It is a crisis of management. Take the example of the country that invented the miracle of drip irrigation. For all intents and purposes, Israel should be a water basket case. 60pct of the land is desert and the rest is arid. Over the last 70 years rainfall totals have fallen to half while the population has grown 10-fold but good governance coupled with conservation (the country recycles 86 percent of its waste water) and leveraging technology are some of Israel’s “all-of-the-above” strategy. While we may not attain to some of these any time soon, one solution we have is rainwater harvesting (RWH) because of its proven scalability and ease of implementation – both in urban and rural settings. More rain falls on the surface of our countries than the water we consume altogether. We already have what we need only we drain it out of the system, causing erosion and down-stream flooding. And therein is the irony: One problem is the solution to the other. If only we had the presence of mind to realize that with good planning and resolve, we never have to endure a day of drought. And flooding. And Oh, by the way, in Nairobi the archaic colonial bylaw that forbids rain harvesting is still in the books!