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Current page: Home > what we do > water supply Water As many as 1.1 billion people worldwide do not have access to safe water. And 2.2 million of them, mostly children, die every year from diseases associated with this lack of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. In Kenya, our prime focus area, half of the population lack access to safe drinking water – that’s 16 million people, 13 million of whom live in rural areas.
Women take prime responsibility for collecting firewood and water. The burden is high. They walk between 2 and 10km for water, carrying up to 20kg on their heads or backs, twice a day. During a bad drought, they have to walk up to 20km, often queuing at water holes in the early hours of the morning. The water they find is often unclean and a threat to health.
Children also carry a heavy burden in rural Africa, at least those that survive do. A child dies every 15 seconds from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. Children also collect firewood and water, usually twice a day before and after school. During long droughts, they take care of their younger brothers or sisters whilst their mother searches for water, preventing them from gaining vital education.
"We know as a result of these sand dams more children go to school." The supply of clean water is therefore the main focus of farmers in semi-arid Africa. If rainwater could be stored, it could be used during the dry season allowing less time spent collecting water and more time on increasing food production and income generating activities. Excellent Development works with communities to improve the security of their water supply. We use a combination of strategies to do this, depending on what the community feels is most appropriate to their particular situation. Simon Maddrell, our Executive Officer says: "20% of the time, it's not only a sand dam which is the solution. Sometimes it's a pipeline, or a water tank. If it appears that we have a solution in our head, that's not the case, we're constantly altering our views & priorities to help to give the help to the communities that they want. How on earth can you achieve what we're trying to achieve, if you don't listen to the community?" Click on the links below to learn more about these solutions: - sand dams |
Semi-arid Africa suffers from poor rainfall and soil fertility, making it a marginal agricultural area prone to water and food shortages. One in three rainy seasons fails and even after good rains, riverbeds and springs quickly dry up. 
“When there were no dams in this area, children didn’t go to school regularly because their mothers had to travel for water, leaving the children to look after the home.”