Kenya Sand Dams

• where is this project?

  Kitui district in kenya

  half a million people living there

  one of the poorest regeons in kenya
• why does the kitui district need the scheme?

  • they have a wet season however in the dry season they get no rain
  • long drought in months May - October
  • they have 1/2 a million population so they require water
  • In the dry season, women and children have to travel miles to find water - time and energy consuming, children cannot attend school
  • crops die leading to malnutrition
• what are some other sources of water and why can't they be used?

  • Boreholes - may become saline and dry up
  • Water tanks - water is harvested and fills up tanks, but only holds a small amount of water
  • ground water will evapourate due to the high temperatures
  • they are both unsustainable
• who do the sand dams?

  • NGOs and Charities
  • When govorments get involved, their projects are very large scale and don't involve the local people, and can make their lives worse
  • the project is village scale and uses simple technology which the village people can easily work and utilise
• what are the advantages of the scheme?

  • low costs
  • no land is lost to local people
  • local materials are used
  • sand dams are multipurpose
  • local community is directly involved and therefore recieves more direct benefits
• what are the benefits of the scheem?

  • clean water is provided
  • less surface water for mosquitos to breed - less malaria cases
  • more children can go to school
  • more woman can get jobs
• how does the sand dam work?

  • the dam traps sand behind concrete
  • sand fills up and water sinks into the layers
  • water is stored as groundwater - less evapouration
  • they can access the water by easily digging into the sand