Project Status



Project Type:  Rainwater Catchment

Program: Sand Dams in Kenya

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase: 
Under Community Care
Initial Installation: Nov 2015

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Africa Sand Dam Foundation. Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Drip Irrigation for Vinya wa Mwau SHG

This is the first time ASDF has been able to fund an irrigation component of their work. Because ASDF works with Self Help Groups (SHG) for a period of 5 years, they are fortunate to witness in real time, the growth and development of a SHG. A SHG begins with a Sand Dam and a shallow well. Once a group and a dam have matured, the natural process is to begin cultivating and terracing land for farm use.

Vinya wa Mwau is a self help group that The Water Project is familiar with. Together with our donors, we are funding the construction of a sand dam an shallow well this year. Click the links below to see those projects:

Vinya Wa Mwau Sand Dam Project

Vinya Wa Mwau Shallow Well Project

Once farmers’ crops begin to grow, the following progression is for SHG members is to collectively purchase a generator so that can easily pump water from the sand dam to the area where their crops are located. Although this works well, it uses large amounts of water and fuel.

At this point the maturation of the group proves that they are ready to handle the management of a drip irrigation system. Vinya wa Mwau has been approved for a drip irrigation system. This group has been working with ASDF for the past year and has built one sand dam already and is building another this year. Because of their group efforts and ability to organize effectively, their request for an irrigation system was approved.

This group comes from densely populated area, which has an average of 2500 households. Because of the different household sizes, needs, and other uses for water, it is paramount for the group to invest in updated methods such as drip irrigation for farming to best utilize the water with other competing uses.

The key objective of the drip projects is to promote food security by sustainable use of water from the sand dams. The groups have already been planting vegetables using a furrow method that uses high amounts of water and fuel for the pumping generators, eating into their profits and reducing the acreage of land that the groups can invest in for farming.

The drip projects will be implemented on a one-acre piece of land that the groups have donated for food growing and sites for learning. The pieces of land shall also be used as demonstration plots for learning, which will be replicated back at the household level in order to boost food production.

PROJECT UPDATE

The group has already prepared their farms and set up the land that will be used to plant crops. The drip kit and tank have both been procured. Currently, the construction of the stands upon where the tank will be mounted is in progress. The group has also been advised on the right way to plant the crops, so the entire project is estimated to be complete by the week of November 16.

PROJECT RESULTS: DRIP IRRIGATION

The drip installation process started in the month of September with the procurement and delivery of the drip kits to the community. The ½ acre drip kit for the Vinya wa Mwau SHG was then delivered on October 7. Land preparation for Vinya wa Mwau SHG was from October 22-24. Land preparation involved the application of manure to fertilise the farm, the laying of barrow beds upon which the drip line would be laid on. The next step was the preparation of the stands that would be used to support the water tanks with an average capacity of 5000 litres. The tanks had to be raised about one metre-high on a concrete stand and then water was pumped into the tank. This would allow the water from the tank to flow by gravity through the drip lines directed to the crops. The tanks were fully installed on November 15-17.

The drip kits for both projects were finally installed on the 23rd of November.

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

For a rainwater collection system, we build gutters around a building with good, clean roofing to channel rain where we want it. From there, the water falls through a filtered inlet pipe into a high-capacity storage tank, the size of which is based on population and average rainfall patterns. In the tank, water can be stored for months, where it is easily treated and accessed. Learn more here!


 

 

Contributors

Project Sponsor - Barbara Belle Ash Dougan Foundation