Project background
The Borana Zone of southern Ethiopia is a semi-arid rural region in which communities depend on small-scale agriculture and livestockfarming. Both activities are highly constrained by water availability, as there are no perennial rivers and rainfall varies strongly in terms of both time and space. As many as 88 % of the inhabitants of this region do not have access to safe drinking water. Children in this region have the lowest school enrolment rate in the country, as their help is needed to collect water and for domestic tasks.
Adequate water supports food gardens, the keeping of livestock, processing of crops, fishing and small-scale economic enterprises. A reliable nearby source of water frees up time for children and women and thus facilitates school attendance and women’s involvement in social and economic activities. Water-enabled opportunities thus empower people to improve their livelihoods, providing them with more security and new choices.
Water harvesting has proven to be an attractive alternative decentralised water source in areas where other means of water supply have little potential, either because they are remote or because groundwater is inaccessible or not potable. The proposed project will increase access to a reliable source of water for at least 10 communities in the critically dry Borana zone of southern Ethiopia. An innovative combination of infrastructures to harvest rain and surface run-off water will ensure drinking and productive use water in the short- and long-term for communities living both adjacent to an ephemeral watershed and those further away. The project will contribute to regional water resource protection by making optimal use of available water resources, enhancing catchment water retention capacity, reducing soil erosion and flooding, and averting ground water depletion. Of increasing relevance is the solution offered by water harvesting in protecting the livelihoods of vulnerable communities from the foreseeable effects of climate change.
Five sand dams, with a total storage capacity of approximately 15,000 m3, will be constructed by mid-2008 within a suitable river bed. At least 1,000 people, adjacent to the watershed will benefit from the improved water availability. Six rainwater harvesting tanks, each with a storage capacity of 60 m3, will provide an additional 5-6 communities further away from the watershed with sufficient clean drinking water to bridge the bi-annual 3-month dry periods. These communities will be able to access the sand dams for additional water needs.
The Ethiopian Rainwater Harvesting Association (ERHA) will lead the project, strengthening the capacity of local organisations and overseeing project implementation. Additional expert support will be provided by SASOL and the Acacia Institute on sand dams and the RAIN Foundation on rainwater harvesting.
