Africa Sand Dam Foundation sand dams, southeast Kenya
The Africa Sand Dam Foundation, a Kenyan NGO founded in 2010, works with rural communities in Makueni, Machakos and Kitui counties to build sand dams and grow food. It is the strategic partner of the UK charity Sand Dams Worldwide, which says that across its work in Kenya it has enabled over 1,100 sand dams, bringing safe water close to home for over 1 million people.
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Inside the project
Ukambani is a semi-arid region of southeast Kenya where, according to Sand Dams Worldwide, women can walk 6 to 12 hours a day to collect water that is often unsafe to drink. Most households are subsistence farmers, and scarce water limits how much they can grow, store and sell.
Sand Dams Worldwide's Kenya totals also include 15 rock catchments for rainwater and over 200 school water tanks. The figures are the charity's own and cover its work in Kenya with ASDF and earlier partners, as stated on its page updated in August 2025.
ASDF has also helped Sand Dams Worldwide's other partners carry out sand dam projects.
Objectives
- Bring safe water close to home for dryland communities
- Help farming households grow enough food to eat, store and sell
- Promote sand dam technology in drylands beyond Kenya
Approach
- Communities build a sand dam across a seasonal river; sand collects behind the wall and stores rainwater through the dry season.
- The partners work through community-led development, pairing water access with food production.
Sources
Inspect 1 source
- sanddamsworldwide.org.uk ↗https://www.sanddamsworldwide.org.uk/kenya-asdf
Documented by one public source so far.
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