Kitui Sand Dams and Food Security, Kenya

In Kenya, a growing number of girls are attending school in rural Kitui, an arid district east of Nairobi. Their increased school attendance is just one of the benefits of "sand dams." Because the girls no longer spend hours gathering water for domestic use, they have time to attend school.

Before the dams were built, entire communities depended on food aid. Now the dams have made hunger, and therefore poverty, a thing of the past.

The dense construction of sand dams in central Kitui is a unique type of water development practice. At the turn of this century, the SASOL Foundation, a local NGO, helped the Kitui communities build 400 dams – the highest concentration of sand dams in the world. This dense construction regenerates ephemeral (seasonal) rivers that now flow all year long. Sand dam technology is simple, and construction lends itself to participatory development, making it economically and socially effective.

Only 45 percent of Kenyans have access to clean water for domestic use, and even fewer have access to water that is fit to drink. The acute water scarcity forced girls and women to walk up to 10 miles to water sources such as springs and scoop holes. SASOL's poverty-fighting strategy was to reduce the distances to water sources to less than two kilometers and make water available for irrigation for the first time in this region.

A sand dam is a special sub-surface concrete or masonry barrier that is built across a seasonal river just below, or at the height of the river bank. It increases the water storage capacity of a river by accumulating sand and gravel against its walls, upstream of the dam.

These sand dams differ from traditional dams by not only storing water in upstream reservoirs, but also storing water within the sand and garvel particles accumulating against its walls. Coarse gravel and sand can store and retain up to 35 percent of its total volume as water. This water is captured for use through an ordinary well or tube well that is dug into this storage material.

Sand dams are not new to Kitui; the first was built in 1928 and is still functioning. These dams have withstood the most severe test – time. The dams require minimal maintenance and their lifetime is expected to be more than 100 years.

Community involvement and participation was the hallmark of this project. Community members contributed labor, sand and stones, artisan housing, and food for those working on the dams. Construction committees were formed, with women playing the dominant role (there was a 70:30 ratio of women to men) in project implementation, including volunteering labor for dam construction.

The benefits of this project have accrued on both economic and social fronts. For the first time ever, local residents have started growing tomatoes, kale (sukuma wiki), onions, improved varieties of mangoes, bananas, sugarcane, and fruit trees and other seedlings. Previously an importer of food, the district is fast reversing the vegetable and fruit supply chains by exporting mangoes and other products.

Households on land adjacent to the regenerated rivers are now earning more than Ksh 100,000 (US $1,300) from bucket irrigation during the three dry months of August, September and October. Income from horticultural trees is also increasing.

Consumption of vegetables and horticultural produce has improved health, especially for women and children. Fishing, which was uncommon in the area, has become a source of revenue, and brick making has come into vogue.

In terms of sociological impact, organizing for dam construction led to an improvement in community leadership and organization. Community members have prioritized development activities, identified interrelationships between sectors, and worked to overcome obstacles. The communities are proud of the fact that their own skills and resources have the power to bring positive development. More systematic organizing has also led to the satisfactory dealing of community issues like the shortage cooking fuel.

Email: muticon@wananchi.com; sasol@kenyaweb.com