Excellent Development's Trusts Fundraising Officer, and newest team member, Tanya D’Souza, recently visited rural Kenya. She saw first-hand how the support of charitable trusts is transforming lives. This is Tanya’s story.

The maintenance of fertile soil is one of the most vital ecological services the living world performs. It is the foundation of all terrestrial life, from plants to animals, and people. But, in drylands, drought and desertification transforms 12 million hectares of land into new man-made deserts each year.

Simon Maddrell, our Executive Director, recently re-visited the Kitandi fruit growers - a self-help group we used to support in Kenya. This is his story...

Simon Maddrell, Excellent Development's Executive Director, first visited Kenya in 1985. It was then that he met Joshua Mukusya, a development worker, and found his passion for Sand Dams. Here, Simon recalls that time and how it felt when he recently returned to taste the water from the first Sand Dam he helped to build.

Did you know? 780 million people lack access to an improved water source. That’s one in nine of us. Here we show in pictures how limited access to water affects people living in rural drylands, and how we are supporting communities to achieve water and food security.

Agroforestry – the planting of trees with crops on farms – has great potential for enabling food security in dryland countries. Supporting Self Help Groups to practice agroforestry in Kenya is a key part of Excellent Development and Africa Sand Dam Foundation's work.

At the heart of Excellent Development's philosophy and values is the belief that nothing comes for free. Through their own hard work, the Kitui kya Sekelini Self Help Group in Kenya are making their dreams come true.

As climate change negotiations come to a close in Doha, we received this article from Joe Kioko, Communications Manager at our strategic partners Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) in Kenya, on how ASDF are working with farmers to build resilience to climate change in drylands.

All over the world, people, especially the rural poor, are changing their lives to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Jane Kilundo, who features in the Nestlé film on Excellent Development and Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF), is a member of the Kakai Self Help Group in Kenya. Here, she tells us more about what sand dams mean for her:

Even when pregnant, women in rural Kenya must trek over long distances in order to provide their families with water. Some women give birth on the journey, alone and far away from help. We spoke to Jane Kinongo, who told us something of the problems rural women face.

Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) is the strategic partner of Excellent Development. Through simple and locally suited rainwater harvesting initiatives, ASDF are transforming lives in rural Kenya.

Fish are a vital source of protein for people around the world. Yet, for poor rural communities living in drylands, fish can be hard to come by or prohibitively expensive.  That’s why, with our partners, Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF), we are supporting Self Help Groups to establish small scale fish ponds.

Simon Maddrell, Excellent Development's Executive Director, recently returned from a visit with several Self Help Groups in Kenya. Here he recounts how, in rural Kenya, without a donkey it is almost impossible to collect enough water to survive.

For the 2 billion people living in poverty, access to water changes everything. In rural drylands, sand dams are the most cost-effective way of keeping water close to people's homes - providing opportunity and hope for better futures.

Dorothy Nyamai is an uncommonly strong woman. She never wanted to borrow water from anybody. Now, thanks to the agriculture skills she has learned, she doesn't have to...

The reality of climate change is already affecting communities living in the rural drylands of Kenya. We spoke to Dorcus Muluki Mutangweni, the oldest member of her community, about how the climate has changed in her life time...

The children of the Malaika Self-Help Group used to get up early every morning. They would wait at a small scoop hole in the dry riverbed to fill up their jerry cans. Now, thanks to a sand dam, they can invest this time in a better education...

John Muli, the Chairman of the Ilikoni Self Help Group in South East Kenya, said that his village hasn’t seen decent rains in four years. But people are coping. His 96 goats drink the water harvested from a sand dam...

In Kenya, like in many dryland regions, rainfall is unreliable. When it does fall, it arrives in short intense bursts that cannot be absorbed by the dry land and is simply lost to the ocean. We can't change the weather, but we can help people to be prepared...

In the Kibwezi District of South East Kenya, most people haven’t been able to grow much food for four years. But now, a community in Kibwezi are using the water from a sand dam to grow vegetables and keep their livestock healthy...

'Walking on Water' refers to the millions of litres of water stored below the sand in a sand dam.  This short version of our 30 minute documentary demonstrates how soil and water conservation are key to helping communities develop in drylands.

Kakewa Kaindi is 76 years old and for all of her life she has been bound to the strenuous and time consuming role of water collector...

Sand dams are something of a miracle. Building one, however, is nothing but hard work. Even before the first foundations are prepared, stones and rock must be wrenched from the dry river bed...

The people of Nzwii Self Help Group in South East Kenya have been suffering from a chronic water shortage for many years. With the support of a team of volunteers from Quest Overseas, they have built a sand dam...

Excellent Development prides itself in the philosophy and approach of it's work. This short film explains the way our work engages with communities, encourages working together and learning from each other - and the philosophy that underpins it.

In south eastern Kenya, the name Wikwatyo wa Kiambani comes from the local Kikamba, meaning ‘The hope of the Baobab tree.’ We find out why there couldn't be a better name for this community...

Desertification affects a third of the Earth’s land, resulting in poverty and hunger for millions of people in dryland environments. But desertification is preventable and reversible...

For as long as she can remember Karoline Mwao’s life has been dominated by the search for the one element none of us can survive without: good clean water...

Lack of water is the biggest threat to the lives of people living in dryland Africa. In addition, soil erosion further threatens their ability to grow enough food to eat.  In this short film, we expalin how communities work together to conserve soil and water to create true self-help development.

In 2010, a team from the law firm SJ Berwin in London travelled to Kenya to spend a week building a sand dam with the Wendano wa Ngomeni self help group...

In 2010, a team of 18 volunteers from the engineering and environmental consultancy, URS/Scott Wilson, spent a week getting dirty in Kenya...

Excellent Development and Africa Sand Dam Foundation have initiated a research programme to investigate the quality of water in sand dams...

This short film demonstrates how Excellent Development's work supports the health and well-being of rural communities in dryland Kenya. Clean water, varied diets, medicinal trees and more food production is the recipe for success!

Sand Dams are a little understood solution to water problems in rural dryland areas of the world.  Read on to understand more about this ancient and remarkable technology...

How is Chacha the Goat single-handedly changing the fortunes of the Kitui Kya Musyi community in Kenya?

In this short film we explain what sand dams are and how they work - finishing off with how to build them.  Of course with Excellent you also get what you would expect - people talking passionately about sand dams!

This short film explains how Excellent Development supports communities to grow more food to both eat and sell - helping them to pay for school fees and invest in their future.

With the support of Rotary clubs in Britain and Kenya, the Kyumbuni community of Katanga, Kenya are rejoicing...

Excellent expeditions give you the chance to make a tangible difference for rural communities at the grassroots level. Here's what one expedition team had to say...

The challenges faced by people living in drylands are great and many: Water and food insecurity; erosion and land degradation; climate change and disaster. All are connected. All result in poverty. Sand dams are a key solution to these problems. Find out more about the benefits and impacts of what we do...

Through our partners, Africa Sand Dam Foundation, Excellent Development supports communities with improved farming methods; enabling the conditions needed to create sustainable futures. Watch this short film to find out more.

Watch this short film to see how children in communities with sand dams save on average 5 hours a day for their education. That's a lot of time to invest in their future. A future, which parents like Regina hope, will be brighter than that of previous generations.