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To watch our soil and water conservation film click here.

Soil & Water Conservation

Lack of water is the biggest threat to the lives of people living in semi-arid Africa. In addition, soil erosion further restricts their ability to grow enough food to eat.

So, Soil & Water Conservation is the biggest priority for rural communities wanting to achieve food, health and income security.

Even though semi-arid Africa gets 500-1,200 mm of rain a year – this usually falls over a total period of only two weeks. This means that water and soil rush off dry sloped land and gush down dry riverbeds, eventually ending up in the Ocean.

In eroded lands rainwater run off is between 20% and 70%, whilst in conserved land water run off is between 0% and 10%. Plus, land can lose 50-250 tonnes of topsoil a hectare every year, if not protected by trees and terracing.

Excellent Development works to help communities in semi-arid Africa to improve water and soil conservation in three key ways:

• Terracing Land

• Building Sand Dams

• Planting Trees

The terracing of land by farmers can reduce average water run-off from 45% to 5%. Soil losses can be reduced even more dramatically – by up to 97%. It’s always the most fertile top-soil which is affected, so soil erosion is the biggest enemy for farmers fighting to keep their soil fertile, to allow enough food production.

Having increased the amount of soil and water retained in the farms, sand dams provide an innovative solution to conserving more water in the dry river beds.

The permanent increase in the water table caused by sand dams creates a micro-climate where trees can grow naturally. When trees are planted in farms, they prevent soil erosion, increase the moisture in the soil and, in many cases, increase fertility too.

So sand dams, terracing and trees form a relatively simple but effective approach to improving soil and water conservation and creating long-term positive transformation of semi-arid environments.

Professor Mugambi, Nairobi University, says: "Rainwater harvesting and planting trees, if it were to be spread across the board, would achieve a great deal in contributing to the reversal of global warming."

To watch our soil and water conservation film click here.