Sand dams give the community access a local, reliable water supply for drinking, farming and domestic use. The technology encourages regreening of the environment and increases biodiversity, which are essential if our natural world is to survive. 

With your support, people that have little water, food and limited opportunities can face a new day with renewed optimism, confidence and hope. 

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A cost effective, minimal maintenance way of harvesting rainwater. We have supported over 1.1 million people across 10 countries.

A sand dam is a reinforced concrete wall built across a seasonal sandy river. They are a low cost nature-based solution, designed to harvest rainwater that falls during the rainy season, whilst recharging groundwater and requiring minimal maintenance.

Sand dams turn barren dryland areas into fertile land that can support agriculture and improved biodiversity, providing water, food and income for many families.

A solution for drought-affected communities in Africa?

We think so, and so do the communities that invest their time and labour to build them. It’s a water resource that keeps on giving, season after season, year after year.

Sand dams provide vital drinking water in periods of drought. More than that, communities can also use the resource to restore their degraded land, to rebuild their livelihoods, whilst regreening their landscape. Sign up to our newsletter to find out more.

Your donation WILL go further.

While our work often starts with a sand dam, it’s certainly not where it ends. Once water and time are available, a wealth of opportunities arise.

Our local partners also advise communities on improved climate-smart agriculture techniques, such as terracing, developing seed banks and the planting of drought-resistant crops and trees.

This empowers families to grow enough food to eat, store and sell in the face of climate change and drought.

Fill in the sign-up form to keep up to date with our sand dam projects and fundraising campaigns.

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Our Ukambani, Kenya Appeal 2023.

We are currently trying to raise £70,000 through the Big Give Anchor Match Fund to help the people of Ukambani to achieve food and water security.

Kenya recently experienced one of the worst droughts in recent history which devastated lives and land.

We are supporting 2 communities to build 2 sand dams and implement climate-smart agriculture. This will provide a clean local water supply, whilst encouraging food production, and restoring degraded land.

By donating to our campaign with the Big Give Anchor Match Fund, you can have your contribution doubled and make a real difference for the Ukambani communities.

CLICK HERE and help to give a dam! Every donation collected during the Big Give campaign is match funded so your donations go further.

Note: The Big Give have dropped their 4% platform fee on donations. Instead, when making a donation on the platform, each donor will be asked if they would like to include a 'tip'. This is a small optional donation that will contribute to the costs of running the Big Give platform - not Sand Dams Worldwide projects. If you do not wish to make this additional donation or would like to specify a different amount to give as a 'tip' to The Big Give, please select 'Other'.