Our philosophy and approach

Published in July 2012

At Excellent Development we pride ourselves in the philosophy and approach of our work - this short film explains the way we engage with communities, encourage working together and learning from each other.

Latest

End hunger with sand dams

We need your help so that we can continue to support more vulnerable dryland communities to take part in sand dam and climate-smart agriculture projects, and empower them to end hunger and achieve long-term food security.
£107,505.25 raised in Big Give 2021 - thank you!

Between November 30th and December 7th we are took part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge, raising over £100,000 for four sand dams in southeast Kenya; 2 for communities in Ukambani to provide farmers with a lifelong supply of clean water, and 2 in Tsavo National Park to improve access to water for the range of wildlife.
Excellent Partner ASDF wins 2021 Thiess International River Prize

Excellent's strategic partner, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, has won the prestigious Thiess International River Prize for projects along the Thwake River in southeast Kenya.
Paraffle Embroidery partner with Excellent Development for Black Friday and The Big Give

Paraffle Embroidery are partnering with Excellent Development and will donate 25% of all of their sales from the Black Friday weekend towards our Big Give campaign!

Watch how sand dams work

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands
Time-lapse of a sand dam being built

Watch as Kwa Voki self-help group build their sand dam in Makueni County, southeast Kenya.
Watch how sand dams work (French)

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands (with French subtitles)
1,000 sand dams - thank you!

Since 2002, Excellent has enabled over 1,000 sand dams in 8 countries, providing clean water for over 1 million people. Hear from some of those people who give a big thank you to all supporters.
Why the Maasai in Kenya need sand dams - Part 1

The people of the Iltirim community in Lekurruki, Kenya, explain why they want a sand dam and the difference it could make...
Why the Maasai in Kenya need sand dams - Part 2

The people of the Iltirim community in Lekurruki, Kenya, continue to explain the different sand dams could make to their lives...
Raincatchers: a film by Al Jazeera

Watch what happened when Al Jazeera paid a visit to our partners in Kenya, Africa Sand Dam Foundation, to learn how sand dams are transforming people's lives.
Who is Excellent Development?

This short film explains who we are and what we do; a charity supporting rural, dryland communities to create food and water security by building sand dams, and conserving water and soil.
Watch how sand dams work (Spanish)

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands (with Spanish subtitles).
The power of sand dams in Kenya

Sand dams are a cheap, innovative solution to water shortages in drylands, which also transform environments beyond recognition. Find out more about this remarkable technology in this video featuring interviews with Excellent's founders, supporters, those in the community that we support and Professor Jesse Muyambi from the University of Nairobi.

A brighter future with water

We need your help so that we can support more dryland communities to gain access to clean water, prevent spreading diseases like COVID-19 and in turn build a brighter future for themselves.
What is a sand dam?
Donate

Please donate what you can to transform lives and land with sand dams and clean water.
Reversing land degradation and desertification

Conservation of the environment is critical to the economic development of people living in drylands.
1 million sand dams for 0.5 billion people by 2040

Read about our plan to directly support other organisations to build sand dams, in turn, realising our vision to support millions of the world’s poorest people by helping them to transform their own lives through water and soil conservation in drylands.
The challenge

Find out what are drylands, why they are they are such harsh regions to live, how sand dams are applicable in drylands and what difference they can make to over 40% of the world's land surface.
Our approach

Find out more about Excellent's approach, from working with self-help groups to why we partner we on-ground, local organisations.
End hunger with sand dams

We need your help so that we can continue to support more vulnerable dryland communities to take part in sand dam and climate-smart agriculture projects, and empower them to end hunger and achieve long-term food security.
Watch how sand dams work

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands
Climate-smart agriculture

It’s astonishing to see what can be achieved through these simple, but highly effective, techniques of climate-smart agriculture.