Time-lapse of a sand dam being built

Watch as Kwa Voki self-help group build their sand dam in Makueni County, southeast Kenya.

The dam will go on to provide the community with nearby, lifelong access to clean water.

Credit: Titus Mbithi / Africa Sand Dam Foundation (Excellent's partners in southeast Kenya) / Just a drop

Please donate what you can to help dryland communities access clean water and food security for life with sand dams and climate-smart agriculture

Please select a donation amount (required)

£15

could provide a farmer with drought-resistant seeds, so they can feed and support their family.

£30

could supply a community with a rake, gardening fork, shovel and watering cans, to plant trees for fruit, fuel and fodder

£60

could provide a roll of barbed wire to reinforce a sand dam, anchoring it to the bedrock.

Other

Set up a regular payment Donate

Latest

Empower families to feed themselves

We need your help so that we can continue to support more dryland communities to build sand dams and implement climate-smart farming, providing vital food and water supplies to vulnerable families.
£83,443 raised in Big Give Christmas Challenge 2020!

In this year's Big Give Christmas Challenge you helped us raise over £80,000 to build two sand dams and implement a range of environmental protection measures in southern Zimbabwe.
Missing school and education due to COVID-19 and lack of water

Kasangi Simon, a 12-year-old pupil at Nzeluni Primary School, southeast Kenya, shares her experience coping with water shortage during the COVID-19 pandemic, and what difference a school water tank would make.
Kyeni Primary School water tank - a short film by the Africa Sand Dam Foundation

Our partners in southeast Kenya, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, document the impact of Kyeni Primary School's water tank.

Watch how sand dams work

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands
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).
Our philosophy and approach

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.
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.

What is a sand dam?
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.
Donate

Please donate what you can to transform lives with sand dams and clean water.
Zimbabwe (Partner: Dabane Trust)

Dabane Trust and Excellent are working together with rural communities in the semi-arid areas of Zimbabwe to develop simple, appropriate and sustainable water abstraction and food production systems.
Sand dam manual

For everything you need to know about building sand dams, click here to read (and download for free!), Sand Dams: A Practical & Technical Manual.
Watch how sand dams work

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's 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.
Job opportunities
September 2018 sand dam expedition with Barclays Isle of Man

Barclays Isle of Man volunteers and community members share highlights from the construction of a sand dam they worked together to build in southeast Kenya in September 2018.
Working together with Rotary