Water

Access to clean water is crucial for people to stay healthy, crops to grow and communities to flourish. The world’s water supply is unequally distributed, leaving many communities facing water shortages. Over 1 billion people lack access to clean, safe water and 2.2 million people die every year as a result.

The lack of access to safe water in rural communities limits the opportunities of people working in agriculture to build a stable livelihood. Many women and children have to walk miles everyday to collect water from often dirty sources, denying them the opportunity to go to work or school. Without clean water, working days are lost to illness and smallholder farmers are unable to rear healthy livestock or grow enough food.

Find Your Feet projects work with communities to introduce or improve their irrigation systems and support effective community water-management. FYF also enables villages to improve their access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

Case Study: improving irrigation systems in Lodjwa, Malawi

In Lodjwa, Malawi water supplies are scarce and unreliable leaving farmers struggling to grow enough food to feed their family. FYF supports our partner CCAP to improve the population’s access to safe and reliable water supplies.

Clementine’s Story

Clementine is surrounded by the second healthy crop of maize she has grown this year. Previously, Clementine was only able to grow crops during the rainy season and she struggled to feed her family all year round on this single harvest.

To improve her situation, Clementine joined with other village members. The group has been supported by CCAP to improve their access to a regular water supply.

Together, with the help of CCAP, we have dug a canal to divert some of the water from a local stream past our fields so that we can use it to irrigate our crops."

Clementine has also received a treadle pump on credit from CCAP that has enabled her to significantly improve her harvest.

"By using the treadle pump which pumps water from the canal to irrigate my fields, I have been able to plant during the dry winter season as well as the rainy season. From the sales of my first crop, I managed to repay half of the cost of the pump and pay for one of my children to go to school. With the profit from my dry-season crop I hope to pay back the rest of the money I owe for the treadle pump."

To ensure the community's continued access to a reliable supply of water, Clementine and her group maintain the canal and the pumps themselves and monitor the water use at regular meetings.

By working with Find Your Feet, farmers like Clementine are reducing their vulnerability to the effects of the area’s erratic rainfall. Training in techniques like crop diversification and access to a regular water supply enables them to grow enough food to feed their families all year round and to earn an income to pay for basic necessities.

My family used to have terrible money problems. Now, as a result of the treadle pump, we have food throughout the whole year and I can afford to buy some domestic necessities as well. I grow a variety of crops now like beans, tomatoes and cassava as well as maize and I’ve received training from CCAP so that I cook balanced, nutritious meals for my family from what I grow."

This work is jointly supported by Find Your Feet and Harvest Help. To find out more about Harvest Help click here to visit their website.