Climatelinks Photo Gallery

Kamala Magar is a poor farmer from Saripakha, Kaski District who depends on her small farm and community forest. Kalasha belongs to the Saripakha Multiple Use Water System (MUS) developed by the iDE with support from Montview Church, Denver USA. The Saripakha MUS provides piped water to 20 disadvantaged families for domestic use and vegetable production from a spring source located in the village’s community forest. The approach embeds environmental services with water fees paying a MUS manager to maintain the system and protect the community forest water source. The community has installed a fence and planted additional trees to protect the water source. Kamala is from a disadvantaged ethnic group, she produced vegetables using MUS water improving family nutrition, earning over $300/year, and collects fodder and wood from the community forest. The MUS also saves hours every day for primarily women and girls from carrying water. iDE with support from USAID, DFID, the EU, and others has developed 500 MUS serving 80,000 people; MUS enable farmers to cope with climate change by shifting from risky rainfed agriculture to piped irrigation. Photo by iDE Volunteer, Bimala Rai Colavito.

In the arid regions of northern Kenya, groundwater boreholes are providing increased climate resilience and water security. In this picture, local communities access water from solar powered borehole systems funded by USAID.

October 2016, Conservation South Africa's (CSA) Nolubabalo Kwayimani teaches volunteers to perform a stream assessment in order to determine changes and improvements in stream health in the uMzimvubu watershed. The uMzimvubu catchment spans over two million hectares of the poorest rural areas of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. This critical ecosystem provides water to approximately one million people and supports more than 2,000 plant and animal species that are unique to this area. The catchment is presently under threat due to the degradation of land from overgrazing, the loss of land to water-thirsty invasive vegetation, and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Rural communities also face significant challenges: unemployment is higher than the national average, with many people dependent upon social grants and the landscape for their livelihoods. The proportion of households with access to piped water inside the home or yard is as low as 16 percent, and waterborne diseases pose a risk to youth and the elderly. In order for conservation to be effectively implemented, the health needs of the community and the proper management of their livestock need to be addressed. CSA is working in the upper reaches of the uMzimvubu to improve water resources sustainability by applying a “One Health” framework that integrates water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities with freshwater conservation, improved livestock farming and restoration efforts. By empowering local communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, and supporting local governance structures that enable sustainable livelihoods, “One Health” aims secure water futures for all water users. This project draws on work from the USAID-supported Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group—a consortium of seven international conservation NGOs—to develop project implementation guidelines and a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and indicators to measure the added value of integrated freshwater conservation and WASH programming. CSA’s “One Health” initiative in the uMzimvubu catchment is demonstrating how human well-being, economic growth, and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

Subject: Gordon Mumbo Location: Mara River, Kenya Date: July 10, 2018 Gordon Mumbo is team leader for the Sustainable Water Partnership (SWP), USAID’s flagship water program along the Mara River. According to Mumbo, this knowledge-sharing exercise is a two-way street; SWP educates communities on water risk and conservation, while the communities provide invaluable local perspective. It’s not just the atmosphere of transboundary cooperation that sets SWP’s work apart. It’s also the sense of ownership Mumbo and his team are cultivating in the people of the Mara, from community members to government officials to private sector representatives. “The river belongs to the people who live along it,” Mumbo concludes. “They understand the river better than anybody else. They will be able to own it and work with you at sustaining it. If you want to manage the river, you must involve the people.”

July 2018. In Kamuli District, Uganda, a local hand pump mechanic employed by Whave meets with members in a community water committee to discuss their needs and payment for Whave's preventive maintenance services. Whave is a member of the USAID-supported Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership, a consortium of researchers and practitioners identifying solutions to the challenge of developing robust local systems capable of sustaining water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) service delivery. As climate change threatens water supplies and infrastructure in sub-saharan Africa, the need for strengthened local systems that provide reliable water services is critical. Community-managed preventive maintenance is one method to avoid hand pump breakdowns and maintain water source functionality.

The photo shows a tap stand from the Majhigaun Sisnari Multiple Use Water System (MUS) in Sisneri Surkhet District. MUS are designed to provide water for domestic and agricultural use, helping community’s cope with climate change caused erratic rainfall and drought. This MUS was facilitated by the The Anukulan Project (2015-19) implemented by iDE, supported by UKAID’s flagship global BRACED climate program. The MUS serves 20 families (81 people), the cash cost was $3,000 ($150/HH) 60% was from local government through a climate adaptation fund and 40% by Anukulan. The community also provided $4,200 in labor and local materials. The MUS has increased average household income from agriculture by $328/year, improved nutrition, improved sanitation/hygiene enabling families to use latrines. It has also greatly reduced the time women and girls need to carry water, more than compensating for the time needed to grow crops and enabling girls time to attend school. Kalasha Rawal (far left) from a disadvantaged group increased her income by $700/year. Before the MUS she produced only enough food for 3-4 months. Now Kalasha’s husband has returned from working in India to help producing vegetables and taking care of their young daughter. Photo by Bimala Rai Colavito, iDE Volunteer, February 2, 2018.

A young woman from Dailekh, Nepal is on her way to collect drinking water from a spring near her village in June 2019. Although there are communal water taps in the village, villagers prefer getting drinking water from a source spring because the tank water that runs through the taps is not cool enough. So, everyday she walks to the spring, fills up her bottles and carries the water back to her home. Such springs are a major source of drinking water in Nepal, however, climate change is threatening villagers livelihoods by drying them out. This is seriously affecting communities dependent on springs for drinking water throughout the most vulnerable regions in Nepal. IWMI’s work to provide solutions to this growing issue is conducted with the DFAT Water for Women fund.

Water debit and quality of Ake Gaale spring’s retention pond have increased after the infiltration ponds were built. The infiltration ponds construction is one of the key recommendations of the Spring Vulnerability Assessment and Action Plan (KKMA) that Ternate city government and USAID IUWASH PLUS has conducted since early 2017. Based on the assessment result, Ternate city government expects to build 1,000 infiltration ponds to restore Ake Gaale water quantity and quality.

In Malawi, volunteer members of the community watershed committee are helping maintain a stony wall in the watershed area of Kublang in March 2017. The USAID-funded UBALE (United in Building and Advancing Life Expectations) project trains farmers in watershed management methods to ensure the sustainable use of resources and preserve the watershed. Watershed functions are threatened in this area by poor farming systems, erosion, deforestation, and drought. The goal of UBALE is to sustainably reduce food insecurity and build resilience among 250,000 vulnerable households in the Blantyre Rural, Chikwawa, and Nsanje districts of southern Malawi.

A young girl from Parsa Rural Municipality in Sarlahi pumps water from a tube well at her house in June 2019. Young girls in Nepal such as this one often hold the familial responsibility of procuring water for their household. As climate change increasingly threatens water supplies in Nepal this responsibility is becoming more and more burdensome, reinforcing unequal gender divisions of labour and marginalizing girls from economic activities. IWMI’s work to combat such discords is completed in partnership with the DFAT Water for Women Fund.

An International Water Management Institute (IWMI) colleague inspects a rural village water tank built in Shikharpur, Baitadi, Nepal in 2017. Climate change is drying out many of the mountain springs in Western Nepal, forcing rural villages to adapt and find new water sources. Water tanks ensure a stable water supply for entire villages even as spring flow depletes. Building Climate Resilience of Watersheds in Mountain Eco-Regions (BCRWME) is the first component of Strategic Program for Climate Resilience (SPCR) of Nepal. The project is carried out by IWMI, along with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the Nordic Development Fund, and the Department of Soil Conservation and Watershed Management.

October 2016, Conservation South Africa's (CSA) Nolubabalo Kwayimani and Nompendulo "Pesh" Mgwali teach volunteers to perform a stream assessment in order to determine changes and improvements in stream health in the uMzimvubu watershed. The uMzimvubu catchment spans over two million hectares of the poorest rural areas of South Africa’s Eastern Cape Province. This critical ecosystem provides water to approximately one million people and supports more than 2,000 plant and animal species that are unique to this area. The catchment is presently under threat due to the degradation of land from overgrazing, the loss of land to water-thirsty invasive vegetation, and vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Rural communities also face significant challenges: unemployment is higher than the national average, with many people dependent upon social grants and the landscape for their livelihoods. The proportion of households with access to piped water inside the home or yard is as low as 16 percent, and waterborne diseases pose a risk to youth and the elderly. In order for conservation to be effectively implemented, the health needs of the community and the proper management of their livestock need to be addressed.

CSA is working in the upper reaches of the uMzimvubu to improve water resources sustainability by applying a “One Health” framework that integrates water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) activities with freshwater conservation, improved livestock farming and restoration efforts. By empowering local communities to manage and benefit from their natural resources, and supporting local governance structures that enable sustainable livelihoods, “One Health” aims secure water futures for all water users. This project draws on work from the USAID-supported Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group—a consortium of seven international conservation NGOs—to develop project implementation guidelines and a monitoring and evaluation (M&E) framework and indicators to measure the added value of integrated freshwater conservation and WASH programming. CSA’s “One Health” initiative in the uMzimvubu catchment is demonstrating how human well-being, economic growth, and environmental sustainability go hand in hand.

Workmen building house connections to the master meter system. With this system, PDAM (municipal water utility) could serve low income communities in the areas unreachable by the PDAM regular connections, such as informal areas and stage houses above the sea. In the Master Meter system, PDAM is responsible for distributing water supply from the main pipeline connections owned by the PDAM to the Master Meter equipment. The local community is responsible for distributing water from the Master Meter equipment to the respective houses. The master meter system is managed and maintained by community group organization.

In Kamuli District, Uganda, children watch as local hand pump mechanics employed by Whave replace a hand pump with a new electric water pump, which will reduce the time for the community to fill up jerricans. Whave is a member of the USAID-supported Sustainable WASH Systems Learning Partnership, a consortium of researchers and practitioners identifying solutions to the challenge of developing robust local systems capable of sustaining water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) service delivery. As climate change threatens water supplies and infrastructure in sub-saharan Africa, the need for strengthened local systems that provide reliable water services is critical. July 2018.

Ms. Vorng Chantha, a drinking water station entrepreneur in Pursat, Cambodia supported by the USAID-funded Feed the Future Cambodia Rice Field Fisheries II project. To date, over 120,000 people have benefitted from the 12 drinking water stations installed by the project. In addition, over 100 local schools are being supplied with free safe drinking water, thanks to contributions from the franchise. By providing an improved and affordable source of drinking water, the project strengthens local people’s resilience to the effects of climate change. “Before I joined this drinking water station I earned US$50-100 per month. Now I earn around $120-$150 per month. We now sell more bottles than before, because people know the quality of our water is better than water from outside. The primary school students ask their parents to buy our water because they like the taste when they drink it at school.” Photo credit: Vichet Sean / WorldFish

Tirta Wiyata Academy (AKATIRTA) students are learning to measure the water quality of Bening River in Magelang district using the Water Quality and Quantity (WQQ) equipment provided by USAID IUWASH PLUS through its Local Sustainability and Innovation Component (LSIC) grant. On April 24, 2018, USAID IUWASH PLUS handed over the equipment to AKATIRTA and trained the students and lecturers on how to use the equipment to collect accurate data on the water quality and quantity. AKATIRTA is an environmental engineering academy in Magelang that has a specialty in the water supply sector.