Climatelinks Photo Gallery

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

The Sustainable Water Partnership (SWP) is USAID’s flagship water program along the Mara River, Kenya. 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. View of the Mara River Basin from above.

This project improved water access to six beneficiary communities through decentralized water treatment kiosks and improved sanitation facilities and hygiene behaviors for schools in those communities. Over 5,000 students and teachers gained water and sanitation access at school. Over 1,000 people gained household water access and six schools were measurably impacted by project activities. Ultimately, 60,000 people with limited water access were reached through the kiosks.

Women and children are most burdened by conflicts arising from scarcity of water resources. By protecting Alakara Shallow Well in Isiolo County, USAID ensured availability of water for communities and their livestock thereby reducing conflict and enhancing peaceful co-existence among communities living in Isiolo County.

Donkeys Transport Water.  Women work together to tie jerry cans full of water onto a donkey. Rurujis, Somali Region, Ethiopia.

Ibinda primary school pupils in Kakamega County draw clean water from a well. Clean water enhances hygiene among school children while also keeping them in school.

The amuna is part of a traditional water conservation system that captures and channels rainwater during the rainy season to recharge aquifers, increasing the availability of water during the dry season. The ecosystem-based adaptation/green infrastructure project in Peru is restoring these structures, some of which are 1,500 years old.

Micro-hydro, powered by nearby streams, brings much-needed electric power to remote mountain communities. Sunbir Ghale (pictured here) maintains Simjung village’s micro-hydro plant in Gorkha district; it was badly damaged during the 2015 earthquake and Hariyo Ban funded repairs as part of its support to earthquake recovery.

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.