Dugout expansion & rehabilitation in remote villages

In the remote regions of Ghana where our partner works, year round steams are scare and ground water is often inaccessible. As a result, communities fetch water from dugouts that collect rainwater but in recent years these have been drying out for several months at a time due to climate change. In August 2024 we completed work on our first dugout in Sinsina – find out more below. In December we will start work on next dugout at the Tacpuli community located in the North-East Gonja District with a population of 963.

Partnering with Saha Global

In 2022/23 we funded our new partner Saha Global to set up 22 small water treatment businesses run by local women, to supply clean water to remote, rural villages surrounding Dambai and Krachi. The treatment centres are run on a social enterprise model, all the equipment that each business needs to get started was supplied, including water containers for every family in the village. Two/three women from each community were trained on how to use local products (alum and chlorine) to treat collected water. They sell the treated water to other villagers for a small fee – all revenue sales stays in the community and is managed by the women. The income covers the operating costs of the business (treatment products etc) and maintenance. After paying operating costs, the women then keep the remaining profit as payment for their time and work.

Sinsina dugout renovation

In 2023 we continued to work with Saha Global on a new pilot project funding the expansion and rehabilitation of a large water dugout supplying clean drinking water to the 466 people living in Sinsina, situated in North Gonja District of Ghana. The dugout is linked to a small water treatment centre run by two local women but in recent years it has been drying out for several months every year due to climate change, leaving the village with no nearby water source.

The renovation works took place over several months, resulting in a deeper dugout three times its original size! Vertiva grass & trees have also been planted around the dugout to reduce evaporation during the dry season.

Women and children will not have to walk far distances to alternative sources of water, allowing children to stay in school and women to focus on other important activities (SDG 4 – Quality Education and SDG 1 – No Poverty). This project also represents a significant step in building climate change resilience for the people of Sinsina.

Work on the pilot dugout in Sinsina completed in August 2024. Saha Global have not undertaken such extensive work on dugouts before, so we are delighted to fund this pilot and are very hopeful that it will be successful.