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International Partnerships

Collecting rainwater in Igunga Eco-Village, Tanzania

Rev. Yusuph Shani is a 54 year old farmer living at Mwayunge street of Igunga ward located in Igunga District. He is among the 8 local artisans that were trained by the Igunga Eco-Village project in water intervention. Local artisans were trained in construction of small to medium low-cost rooftop rainwater harvesting tanks, siting and construction of shallow wells, pit latrine construction and construction of rope pumps.

Eco-Village Igunga, Tanzania

Since we started using rain water from our tank, we have never suffered from waterborne diseases contrary to the tap water from our District. This water is safe and clean, and we use it throughout the year for drinking and cooking. May God bless the Igunga Eco-Village project for introducing this technology at our ward.

Rev. Yusuph Shani

According to Rev Shani, the knowledge he acquired from the project is so beneficial to him and has transformed his family’s life. This is because he decided to implement this knowledge in his home by building a tank that can collect and store up to 4,000 liters of rain water. The tank’s construction was so cheap for him and he completed this in June 2017 at a cost of 219,000 T. shillings only. This cost was much cheaper than the to 2 wells that he constructed for his home in the past which represented over 500,000 T. shillings each.

Rev. Yusuph Shani

Rev. Yusuph Shani

Rain water harvesting tank appreciated by farmers in Igunga District

Rev. Shani added that he is now assured of getting fresh and clean water from the tank and this has helped him and his family to live a comfortable life that is free from waterborne diseases. And family members no longer need to walk to fetch water.

I am now a proud father, my wife and children are no longer going out of the house for fetching water. This has served time and energy spent in fetching water. Not only that they are now enjoying water from the tap installed inside the house.

Happily explained Rev. Shani

The eco-village approach that is used in Igunga district is a holistic approach. It integrates interventions in a range of sectors (water, energy, agriculture and livestock, gender, HIV/Aids) in order to sustainably improve climate change resilience and reduce poverty. The project is community driven: farmers and local authority staff are trained on a range of different climate change adaptation strategies, of which they can choose and implement the most appropriate ones.

Learning and dissemination of lessons learned is an important aspect of this project. Best practices are shared amongst the project participants and to the outside world, such as policy makers in Tanzania and other (international) development practitioners. The Igunga Eco-village project ran from April 2015 until September 2019.

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