We are delighted to share the news that that our strategic partner organisation, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF), has been awarded the 2021 Thiess International River Prize for their work implementing sand dam projects along River Thwake in Makueni County, southeast Kenya.

The Executive Director of ASDF, Cornelius Kyalo, had this to say about the awarding of the prize:

"This is a very heartwarming recognition for us and the communities we work with in southeast Kenya. The prize will go a long way towards helping us realise our future projects for River Thwake and will support our vision of soil and water conservation projects in drylands enabling millions of rural communities to transform their own lives."

Awarded by the International River Foundation and supported by the Burt and Vera Thiess Foundation, the Thiess International River Prize is a highly prestigious environmental award that recognises organisations for projects aimed at improving the resilience of rivers and their surrounding communities. In particular, they seek to award the prize to projects that are investment-ready and "bankable", providing value on investment and reliably producing remarkable outcomes for rivers, river basins, and their communities.

Cornelius expressed his delight at the value of sand dam projects being recognised by the prize:

"Sand dams are a simple, robust, and low maintenance rainwater harvesting technology that provides a year-round clean, local water supply. They are well suited to the world's dryland regions. Together with the communities, we can attest to the transformation that comes with the implementation of sand dam projects. We look forward to working with the International River Foundation to improve the resilience of our rivers with sand dams."

Cornelius and the staff at ASDF greatly praised the hard work of the communities they work with in southeast Kenya, whose tireless dedication to sand dam projects has enabled the restoration of river systems and contributed so greatly to this achievement.

See here how sand dams work:

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