Published in February 2020

As part of World Water Day the UN is asking all those involved in the world of water solutions to learn, share and act, and that’s exactly what we are doing at Sand Dams Worldwide.

World Water Day, March 22, is an important date in my calendar. It’s a timely reminder of the link between the work we do alleviating water poverty and so many pressing issues associated with water scarcity and climate change; such as land and soil degradation, desertification, and the rapid decline in biodiversity. Given the advice from the UN that we have 12 years to stop irreversible damage from a changing climate, it is not surprising that this year’s World Water Day theme is the link between water and climate change.

At Sand Dams Worldwide, learning is in our DNA. As a small pioneering charity, we are conscious that every pound we spend must be spent wisely. We reflect on every project we undertake so that we can transfer that learning onto the next scheme. The communities we work with are, with our support, also learning to adapt to a changing world by planting drought-resistant crops and using climate-smart agricultural techniques to protect soil from erosion and even restore soil fertility.

We are seizing every opportunity to share our belief in sand dams as a sustainable approach to helping those most in need to adapt to the impacts of climate change already built into global weather patterns. We are backing this up with hard evidence on the beneficial effects of sand dams on water and crop yields and, perhaps most importantly the way that sand dams produce clean water free of the waterborne diseases that can infect areas of open water. And we are taking the message that sand dams work to communities and leaders across arid areas of the world to encourage them to reduce water poverty by investing in sand dams.

Perhaps most importantly we are taking action. Our work has already resulted in over 1,000 sand dams being built, providing over 1 million people with access to clean water for life and a better future. Over 1.1 million trees have been planted, helping to preserve soil as well as providing an essential source of food, fuel, fodder and even medicines.

There are worrying projections that water and food poverty is set to increase as climate-driven desertification extends across parts of the world. So, as World Water Day approaches we will be doing what we can to reinforce the UN’s message to learn, share and act on water and climate change.

Please donate what you can to support dryland communities to combat climate change with sand dams and climate-smart agriculture