Our 2022 Big Give Green Match Fund campaign has now closed. If you missed it and would still like to make a donation towards our work, click here!

In this year's Big Give Green Match Fund campaign, supporters helped to raise an amazing grand total of £22,513.75 (including match funding) that will go towards enabling a community living in rural southeast Kenya to construct a sand dam and implement climate-smart agriculture, helping them to work their way towards being food and water secure, whilst protecting the surrounding environment.

On behalf of the community who will benefit from your support, we'd like to say a big thank you to all supporters, donors and our campaign champion/partner, The Big Give Trust, for their generosity.

About The Big Give

The Big Give is the UK’s biggest match funding campaign platform which, since 2008, has raised over £186 million for UK charities.

For seven days from April 22nd-29th, it offered supporters of participating charities the opportunity to have their donations doubled as part of their Green Match Fund campaign! This year Sand Dams Worldwide took part, raising £12,513.75 (including GiftAid) in online donations to enable the construction of a sand dam in the drylands of southeast Kenya, where severe water scarcity is contributing to widespread poverty and threatening wildlife populations, to improve access to water, enhance food security, restore degraded land, regreen local environments and increase resilience to climate change.

Donations were DOUBLED for free by our generous campaign champion/partner, in turn helping us reach our overall target of £20,000!

About Kenya

The effects of climate change, combined with poor land management, are resulting in severe environmental degradation in Ukambani in southeast Kenya, contributing to widespread food and water insecurity amongst rural communities; many of whom depend on the land to sustain their livelihoods. Approximately two thirds of the population live below the poverty line and lack access to safe water. Of farmers surveyed by our Kenyan partner at baseline, only 14% were able to produce surplus crops to sell.

About sand dams

Sand dams offer a solution, providing a dependable supply of clean, safe water, and the opportunity to invest in sustainable agriculture. Sand dams also help to improve growing conditions for crops by recharging groundwater levels, which in turn enables vegetation to regenerate, reducing erosion and improving soil fertility. Watch how sand dams work here:

About our Green Match Fund campaign

We will support a community living in Ukambani to construct a sand dam, providing a lifelong supply of clean water, whilst also helping to transform the surrounding environment. In addition, the community will be supported – with training, tools, and materials – to implement climate-smart agriculture techniques so that they can improve their crop yields, in turn enhancing their food security and enabling them to increase household income.

Peninnah Muli (pictured), a farmer from Ukambani who recently took part in a similar project, talks about the impact sand dams and climate-smart agriculture have had on her community.

“Before the sand dam project we had to walk long distances to fetch water, and dig scoop holes to get water which was very dirty. I am so happy we have completed this project. As a community we really enjoyed working together as we know that the challenge of water scarcity has now come to an end. Following the agricultural trainings we received already I am also more knowledgeable about how to reap the best harvests from my farm. I know the best seeds to use, how to till my farm, the best time to plant, and how to prepare my farm. These are all helping me grow more food.”

Peninnah Muli, Ngiluni Horticulture self-help group member, Ukambani, southeast Kenya

Missed our Green Match Fund campaign and still want to make to donation towards our work? Click here!