About the region

Mozambique is one of the poorest and most disaster-prone countries in the world. The country is vulnerable to extreme climatic conditions such as droughts, cyclones and floods, which destroy infrastructure and restrict economic growth. This hinders efforts to achieve environmental sustainability and to eradicate poverty and hunger. 

Extreme poverty is prevalent in Mozambique’s rural drylands. More than 70% of poor households live in rural areas with rain-fed agriculture as their main source of food and income. Agricultural productivity is low and most of the rural population survives at subsistence level. In the wake of natural disasters like drought, rural communities are immediately exposed to the threat of food insecurity since they have few income-generating alternatives to agriculture.

The World Food Programme estimates that over half of Mozambique’s households are affected by food insecurity and approximately one-third by chronic food insecurity. In addition, only around 60% of rural people have access to safe water.

About our partner

Micaia Foundation are a Mozambican NGO working in the south-west province of Manica. They work with rural communities in a number of areas including agriculture, natural product enterprises and practical conservation. The climate in Manica is semi-arid with one rainfall season a year. Access to potable water is very low with just 44% of the population having access to a supply of safe water.

How we're working together

To our knowledge there are no examples of sand dams in Manica province, although the climate and terrain are very well suited to sand dams. We are therefore working with Micaia to pilot sand dams in Manica province with the aim of developing a longer-term programme.

Sand dam technology is new to Micaia Foundation but will complement their existing programmes very well. This partnership includes building the capacity of Micaia foundation in siting, designing, and constructing sand dams.