1 million sand dams for 0.5 billion people by 2040

Sand Dams Worldwide (formerly Excellent Development) plans to directly support other organisations to build 100 sand dams every year by 2020, increasing to 200 every year by 2025; in turn, realising our vision to support millions of the world’s poorest people by helping them to transform their own lives through water and soil conservation in drylands. Read about our strategy here:

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Latest

September 2022 sand dam expedition

Sand Dams Worldwide supports communities in drylands around the world to transform their own lives with sand dams and climate-smart agriculture; empowering them to achieve lifelong access to water and food. Please donate to help more vulnerable dryland communities benefit from sand dam projects.
Sand dams feature in BBC's Our Changing Planet

Sand dams and our partners in southeast Kenya, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, feature in the BBC's latest documentary series charting the world's most threatened ecosystems and the groundbreaking solutions hoping to bring extraordinary change.
Sand dams: Water for life

We need your support so that we can help vulnerable dryland communities to achieve lifelong water security with sand dams.
£22,513.75 raised in the Green Match Fund 2022 - thank you!

The campaign, which ran for seven days only, offered supporters of participating charities the opportunity to have their donations doubled.

Our philosophy and values

Our philosophy and values define who we are, every action we take and how we behave towards others. They are our most profound convictions. Each of us is called to respect, experience, enact and promote them.

What is a sand dam?
Reversing land degradation and desertification

Conservation of the environment is critical to the economic development of people living in drylands.
Donate

Please donate what you can to transform lives and land with sand dams and clean water.
The challenge

Find out what are drylands, why they are they are such harsh regions to live, how sand dams are applicable in drylands and what difference they can make to over 40% of the world's land surface.
1 million sand dams for 0.5 billion people by 2040

Read about our plan to directly support other organisations to build sand dams, in turn, realising our vision to support millions of the world’s poorest people by helping them to transform their own lives through water and soil conservation in drylands.
Our approach

Find out more about Excellent's approach, from working with self-help groups to why we partner we on-ground, local organisations.
Climate-smart agriculture

It’s astonishing to see what can be achieved through these simple, but highly effective, techniques of climate-smart agriculture.
Watch how sand dams work

Film explaining how sand dams work and their potential impact in the world's drylands
End hunger with sand dams

We need your help so that we can continue to support more vulnerable dryland communities to take part in sand dam and climate-smart agriculture projects, and empower them to end hunger and achieve long-term food security.
Improving health and daily lives

Sand dams provide a safer water supply as the water stored below the surface is protected from evaporation, contamination and waterborne diseases.