Published in August 2025

Earlier this year, our Ethiopian partner, Action for Development (AFD) engaged some members of Tulungo Village in a conversation about their sand dam projects. Below they detail their previous shared struggles without accessible clean water and how the sand dam has positively changed their lives.

Before the members of Tulungo constructed their sand dam, water was so scarce that they struggled to access enough water for their household needs. Community members recall not only having to compete with one another for water, but also with animals.

Their struggle extended beyond just the availability of water but was also due to its poor accessibility. The distance to the nearest water source, coupled with the time spent waiting for others to take their turn drawing water, meant that the trip often took hours. This is time that people could have spent engaging in activities to generate income or attending school, which highlights the ability water access has to free up time and allow individuals to have personal pursuits, which we often take for granted.

During times of drought, accessibility would become even worse because the water supply would reduce, meaning community members would have to source water at even further distances (roughly six hours one way) and potentially sleep at the source overnight, which was a common but unsafe occurrence, especially if women and young people took this journey. This issue serves as a reminder that nearby access to water provides security and reduces the need to make long journeys, during which individuals could encounter wild animals and other unsafe situations.

Now, things are looking up for Tulungo since the implementation of a sand dam, with community members documenting that they can easily fetch three jerry cans of water and simply go back for more if they wanted to.

'Model farmer', Arme Dili, is experiencing the benefits of the sand dam and is already thinking ahead about how to reap more from her farming. She explains her plans:

“Already I have harvested maize and sorghum. Some was used for household consumption and for the remainder, I will dry the seeds so that they can be re-planted in the next growing season.”

The ‘model farmer’ structure involves our Ethiopian partner, AFD, training a small group of model farmers who go on to train others thus decreasing reliance on AFD and increasing reach and sustainability.

Muda Kembel, another model farmer, says that due to the sand dam project, she has been able to diversify her crops and use them to cook food for her family. Muda hopes that she will be able to sell any surplus at the market to gain an income. She says:

“Currently, I am growing onion, maize, bananas and more. I am happy doing the farming, as previously I didn’t understand how other people were producing yields at the household level, but now I can do it myself.”

Muda Kembel, farmer from the Tulungo Village in Ethiopia.

As a model farmer, Muda has passed on her expertise to four other farmers in the community, so that they too can take full advantage of the sand dam to see similar results.

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