What we do

Sand Dams Worldwide (formerly Excellent Development) is a registered charitable company that supports some of the world’s poorest people to transform their own lives through water and soil conservation in drylands. We do this in three ways:

• By working with local partners, we support rural communities to gain access to clean water close to their homes and to invest in sustainable agriculture.
• By pioneering sand dams, we promote and support the application of sand dam technology by key stakeholders in drylands.
• By influencing and educating those who can help achieve our vision including – but not limited to – policy makers, international NGOs, government departments and civil engineering firms. 

Our charitable objects

• To promote the conservation, protection and improvement of the physical and natural environment for the public benefit; and
• To relieve poverty, in particular but not exclusively, by supporting sustainable development* projects; and
• To advance the education of the public in the subjects of sustainable development, conservation and the relief of poverty, in particular but not exclusively by the undertaking and dissemination of research.

*Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Our purpose

• To support rural communities in dryland areas to gain access to clean water and grow enough food to eat and sell.
• To pioneer the application of sand dam technology as part of an integrated approach to water security, sustainable development and infrastructure development.
• To influence and educate via research, development of manuals and proofs, lobbying and partnerships such that Sand Dams Worldwide becomes the acknowledged source of expertise in this area.

Strategic objectives and public benefit statement

In setting our objectives and planning our activities our Trustees have given careful consideration to the Charity Commission’s general guidance on public benefit.

• Support communities in drylands worldwide to achieve water and food security through soil and water conservation and improved farming techniques, as enabled by sand dams.
• Promote community self-help as the critical factor in creating sustainable development.
• Establish sand dams as a key water supply option alongside the more common water solutions.
• Engage with organisations at the local, national and international level to influence and support wider adoption of sand dam technology.
• Promote sand dams and soil and water conservation as a means of combating desertification, mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change, conserving biodiversity and enabling green economic growth.
• Promote the use of sand dam technology as an alternative method of road crossings for seasonal rivers – both for public works and in wildlife reserves.
• Enhance development education and awareness worldwide.