Help to self-help: Clean Water for Zambia

Productive making blocks. Credits: Jacana Foundation (2021)

Woman at the market. Credits: Jacana Foundation (2021)

Location & Country: 
Zambia
Project Period: 
July 2021 – December 2023 
Thematic Focus:
  • Access to Services
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Rural and dispersed areas

Description of the Project

This project promotes the notion of self-supply and the Simple Market-based Affordable Repair Technologies (SMARTech) to support local communities to have affordable and sustainable access to water.  

Local entrepreneurs are carefully selected and trained to build and repair local water solutions. For example, welders are trained in the production of pumps and drilling equipment and well diggers are trained in manual drilling and installation of solar and hand pumps. 

The solutions are produced locally and therefore are affordable and can be maintained locally. Users are encouraged to pay a small commitment fee for the operation and maintenance of the systems.  

With this approach, the project creates a local market, where users buy pumps and boreholes direct from the welders and drillers even without support from NGOs or Government.  

Bucket production. Credits: Jacana Foundation (2021)

Donors:

Lotteriefonds St. Gallen

Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) Programme Contribution

Name of Partner Organisation(s):

Jacana Foundation, SMART Centre Zambia 

Name of Staff involved and functions performed:

Matthias Saladin, Project Manager

Credits: Jacana Foundation (2021)

Our results in 2022

    • 110 Pumps were installed . 
    • 1621 people have access to basic drinking water services (855 women and 766 men) 
    • 704 people have significantly improved their access to economic resources 
    • 184 artisans and local entrepreneurs improved their capacities through technical and entrepreneurial trainings.

Zambia children. Credits: Jacana Foundation (2021)

Woman collecting water from the pump. Credits: Jacana Foundation (2021)