United Republic of Tanzania

Clean water, good health: Water Supply and Health Project in Marginal Areas

The rich soil and tropical climate of the United Republic of Tanzania support farming, a mainstay of the country's economy. Agriculture employs 90 per cent of the population and provides 80 per cent of exports. But rainfall is erratic in this region and drought all too common. Without a steady water supply, crops produce small yields or nothing at all. When water is hard to come by, people often drink contaminated water and then fall ill with intestinal diseases, a major cause of infant deaths. Often the closest well is kilometres away, which means that women and girls must walk hours under the hot sun to fetch water for drinking, cooking and cleaning.

Clean water is nearby for 180,000 people in the districts of Dodoma and Kondoa, thanks to a US$11.2 million five-year project supported by BSF and IFAD. More than 60 bore wells have been drilled deep into the soil, each providing water for 5,000 to 6,000 people. Another 90 shallow wells provide an easy and inexpensive source of water.

Having a water pump nearby makes a dramatic difference to the lives of rural people. Agnes lives in the village of Chiboli . She used to spend six hours a day collecting water, carrying the buckets on her head. Besides wasting time she could have used for farming or for caring for her children, it gave her a constant headache. “Now I only spend half an hour fetching water ,” she says. “I have more time for working in the fields.”

With clean water available, the incidence of water-borne illness has dropped by half in Dodoma . The project has also modernized 25 health clinics and dispensaries. Efforts are being made to reduce the incidence of malaria, which kills 3,000 children each day in Africa . Health workers teach villagers how protecting themselves against mosquito bites lowers the risk of contracting malaria. They also provide mosquito nets and anti-malarial drugs at low prices.

One of the most innovative aspects of the project is its ability to sustain itself. Water user committees decide what type of water pumps and sanitation the villages need and what they can afford. They establish small fees to cover maintenance costs and receive training so they will know how to repair the pumps. And families pay into a health fund that covers the salaries of the health workers and the cost of medicines. As a result, the community will be able to sustain the improvements being made, long after BSF and IFAD have left the scene.

Lessons learned:

One project builds on another.
While this BSF project focused on water and health, IFAD was working in the same area to boost farm production. Then another IFAD project took those improvements one step further, adding a savings and credit component and constructing roads to connect villages to markets.