In the coastal region, there was a women's group engaged in maize farming, facing the challenging task of walking 5 kilometers uphill to fetch water for both irrigation and domestic use. Often, their children accompanied them in accomplishing this task.
Their collective dream was to have access to clean water in close proximity to their homes, aiming to save precious time and energy that could be redirected towards more productive activities.
The Mombasa County government, in collaboration with the Swedish embassy, approached us to customize a solar-powered pump. This innovative solution was designed to draw water closer to the women's homes, alleviating the need for the strenuous journey to fetch water. Consequently, the women could redirect their energy and time towards tending to their farms, while the children had ample time and energy to focus on their studies.
The positive results were transformative:
The women saved more than $640 annually that would have been spent on fuel for fetching water.
With the solar-powered pump, they saved 18 hours weekly, no longer having to manually fetch water.
The yield from their maize farming increased significantly, rising from 6 tonnes to an impressive 13 tonnes.
