Igunga Ecovillage - Aqua for All

In the Inguga district of Tanzania, over 85% of the area relies on smallholder farming and agriculture as their main livelihoods and 45% of the population lives below the poverty line. This area has been affected by climate change causing erratic and insufficient rainfall, loss of natural resources (water and wood) and increased incidence of pests and diseases. These changes have resulted in a loss of productivity for agricultural and livestock activities.

The Igunga Ecovillage was a pilot initiative to increase the resilience of some of these communities by reducing poverty and increasing climate change adaptation.

Interventions focused on four thematic areas: social capital, agriculture and animal husbandry, water (WASH) and renewable energy and forestry. The Ecovillage also sought to improve understanding of climate change resilience strategies among key stakeholders at local, district, national and international levels.

Aqua for All and its partners Acacia Water, MetaMeta and Rain worked together on the water component of this initiative using the innovative 3R (retention, recharge and reuse) approach. This approach offers effective and sustainable solutions to recharge, retain and reuse water sources leading to higher availability of groundwater. The following results were achieved between 2015 and 2019:

Number of people reached

10 Ecovillages are created through which 6,000 farmer families have become more resilient in dealing with climate change.

Improved WRM

Farmers are practicing sustainable agriculture and livestock methods and are re-using (rain)water as safe drinking water (either for themselves, their animals or for land irrigation).

Youth involvement

At schools, environmental clubs are created to involve youngsters. These groups are focusing on the construction and maintenance of tree nurseries to regreen schools and to sell to other community members.