Digging “smiling” rain catchers in Kenya
Kuku Group Ranch, Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem at the foothills of Kilimanjaro
+/- 650 adults and 2070 children, members of the Maasai community
secured: € 430 000 / still to be collected: € 460 000
The Maasai land has been severely affected by overgrazing and deforestation, thus resulting in a large degraded area prone to desertification. Most rainfall water is no longer taken up by plants and does not infiltrate the soil. The project aims to restore the habitat and increase community resilience to climate change by rainwater harvesting and planned grazing. NAGA slows the runoff by manually creating water retention and catchment bunds or trenches and planting vegetation. The project in total restores and saves 30km², starting with a pilot project, followed with four different phases of around 8 km² each. Digging of 70,000 ‘smiling’ rain catchers has still to be done, as well as a base camp for 18 rangers who secure the restoration sites and their surroundings.