Excellent Development (2008 Partner)
1.1 billion people worldwide have no access to safe water. For women and children in rural Africa this means spending up to 12 hours every day collecting water, leaving them little time to focus on growing enough food to feed their families and provide income for basics like medicines and schooling. Chronic soil erosion, made worse by climate change, further reduces their ability to grow food. Excellent Development works with vulnerable communities in Kenya to improve their water supplies and food production through activities which conserve soil and water, giving them security against future droughts. It has pioneered the use of a new and replicable technology of building sand dams. Annual evaluations show that where Excellent Development has worked, there is a reduction in water collection time from an average of 6 hours per day to less than 1 hour. It was set up in 2002 by two founders – Simon Maddrell (UK based) and Joshua Mukuysa (Kenya based) and has grown consistently since its inception. It won the UK Charity of the Year in 2008 at the Charity Awards.