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During the last two weeks of May, I went on a short mission to Senegal. During this time, I was able to visit projects carried out at the start of the year, meet old and new players, conduct awareness-raising and training sessions and supervise the start-up of activities linked to erosion control.

In this blog, I'd like more specifically to share my observations from my meeting with three women's groups from the "Femmes de Terre" project, which is being carried out in partnership with APAF Sen...

The South Asia Rainwater Network (SARNET) is hosted by Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum In Sri Lanka. SARNET was set up in late 2019 in order to promote best practices and experiences in rainwater harvesting in the South Asian region. It has grown from some 30 members in 2020 to well over a hundred in 2023. Most members are from South Asia, with some also from Africa. The broader objective of SARNET is to generate further knowledge and evidence on suitability of rainwater harvesting, suppor...

Work on the overburdening, backfilling and compacting of three boulis (rainwater retention ponds) took place in the Fatick region from 27.03.2023 to 21.04.2023.

The boulis were built in three villages in the Siné Saloum region of central Senegal as part of the "A kop allé no maag olé - La Forêt de la Mer" project, led by IRHA and its Senegalese partners, APAF and Oceanium.

The construction of these structures is an ongoing, evolving and living process. Improvements are likely to be incorpor...

The UN Annual Report on the Water Development in the World with title “Partnerships and Cooperation for Water” published at the World
Water Conference today in New York, cites as a positive example the
catchment of rainwater in the Brazilian Northeast.

Box 4.3 Smart rainwater management and drought resilience in rural semi-arid communities: A case study of Northeast Brazil

The smart rainwater management in Northeast Brazil was triggered by a drought between 1979 and 1983, which killed near...

On behalf of the rainwater harvesting community- the International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance has submitted a commitment to the UN Secretary General's Water Action Agenda.

The commitment states that we, as a global alliance [aim] to improve water security through promoting rainwater harvesting and storage for households, schools and health centres; for agriculture and ecosystems; and for urban climate resilience.

The initiative aims at promoting Rainwater Management in response to intern...

On behalf of the following organizations :

The International Rainwater HarvestingAlliance (IRHA, Switzerland), Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum (LRWHF, SriLanka), South Asia Rainwater Network (SARNET, Sri Lanka), Clean Water - HealthyVillage (Netherlands), Rainwater Harvesting Association of Malawi (RHAM, Malawi), Rain forAll (South Korea), American Rainwater Catchment Systems Association (ARCSA),Asociación Mexicana de Sistemas de Captación de Agua de Lluvia A.C. (AMSCALL,Mexico) and the Sen...

Rainwater is recognized as directly related to the current climate crisis, especially the phenomena of flood and drought. It, however, has been receiving less attention among water management practices or even ignored or managed off-site instead of source-control. As people in the Monsoon region have traditionally suffered from droughts and floods each year, rainwater is either a blessing or a curse, depending on how they manage rainwater. They might also have cultivated site-specific ...

Discover the testimony of Océane, student in Master of Environmental Sciences at the University of Geneva and intern at IRHA for almost a year. She tells us about her stay in Senegal, as part of the field visit to follow the evolution of IRHA's activities.

"November 2022 was an opportunity for me to discover the land of teranga, an experience rich in all aspects: human encounters, cultural discoveries, culinary and musical initiations, not to mention the magnificent landscapes covered with t...

During the period between January 17 and February 03 2023, a reinforcement training on calebash rainwater harvesting tanks was held in Guinea Bissau. This training brought together mason-trainers from four West African countries: Nigeria, Guinea Conakry, Guinea Bissau and Senegal.

On this occasion, IRHA sent the team that has built most of the calabash tanks in Senegal since 2019 (more than 130!), namely, the coordinator and technician Abdoul Aziz Konaré and the two masons Habib Ndong and M...

Murcia is a Province in the southeast of Spain with a long history of Mediterranean exchanges among sailors, religions, slavery and different occupations.

Since the Fenicians in the II century b.c indigenous settlements were exposed to other civilizations from the east and south of the Mediterranean.

Several occupations from the eastern Roman Empire in Bizance, Moors and Berbers from Northern Africa, jewish, Visigods, Catholics have lived together and struggled along history dominating the coas...

November 2022 was the occasion for IRHA to carry out a field visit to Senegal in order to follow the evolution of the activities implemented by IRHA and its partners: APAF SN, Océanium de Dakar and Caritas Kaolack. This mission also allowed Océane, an intern at IRHA, to discover Senegal, its landscapes and its population. As part of her master's thesis at the University of Geneva, she is studying the links between land salinisation, local agricultural practices and the various land manageme...

During the days of November 17 and 18 was held a meeting between the various partners of the IRHA in Senegal. In addition to the IRHA team, we could count on the presence of APAF Senegal, Oceanium Dakar, Caritas Kaolack, SOS Faim, Growing Life Farm, local authorities and field actors.

On the first day, in the magnificent setting of the hotel de la Source aux Lamantins in Djilor, on the banks of a bolong, the local name for an arm of the sea, participants were able to follow a series of trainin...

Storing runoff during the monsoon season in Himalayan hills is crucial to have enough water to cope with the dry season, especially considering that climate change is changing rainfall intensity and patterns. Traditional Nepalese water ponds, called pokharis, are used to store runoff mainly for cattle rearing and rice fields’ supplementary irrigation. Local communities are interested in restoring existing pokharis and building new ones to improve their economical and living conditions. Sele...

IRHA participated in the 11th Symposium on Rainwater Harvesting and Management. This meeting mobilised a large number of actors active in this sector (NGOs, private sector, local authorities) in order to promote a better management of this resource on Brazilian territories.

During this meeting, IRHA and ABCMAC signed a partnership agreement to strengthen their cooperation in the implementation of pilot projects, capacity building of stakeholders in rainwater management and the implementation o...

The International Rainwater Harvesting Alliance IRHA is saddened to learn of the untimely demise in Kathmandu last Friday September 16 of our good friend Prakash Amatya.

During the last 25 years Prakash has been a great inspiration to many in Nepal active in the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene sector. Prakash was a driving force behind the revival of Dhunge Dhara (traditional stone water spouts) and in different capacities facilitated local initiatives to public sanitation and to rainwater harv...

In Senegal, but more globally in the entire Sahelian region, water problems are increasingly worrying for populations and ecosystems. Indeed, this region is subject to a rainfall regime of only 3-4 months followed by a complete dry period of 8-9 months.

As part of its territorial diagnosis, the IRHA located existing water points in the Sine Saloum region, Senegal. These water points, locally called marigots are essential for the watering of livestock but also for all wild biodiversity.

U...

Rain Communities are targeted communities in mid hills of Nepal where nature-based solutions have been implemented through Integrated Water Resouce Management (IWRM) activities in partnership with Kanchan Nepal.

Discover the video of our project !

Our Blue School project in Tobang is going well !

We have been able to build 2 rainwater harvesting tanks, a new sanitary block and a hand washing system, in order to provide a better environment for the children and the educational staff.

Thanks to our partner Kanchan Nepal for the implementation of these infrastructures.

This initiative is supported by the Hirzel Foundation and the Services Industriels de Terre Sainte et Environs SITSE.

The Blue Schools program, developed by IRHA, has been succ...

Background

Recently, a study was published in Environmental Science & Technology that concluded that PFAS in rainwater in several locations exceeded Lifetime Drinking Water Health Advisory levels from the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA). Similarly, maximum permissible levels under review in EU and Denmark are exceeded. PFAS are not only present in rainwater, but also in soil and water. There these also exceed local standards.

PFAS (per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances) have been ...

For the years to come, the problem of better stormwater management in urban areas is a real challenge for the development of cities that are expanding due to a growing rural exodus. While developed countries are beginning to implement "at source" management policies, countries in the South are lagging behind in these so-called alternative practices.

These practices not only allow for better management of flooding risks during intense rainfall events, but also allow for the reintroduction of na...

New programmes on ecosystem restoration, Food sovereignty , water resilient peasant agriculture, watershed management, but above all new Alliance partnerships, the year 2021 has been rich in new developments for IRHA.

Our Annual Report 2021 is OUT!

Thanks to all the donors, sponsors, public institutions, foundations that support our actions!!!

2021 Annual Report

Let's go for Blue School#11! (Tobang, Nepal). The Kanchan Nepal team met with the local authorities and the school of Janapriya to launch the project.

This initiative will help in enabling an environment where pupils can be safe and study. We will rehabilitate toilets, build 2 cisterns to collect rainwater and store it, build a roof serving as a catchment area as well as hand washing stations.

This initiative is supported by the Hirzel Foundation and the Services Industriels de Terre Sainte et ...

Can you see anything? We do...

Within the framework of the project "the forest of the sea", the IRHA, APAF Sn and Océanium Dakar intend to rehabilitate several lowland areas in the region of Fatick in order to restore the balance

The lowland areas are most often neglected, deforested but represent low points where rainwater accumulates. These areas are used by livestock and wildlife and allow infiltration and recharge of groundwater.

The problem in the Sahelian zones is above all the strong eva...

In December 2021, Malkanthi a sri lankan mason went to Nepal to train the masons of Kanchan Nepal to build a pumpkin-shaped rainwater harvesting tank.

Malkanthi is a native of Athiliwewa Monaragala (Sri Lanka), a mother of three children.She is the first female mason trained by the Lanka Rainwater Harvesting Forum and has encouraged and trained other women as masons in the Monaragala district.

On her way to Nepal, she swept away all gender barriers and stereotypes to share her knowledge and tra...

As part of its reforestation activities within the “Rain Communities” project in Nepal, IRHA is working closely with the Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal (FECOFUN), which units together 22’300 Community Forestry Users Groups. To better understand FECOFUN’s activities in Nepal, Nirmal Adhikari (NA) – Project Manager at Kanchan Nepal - interviewed Kalidas Subedi (KS), the Provincial Chairperson of FECOFUN for Gandaki Province.

NA: Who is FECOFUN?

KS: The Federation of...

Storing water during monsoon in the nepalese hills is crucial to have enough water to cope with the dry season, especially now that climate change is causing modifications in rainfall intensity and pattern.

In the framework of the project “Rain communities”, a collaborative field mission has been conducted in Nepal in October 2021 between the team members of the Water Harvesting Lab - WHL (University of Florence) and the IRHA. The visit aimed to refine the best sites for water collection a...

In the context of the International Day for the Conservation of Mangrove Ecosystems on 26 July, IRHA is pleased to present its latest project in collaboration with Oceanium de Dakar in the Sine Saloum estuary in central Senegal: "A Kop Ale no Maag Olè (the Forest of the Sea in Wolof). It will support during 24 months the communities of four estuarine villages located in the commune of Djilasse (Fatick, Senegal).

This initiative, supported by the AP Foundation, aims specifically to strengthen ...

With human forcing of the climate system, storms and droughts are becoming more severe and prolonged in many regions across the globe (UNFCC, 2014).

In Nepal, increasingly intense monsoon rainfall and longer dry periods are predicted. Marginalised communities in the Himalayan Mid-hills are already experiencing the adverse impact of these increasingly erratic weather patterns.

Yet we can still act for the common good of these communities and the ecosystems that support them. By working with vil...

Deforestation, caused in large part by the expansion of agricultural land, amplifies the vulnerability of the soil to seasonal climatic variations (drought, heavy rains, etc.). The rain, initially perceived as a blessing by the farmers, can then become particularly devastating!

In Keur Maba Diakhou’ municipality, where the "Of earth and rain" project operates, soils are greatly suffering from water erosion. This causes large gullies that threaten both inhabited and cultivated areas.

Faced...

In support of the "Rain Communities" project, a nursery is being built in Pokhara region to support reforestation and anti-erosion activities. Native plants with high economic value have been selected in partnership with FECOFUN (Federation of Community Foresty Users Nepal) to promote the infiltration of rainwater and to ensure better soil maintenance.

And 10 ...! The success of the blue schools continues and it is spreading in Pokhara region.

After having implemented 4 Blue Schools from 2011-2013 in marginalized communities of the Annapurna Massif region, which are seriously lacking access to safe drinking water, quality sanitation and knowledge on best hygiene practices, IRHA and its local partner Kanchan Nepal have received requests from other local communities to implement the Blue School concept in the region.

Thus, a new Blue School wa...

It's time to take stock of the "De terre et de pluie" project, which is completing its first year of implementation, which has been particularly eventful!

Yancoba (CTA) and the agroforestry farmers did not skimp on efforts and adaptation strategies to carry out the agroforestry campaign despite the many difficulties related to the sanitary context and the delay of the rains.

After a week of mission rich in meetings, discoveries and exchanges with local actors, agroforestry farmers and our f...

Faced with demographic growth and the future amplification of climate change and health crises, rainwater is more than ever a precious resource for the sahelian rural populations. Channeling, collecting and storing this ephemeral "blue gold" becomes vital, to guarantee the fragile balance between the different uses of water, which tend to cause more conflicts each year.

In collaboration with the Water Harvesting Lab of Florence Univesity (Italy), APAF Senegal and local stakeholders, IRHA Sen...

The observation, identification and participatory analysis of the natural ressources degradation dynamics are at the heart of the ecosystem approach and nature-based solutions, supported by IRHA as part of its interventions and advocacy.

In the “Rain, Forest and People” project area (Fatick department, Senegal), IRHA and APAF Senegal have carried out, in close collaboration with local actors, a retrospective and multi-scale territorial diagnosis on the historical and anthropogenic causes...

Two months after the beginning of a generous monsoon season in the “Rain, Forest and People” project area, the APAF Senegal team visited households which benefited from the construction of a Calabash in June 2020. The purpose of the visit was to check the quality of the new constructions and to measure the water level in the tanks.

The team was very much welcome by the selected families. The latter were fully satisfied and happy with their new rainwater harvesting system. According to test...

Mission completed for the IRHA Senegal team!

After ten intensive days of data collection in Keur Maba Diakhou Bamunicipality (Kaolack region), it is time to handover to the APAF Senegal team for agroforestry nurseries monitoring, in the five beneficiary villages of #ofeathandrain project!

Huge thanks to Yancoba Sall Diene, advisor in agroforestry techniques of the area and Mr. Dramé, agroforestry farmer from Mandera, teacher at high school and very committed eco-citizen, for their formi...

Rachel Hosein Nisbet (RHN): How did you come to work with APAF Senegal?

Mansour Ndiaye (MN): I am a farmer’s son. After studying agronomy, I spent 23 years working in industrial agriculture. Since 1945, Senegal has grown peanuts as a monoculture crop, to supply France. I saw forests felled and chemical fertilizers and pesticides added to newly ploughed fields. But farmers’ yields still dropped. After witnessing the harm done to farmers and topsoil by industrial agriculture, I became an...

After a sitting in front of a computer preparing IRHA’s latest Nepal project, I was excited when the plane to Kathmandu finally revved its engines and took off from Geneva airport. Landing in Nepal’s capital with my colleague Marc Sylvestre, the churn of people and vehicles was overwhelming. By the time we finally found a little restaurant and the “momos” (ravioli made with rice flour) we ordered got burned and filled the restaurant with smoke, it was clear my Nepal adventure would ...

To learn about IRHA’s New Integrated Water Resource Management Project in the Kaski District of Nepal, Rachel Nisbet (RN) spoke with Kanchan Nepal's Team Leader, Gajendra Singh Pun (GSP).Having built rainwater-harvesting systems to supply his household with water, Mr Pun is convinced of the value of using rain as a water resource. He has never had to buy water from a tanker since installing his rainwater harvesting system, and would like to see people in the urban centers of Pokhara and ...

Making Participatory Maps to Talk Water

Creating an Integrated Water Resource Management plan involves many community-based organisations. In our Nepali project with Kanchan Nepal, we liaise with mother’s groups, youth clubs, water user committees, cooperatives, farmer’s groups, and forest user groups to get communities thinking about how their water supply depends on both groundwater flow and rainfall.

To cultivate local hydro-wisdom, it is important to find a common language to tal...

Blandine Barthod’s assessment of IRHA’s 10 Blue Schools in Nepal took her through the mountain region to the East of Pokhara. She visited the following schools between 16 October and 13 November 2019, with the help of our local project partners Kanchan Nepal:

Accompanied by a translator, she first attended the opening of a new Blue School at Bijaya village, with its news rainwater harvesting tank and toilets (images 1 & 2 below).

She then visited an abandoned school at Arundaya, where...

Book Review

Bob Bouleware’s Alternative Water Sources and Wastewater Management (2012) offers an excellent overview of the intersection between precipitation harvesting (rain, fog, dew) and wastewater management. By bringing these topics together, this book offers a timely introduction to water management practices that contribute to water, nutrient and energy recycling. Stopping the linear flow of nutrients from land, into watercourses and out to sea is urgent: the hypoxia resulting from...

Toilets, Connecting SDGs 6 and 15 : An Interview with Philippe Morier-Genoud

RN: Thanks for taking the time to talk with IRHA about the importance of recycling black water and the nutrients it contains, thus linking SDGs 6 (sanitation for all) and 15 (sustainable use of ecosystems). I’m curious how you have updated a topic alluded to by the everyman hero of James Joyce's novel Ulysses, as he heads out to use the EC in his garden:

He bent down to regard a lean file of spearmint growing by...

My departure for Nepal is now approaching very quickly. After studying international relations, environment and water management, I am excited to finally use my knowledge practically. I already had some travelling experience as a backpacker. However, this fieldwork is very special, as I will discover an unfamiliar society with different cultural traditions. I am excited about this journey and the inspiring new people I will meet.

Throughout this journey, I will have the opportunity to disco...

After three months working in our agroforestry project in Senegal, I’ve returned to Switzerland. My fieldwork has allowed me to experience this country’s extremely arid environment. In the Fatick region, the seasons contrast starkly. Normally, the rainy season, spanning the months of July to September, is when crops are planted in rural areas. However, 2019 proved to be an exceptional year, with the rains arriving extremely late. The first real rains only fell in the last week of August....

This blog post introduces a technical journal article written by Castelli et al. (2017) examining how the Pirai river basin in Bolivia is managed. This catchment contains forests, woodlands, grasslands and wetlands; it is the water source for three million people, supplying the urban centre of Santa Cruz de la Sierra. One particularly useful feature of this study is its demonstration of the feedbacks between changing landscape cover in recent decades and shifting hydrological patterns. Its m...

There are many private and cooperative rainwater harvesting initiatives in the Geneva region. While sharing information about rainwater harvesting at the 5th Alternatiba Léman Festival, in the city’s Parc des Bastions, we exchanged with local advocates of rainwater harvesting. We learnt about the collective and cooperative, Le Terroir, who harvest rain for watering their organic, market garden. They sell their produce in Présilly on Tuesday evenings.

We chatted with a local inhabitant, ...

What’s value of a tree? Tree planting is a feature of our Blue Schools, whose five components comprise rainwater harvesting, sanitation, hygiene training, tree planting and school gardens. On re-visiting two IRHA Blue Schools in Kaolack, Senegal earlier this month, Marc Sylvestre (IRHA’s Executive Director) was delighted to observe the positive impact on-campus tree planting has within the local community. The Kaolack Blue Schools were established in 2011, in partnership with Caritas Kao...

Thirty-five farmers in Senegal’s Fatick-Thiès region are ready to harvest rain! In late May, IRHA’s Florian Biesler travelled to Senegal with our director, Marc Sylvestre, to kick off the project’s calabash construction. These rainwater reservoirs will provide the first volley of farmers participating in the 'Rain, Forests, People’ agroforestry project with the means of storing harvested rainwater. This resource will provide drinking water for their families, even at the end of the ...

Florian Bielser is a twenty-six-year-old MSc student of environmental engineering at the EPFL, Switzerland. He is currently on placement as an IRHA field manager. Here’s an edited translation of his Senegalese Field Journal:

Boyard N’diodiom, 25.06.2019

Marc and I arrived in Dakar at dusk on the 24th of May. Our short night’s sleep, followed by a bus journey, left me feeling groggy as we visited IRHA Blue Schools in Senegal’s main peanut processing and trading centre, Kaolack. But th...

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