Around 10,000 people and thousands of livestock now have access to clean water in the Tanzanian villages of Esilalei and Oltukai, in the African country’s semi-arid Monduli District.
Around 10,000 people and thousands of livestock now have access to clean water in the Tanzanian villages of Esilalei and Oltukai, in the African country’s semi-arid Monduli District.
Researchers from the University of Michigan and the nonprofit ELICO Foundation built a solar-powered pumping system to supply water to about 3,000 pastoralist families, following two years of collaboration. The project expanded the local distribution network by about 10 miles.
“This solar-powered infrastructure eliminates dependence on fossil fuels or unreliable grid electricity, meeting the realities of remote pastoral communities,” said Brian Min, U-M associate professor of political science and research associate professor at the Center for Political Studies at the Institute for Social Research. “Water access remains low, even decades after independence. One in three Tanzanians do not have access to improved water. In rural areas, that rate is substantially higher.”
Read More at: University of Michigan
Clean water in Esilalei and Oltukai villages and surrounding hamlets in Monduli District. (Photo Credit: Esau Ng’umbi of the ELICO Foundation and U-M’s Kelly Askew)
