Category: UPGro Outcome
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Pan-UPGro workshop (2017) led to the completion of an unprecedented analysis of multi-decadal, groundwater-level records from 9 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa [C3]
The analysis was informed by the first-ever collation of long-term groundwater-level records across an aridity from hyper-arid to humid in Sub-Saharan Africa and an UPGro-wide, capacity-strengthening and knowledge co-production workshop held in 2017 in Tanzania involving Early Career researchers and their mentors and supervisors from all 5 UPGro consortium projects. The results of this study…
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UPGro evidence and approaches into a UNICEF guideline and an online course on drilling professionalisation, with WaterAid, UNICEF and UNHCR [C2]
UNICEF and UNHCR are major actors in global WASH, from high level policy to in-country implementation. Both have acknowledged challenges with drilling good quality boreholes that can supply communities and refugee camps safely and sustainably. Good practice guidelines, developed by Skat Foundation (UPGro Knowledge Broker) and UNICEF were reinforced by the evidence and methods emerging…
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UPGro co-generation: UPGro has been a catalyst for greater academic rigour and exchange between researchers and practitioners through its thematic and financial inputs to the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) [C1]
The UPGro Knowledge Broker, Skat Foundation, also hosts the Secretariat and leads the Sustainable Groundwater Development theme for the Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN), the only global network for rural water supply professionals in low and middle income countries. This has enabled the work of the Hidden Crisis and Gro for GooD Consortium projects and…
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UPGro Impact: responding to declining groundwater levels in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia [D5]
Addis Ababa relies on groundwater for more than 60% of its water supply. Water levels are declining significantly. Declining water levels is affecting access to water for some users. Rapid water level decline has led to some shallow community boreholes equipped with handpumps to fail. Old wells fields (e.g. The Old Akaki wellfield) tapping the…
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UPGro Impact: UPGro discovers untapped groundwater resources for Kwale County Water Master Plan, Kenya [D4]
Detailed groundwater investigations by the Gro for GooD team in Kenya identified new and significant groundwater resources in the Msambweni area of Kwale County, Kenya. This is an agricultural area with a growing tourist industry where domestic, commercial and agricultural demand for water is increasing. The Kwale County Water Master Plan (KCWMP) aims to exploit…
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UPGro Science: investment in local investigations, mapping and monitoring unlocks economic potential and resilience [S5]
Good local hydrogeological understanding and monitoring over time is required to define the sustainable yield of wells and boreholes, particularly in weathered basement aquifers, and from this assess opportunities for domestic, agricultural, commercial and industrial activities, and the associated risks. Many low-productivity fractured aquifers are capable of supporting handpump boreholes, with no evidence of climate…
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UPGro Impact: Handpump repair times in Kwale, Kenya, brought down from weeks to days. Kenya Water Act 2016 sets the framework for national scaling up. Fundifix business model is influencing the design of other rural water services [D3]
Background Financial sustainability, accessibility and reliability of rural water services is worldwide challenge, particularly in low and middle income countries. Furthermore, globally, 4 out of 5 people who don’t have access to even as basic water supply live in rural areas. In Kenya, as in much of Sub-Saharan Africa, rural people are highly dependent on…
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UPGro Impact: Designing roads for groundwater recharge and erosion control is expanding across Ethiopia and being introduced in Uganda and Kenya [D1]
Road runoff is a major problem in the tropics because heavy rainfall can lead to rapid soil erosion, which causes multiple problems. An UPGro catalyst project turned the problem into a solution by testing new road drainage designs in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, that channel the runoff into filtration ponds and swales, thus reducing flooding and…
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UPGro Impact: Ministry of Water & Environment, Uganda issues new directive and guidance on handpump materials, and suppliers respond [D2]
Background The SDGs aim for universal access to safely managed water services – a hugely ambitious target for many African countries. In 2015, only 25% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had access to safely managed water services, and the majority (34%) remain reliant on basic services [1]. In SSA, basic services (typically community…
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UPGro Science: Numerical groundwater models can be used to assess the sustainability of different groundwater scenarios to inform groundwater management and planning [S14]
Possible responses, such as infrastructure investment, improved groundwater monitoring and management, introduction of drought-resilient crops, and focus on environmental management, were identified to help mitigate the impacts.
UPGro 