Over 400 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lack access to clean water and suffer acutely from water-related illnesses. That is, one in three African citizens are affected by water scarcity and the challenges posed by climate change. This situation is projected to become more severe in the years to come. However, the solutions are simple, and Innovation: Africa is proud to be utilizing Israeli solar, water and agricultural technologies to alleviate this struggle and transform rural African communities.
Founded in 2008, Innovation: Africa (iA) is an Israeli nonprofit organization that utilizes solar energy to provide light and electricity to off-grid schools and medical centers and, crucially, to pump clean water throughout remote villages across 10 African countries.
To date, Innovation: Africa has completed over 880 solar and water installations, impacting over 4.2 million people in Uganda, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Eswatini, Cameroon, DRC, Ethiopia and Senegal. Over the next four years, it aims to complete an additional 1,200 projects to impact 10 million people proudly in the name of Israel.
The construction of solar water pumping systems is simple, cost-effective and instantaneously transformative. To construct these systems, Innovation: Africa has engaged over 40 local contractors across its countries of operation to drill into the aquifer and construct 10-meter towers which house the solar panels, water tank and solar pump required to harness the energy from the sun and retrieve the clean water that is trapped just meters beneath the ground.
Distribution points are constructed throughout a village to ensure that all community members, sometimes as many as 10,000 people, will have equal access to clean water.
Helping empower local community members
Innovation: Africa believes in the empowerment of the local community members. At each water project, 10 villagers are hired, paid and trained by the contractors to assist with the construction of the system. Upon completion, the trainees receive a certificate which will assist with their future employment opportunities and will ensure the long-term success and sustainability of the project, as they are able to independently operate, maintain, and fix the system.
The effect of clean water is felt by all community members, as their health and well-being dramatically improve. It is most poignantly experienced by the women and young girls, who are predominantly responsible for walking kilometers every day in search of water from open and contaminated sources.
Now, with Innovation: Africa’s water projects, the women are relieved of this burden, regaining time and their independence, and their children can attend school, helping them reach their full potential.
Moreover, with access to water, economic stability begins to take place across the villages, as businesses are established, such as brick-making and agricultural programs, whereby community members grow vegetables to feed themselves and sell the surplus in local markets.
Innovation: Africa is proud of its Special Consultative Status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, as well as its UN award-winning Remote Monitoring Technology, which enables full transparency and real-time tracking of the solar and water systems at each of its installations.
Via this system, Innovation: Africa’s team and donors are able to track the amount of energy produced and water that is pumped at each of the solar and water projects from anywhere in the world at any given time. Should a malfunction occur, an alert is issued, and the local engineers are able to rectify the issue right away.
Innovation: Africa has a team of over 130 dedicated employees, including more than 80 hydrologists, civil, water and electrical engineers, working with local contractors across Africa to ensure the successful implementation of its projects.
Innovation: Africa recognizes that access to clean water is a basic human right and believes that renewable energy is the key to breaking cycles of poverty. With every new water system installed, iA is one step closer to combating the challenges experienced across Africa. ■
Sivan Yaari is the founder and CEO of Innovation: Africa. For more details, visit https://innoafrica.org/