The people in the rural region of the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania, East Africa get their drinking water primarily from open sources or from wells that are not sufficiently deep and do not carry enough water in the dry season, causing the spread of water-related diseases. The “Mtae Water Project, Tanzania” of the association Weltweit – Gesellschaft zur Förderung lokaler Initiativen (Worldwide – Society for the Promotion of Local Initiatives), which will enter its second phase this year, helps to remedy the situation by creating a sustainable and improved water supply system for the inhabitants affected.

The Wilo-Foundation, having supported the first phase of the project, will once again provide financial assistance and also support the upcoming second project phase. During the first phase of the project, two volunteers (students from Germany) collected data on the water situation of the local population. The data was made accessible to all stakeholders in the project, including Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Bielefeld University, University of Siegen and University of Dar es-Salaam, who used them as a basis for modelling an improved water system.

During two seminars organised by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), experts from neighbouring states in East Africa and from Germany identified concrete measures for improving the water supply for the people living in the Usambara mountains region. Measures include the preservation of degraded water sources by planting trees in selected water sources and community farms and, at the same time, by providing training for local water experts in the villages, building capacity for water infrastructure management. Implementation of these measures, which are aimed at improving the water supply for about 50,000 people in the region, will start in July 2021.