Promoting rainwater harvesting through the private sector

In developing countries around the world hundreds of thousands of households collect rainwater in pots, pans, buckets, basins, whatever containers that are handy when it rains. However, moving from this opportunistic collection of water from the drip edge of their roofs to obtaining a substantial portion of their domestic needs from rainwater harvesting has proven to be problematic. The vast majority of rainwater harvesting projects in developing countries are based on subsidies for the hardware, tanks, gutters and downpipes. For the past several years Relief International-EnterpriseWorks/VITA has been looking at ways to promote rainwater harvesting through the private sector without subsidy. It is evident that this requires looking at the problem from a business perspective rather than from a donor perspective. This paper discusses the progress of a commercial pilot project in Uganda and the development and marketing of a low cost, easily transportable rainwater storage product for rural households.