Sand dams: harvesting rainwater from sand rivers

Sand dams are a key tool for the restoration of degraded lands and self-supply water technology in dryland regions and thereby addressing poverty, hunger, conflict, climate change and creating green economic growth – all at the same time. The majority of the world’s sand dams are found in Kenya. This paper describes what sand dams are, the benefits and impacts they deliver and some different ways they can be applied within development programmes.