Research/ Awareness

The Small Earth Nepal (SEN) is implementing a project “Empowering Mountain Communities through Fog Harvesting for Sustainable Water Management” at Thade and Jantardhap village in Okhaldhunga. The mountain villages of Thade and Jantardhap in Siddhicharan municipality face severe water scarcity. This leads to significant challenges in water for health and sanitation. Women and girls bear the burden of traveling long distances to fetch water. This IKI Small Grants project enhances water supply through the installation of a fog harvesting system. It installs the system in close collaboration with the community, government, and the local Water Users Association. The project offers comprehensive training on the proper installation, operation, maintenance, and management of fog harvesting units to bolster community skills.

The project aims to install 10 fog harvesting units as a low-cost, nature-based, climate-smart technology to improve water availability and accessibility at the project site. Because the system is simple, it could be easily maintained by the locals using local materials, local resources, and knowledge will be put in use with active local consultation and participation. The project will also install a water treatment plant, to ensure safe water quality for drinking. In the long run, capacity development activities assure water usage efficiency, including greywater usage for home gardening during dry seasons. The potential for upscaling these measures in municipalities facing similar challenges appears promising.