Grantee Research Project Results

Final Report: A Sustainable Method of Water Extraction for School-Community Gardens in Niger, West Africa

EPA Grant Number: SU833148
Title: A Sustainable Method of Water Extraction for School-Community Gardens in Niger, West Africa
Investigators: Jambeck, Jenna , Brown, Katie , Morris, Kim , Polzin, Matt , Corrigan, Tim , Blanchard, Whitney
Institution: University of New Hampshire
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: September 30, 2006 through May 30, 2007
Project Amount: $10,000
RFA: P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition for Sustainability Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet (2006) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: Nanotechnology , Pollution Prevention/Sustainable Development , P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities , Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Objective:

The challenge of this project is significant in the developing world, specifically in the Air Massif region of Niger, the poorest country in the world. A sustainable water extraction system was needed to irrigate community gardens. These gardens produce a basic need, food, for children attending boarding schools, as well as produce a cash crop for funding of these boarding schools, which receive little or no funding from the government. With schools offering education, better nutrition, and a place for the children of the semi-nomadic Tuareg people to live, more parents will be supportive of children attending school, and more children will become educated (current literacy rate is less than 12%). The University of New Hampshire’s Students Without Borders (SWB), a student organization of Engineers Without Borders, recognized the difficulty in crossing cultural boundaries to develop appropriate technology in a region with limited resources and SWB is partnering with a not-for-profit organization, RAIN for the Sahel and Sahara, that has worked in the area since 2001. Currently either animal-powered water extraction with trench irrigation or gasoline powered pumps with drip irrigation methods are employed. While drip irrigation is the preferred method, utilizing non-renewable resources for energy is not. This project proposed to design a low-technology pumping system to provide the daily water needed to irrigate the community gardens. The results of the pilot project will be disseminated in both Niger and the U.S. Future projects will be designed based upon the success of the pilot project, thereby increasing opportunities for education in Niger. The results of this project will also be used to educate the University and local community about sustainable water extraction and the developing country issues in Niger.

Summary/Accomplishments (Outputs/Outcomes):

This project was successful. SWB was able to design a culturally acceptable, easily understood (by the students and locals), sustainable and efficient water extraction system, an animal powered rope and washer pump. It was implemented in Aragh, Niger in January of 2007. The pump is successful at delivering the necessary water for the garden (2000 gal/day). The design consists of a sustainable, animal-powered, rope and washer pump that extracts water from a well into a cistern for use in a drip irrigation system. The pump system is powered by a harnessed camel walking in a circular path. The pump operates at 6 gpm, needing about 5 hours of operation each day. The camel will eventually not need the gardener’s assistance to walk the circle; it will learn to do it on its own. Animal power (especially camel power) is common in Niger, very reliable and culturally acceptable as well. Although there were challenges during the actual construction, it was a group effort by both the students, mentor, and villagers. The necessary materials were obtained and the villagers offered labor and time to the project. Because the pump design and operation are culturally acceptable and easily understood, the villagers are using it and will be able to perform any required maintenance.

Summary of Phase I

1.0 Background and Problem Definition
The University of New Hampshire’s Students Without Borders (SWB) undertook the challenge of developing designs for water extraction systems in Niger, West Africa. These systems needed to not only be technically feasible, but also sustainable and appropriate to the local Tuareg community and the Sahel Region. Water extraction is needed for community gardens located at schools, where the semi-nomadic Tuareg people of the region educate their children. RAIN for the Sahel and Sahara, a local New Hampshire non-profit organization had previously established these gardens and drip irrigation systems in this region of Niger, but desired a more efficient and sustainable water extraction system what was currently being utilized in the area. SWB agreed to design a new system and SWB and RAIN partnered on the installation and implementation of the system. Crops grown in the local school gardens provide a more diverse and healthy diet to the children, and extra crops can be sold to raise money for school operations and supplies.

1.1 Importance to People
This project had a direct benefit to society, both in Niger and in the United States. The project successfully met the needs of the Tuareg people of the Sahel region, providing a more sustainable irrigation technique while yielding a higher output of water from the well without using gasoline. Produce from the garden provides for a basic need of food. The design also incorporates a basic need of energy (offering alternative energy) and water (for irrigation). All of the crops produced from the garden are beneficial to the school. In addition to the produce supplementing each meal for a more nutritious diet with fresh vegetables, any surplus of food is sold as a cash crop providing supplies such as books and mattresses at the schools. An animal powered rope-and-washer pump was installed at a pilot site that improved the working conditions of the gardener, since a gas powered motor was replaced. The project also illustrates the importance of sustainability and conservation of water to community members. Although there are parents in the region that recognize the importance of education as the key to success and opportunity, providing meals at the schools enables even those who would not necessarily support the idea of education to send their children to the school so that they will be fed nutritious food. This project also heavily impacted the students of SWB – especially those that traveled to Niger.

Conclusions:

This project makes huge strides to sustainability and ties in people, prosperity, and planet. The unsustainable gasoline powered pump was replaced with an efficient animal powered pump made primarily with local materials. Besides the materials being local, many of them were also recycled. The bearing for the animal power wheel was an old car bearing. The washers for the pump were made by local women leather artisans from recycled tires. A local welder made the frame from the pump from locally available materials. Recycled tires were also used for the wheels for moving the rope through the rope and washer pump. The people of Niger (Tuareg and children) and the US (students and engineers) have been impacted positively by this project. By increasing opportunities for better education and nutrition, this area of Niger can become more prosperous. Also, this project was conducted keeping sustainability in mind the entire time. Besides helping the planet by doing this, the project became even more culturally acceptable and simple for many to understand. This project is intended to be a transferable technology. The desire for SWB to speak about their experiences to many people from schools to professional societies demonstrates the group’s commitment to maximizing the overall impacts of this project.

Proposed Phase II Objectives and Strategies:

Phase II of this proposal is to complete a technology transfer to the Sahel Region of Niger so that the Tuareg people can independently build and maintain the rope and washer pumps. SWB’s current design can already be maintained by them, but we hope that they will be able to replicate the construction as well. We hope to accomplish this goal by traveling to Niger three more times. If our pump design implemented in Phase I remains successful, we will travel two more times to build two more pumps in other villages while holding workshops to teach the locals (and those from other villages) the design and construction. The third trip would be to travel to oversee a village build a pump by themselves (only providing assistance if needed). If we find that our design from this year is not working at an optimal level before the next scheduled trip (tentatively planned for January 2008), we will refine the design and construction as needed. Subsequently, the next two trips will be to hold workshops and conduct technology transfer. Like Phase I, Phase II is not only interdisciplinary, but it is integrating social and technical issues. The approach is holistic in nature taking into account the cultural differences, potential environmental burdens and trade-offs, costs, and human health impacts. The design positively impacts air, land, water and human health in the developing country of Niger.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 1 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

Rope and washer pump, animal power, irrigation, conservation, water resources, community based, agriculture, developing country, sustainable development,, Sustainable Industry/Business, RFA, Scientific Discipline, Technology for Sustainable Environment, Sustainable Environment, Environmental Engineering, wind power, green design, wind energy, sustainable development, agriculture, sustainable agriculture, sustainable water use