Water for Highland Livelihoods
Alternative Indigenous Development Foundation
Challenge
Like many highland communities in the Philippines, Barangay Tuburan lacks regular access to water for drinking, and has little-to-no water to spare for irrigating crops. When their drinking water source runs dry, villagers are either forced to purchase costly water or spend hours hauling small quantities of water uphill from distant streams. Much of this labor is often performed by women and children, who are kept from more productive activities such as work and schooling.
Solution
The AIDFI Ram Pump is a simple and cost-effective, yet robust technology, which uses the energy of falling water from a river to drive a hydraulic pump, and transport water uphill. Requiring no electricity or fuel inputs, the Ram Pumps installed in Tuburan supply up to 25,000 liters of water per day. More than simply a technological intervention, our program trains local villagers as certified technicians to maintain the hardware, while also creating a local committee to fairly distribute water and manage a village fund, paid into by the villagers, themselves.
