Capturing Rain, Building Resilience

In coastal Kenya, water scarcity is becoming an increasingly urgent challenge. Communities face longer droughts, more erratic rainfall and rising pressure on already fragile water supplies. Yet even during the dry season, one critical resource is often wasted: rainwater that falls on rooftops and disappears as runoff.

Haller is helping communities capture this resource and turn it into a foundation for long-term resilience. Through a simple combination of rooftop guttering and community-managed storage tanks, vulnerable households are able to harvest and store rainwater during short but intense rainfall events. The result is a reliable source of clean water that strengthens health, food security, livelihoods and climate resilience.

A Small Intervention with Multiple Benefits

Across Haller's recent water harvesting programmes in Mombasa County, 74 households have gained direct access to rainwater harvesting infrastructure, benefiting more than 360 people directly and hundreds more indirectly through shared community access and increased local food production.

The systems are intentionally simple:

• Rooftop guttering captures rainfall.

• Water is channelled into 3,000-litre storage tanks.

• Households share and manage water collectively.

• Communities receive training on maintenance, hygiene and water management.

The infrastructure is low-cost, locally appropriate and easy to maintain, making it highly scalable across rural communities.

For Malombo Chumbe, a nearly 70-year-old grandmother living in Muungano kwa Mwalue, the arrival of a community water tank has been life-changing. For decades, she struggled to access safe drinking water and was often forced to walk long distances despite caring for elderly family members and grandchildren.

"I thought I would suffer for the rest of my life looking for safe clean water, but when I heard a tank was to be built here, I was so excited. This water tank will really relieve me of so many problems."

Her story reflects the experience of hundreds of people across Haller-supported communities.

A Scalable Solution for Growing Need

The demand for water harvesting infrastructure continues to grow. Communities consistently identify reliable water access as one of their highest priorities.

What makes this approach so powerful is its simplicity:

• Proven technology

• Community ownership

• Low maintenance requirements

• Immediate impact

• Long-term sustainability

• Adaptability across rural settings

Every tank installed becomes a community asset that strengthens resilience for years to come.