By John Oyuke

A US based poverty eradication organisation has partnered with local entrepreneurs to provide water and sanitation to slum dwellers.

Acumen Fund, a non-profit global venture has selected four local water companies to conduct pilot programmes that would address safe water transportation and storage.

Ms Sangeeta Chowdhury, the project manager of Ripple Effect, Acumen Fund —a broader project of the pilot programmes— says after a comprehensive field research, they are good to go.

"We are very excited to see the work that has already begun. We understand the needs and desires of stakeholders, from customers to providers," said Chowdhry said in a statement.

The Ripple Effect wants to have the best of the pilot projects adapted and expanded to ensure people access clean water and safe sanitation in downtrodden areas. Acumen Fund has partnered with design firm IDEO to work with the local community water entrepreneurs on the safe water storage and delivery project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

The firms are Kentainers, a plastic container maker and Maji Na Ufanisi, an NGO that builds community toilets and water kiosks in informal settlements.

Others are PureFlow, which distributes household water purification solutions and Umande Trust, an NGO, which works on improving sanitation in slum areas.

She explained that the ideas the local organisations are piloting represent creative, outside the box approaches to improving water treatment, delivery and storage in rural areas and informal settlements in the country.

Under the partnership, Kentainers will develop a model for water kiosks that include storage, treatment, and container washing stations while Maji Na Ufanisi will host a design competition to develop water carts and storage vessels appropriate for community-based business models to distribute water.

PureFlow will develop a scalable business model for delivery of safe drinking water through a business-in-a-box safe water kiosk system while Umande Trust will create "water choice points" that allow customers to have options around purchasing and transporting water.

Chowdhry said through its investments in the water sector, Acumen Fund has come to understand many of the challenges entrepreneurs face in providing safe, clean water to their customers. "These latest Ripple Effect pilots seek to secure the "last mile" of water delivery," she asserted.

Having successfully completed its first phase in India with five organisations, Ripple Effect launched the first East Africa phase recently. A team from the Fund and IDEO spent two weeks with the four organisations in Kenya to provide business and design mentoring to support the development of these ideas.

They started first by conducting an assessment of issues faced by low-income communities on the ground, followed by a workshop with local water organisations to brainstorm and create innovations that will improve water delivery and storage across Kenya and the region.

The pilot programmes will conclude in January 2010 with an Award Ceremony and presentation of the results.

Sally Madsen, project leader of IDEO, has described the Ripple Effect as a new model of innovation.

"Rather than trying to push a single solution, we’re exploring a range of methods to develop products, services, and systems that fit the missions and businesses of the Indian and Kenyan organisations partners," she said.

—oyuke@standardmedia.co.ke