The baseline assessment revealed the following challenges:

1. The village had only one main source of water for a population of about 7,000. The water source, a borehole, was drilled in 2005 (Figure 1). Water from that borehole was reported to be too salty to use for drinking and cooking and that the salinity level increased year after year. In addition, the water source was challenged by increased population and low borehole yield associated with decline of water table during dry periods. Water scarcity forced many people to rely on traditional wells, shallow wells and seasonal water sources particularly springs along valleys. Also, people travelled far and opt for unsafe water whenever they were found, including water sold by vendors whose quality was not known;
2. Only less than 1% of respondents reported to treat water at household level mainly by boiling;
3. Sanitation coverage was low, with only 17 % of the population having improved latrines;
4. The prevalence of diarrheal diseases was 11%, and children under 5 years of age were mostly affected;
5. About 65 % of respondents knew that both drought and excessive rain can affect health and water quality but they were often unable to link the change in rainfall pattern and weather over time in Mbande village with climate change.

The findings were disseminated to members of the community during a village assembly, followed by development of water safety action plan. The plan was endorsed by the village assembly with “one voice”.

To address the challenge of climate impact on WASH in Mbande village, the climate and health solutions were the following:

• Drilling of two alternative boreholes to compensate the water shortage and quality. The Geophysical and Hydrogeological survey was done before drilling the boreholes.
• Protection of the existing water source (borehole) and the pump house.
• Repair and maintenance of existing water supply infrastructure.
• Household water treatment and safe storage (HWTS).
• Installation of chlorination system in the unit (storage tank).
• Household sensitization on hygiene, sanitation and drinking water treatment and safe storage.

Two new boreholes were constructed benefiting more than 85% of households. Improving water supply will not only save lives and sufferring from diarrhoea diseases, but also save time for people, especially women,who often have to travel far away to seek water for domestic use, and thus engage in economic development activities.

Currently, more than 65% of households were trained and can now manage water quality at point of use through household water treament and safe storage. In addition, the households were provided with chlorine liquid and tablets for disinfecting water at household level. All local shops were encouraged to store chlorine so that people could purchase as the demand was already created.

As the result of this project, over 75% of households now have improved hygiene and sanitation facilities. This was achieved by a continuation of the training and awareness componentt which called for all households to have an improved toilet facility. Consequently, diarrhea prevalence has gone down from 11% to 4.5%.

Successful implementation of this project led to the following conclusions:

• Communities have indigenous knowledge on seasonal weather changes that can be used to plan for climate change adaptation;
• Climate change adaptation through water safety plan is practical and real;
• Improving WASH has a huge positive outcome on the health of the community;
• Community engagement during identification of challenges facing them and planning together on how to address such challenges creates a sense of ownership which is an important component of project sustainability.