REPUBLIC OF YEMEN
WGP -AS NATIONAL FOUNDATION FOR
Water Governance Program WATERSHED MANAGEMENT
for Arab States (WAM)
Manakha
Fog Harvesting
Pilot Project
Sana’a Governorate - Yemen
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Background and Rationale
Y emen stands out for the scale of its water
problem. Yemen is one of the world’s ten
most water-scarce countries in the World. In
many of its mountainous areas, the available
drinking water, usually drawn from a spring or a
cistern, is down to less than one quart per person
per day. The water shortage crises are expected
to intensify under predicted climate changes.
The long-term average amount of water avail-
able is less than 100 m³ per capita per year which
is among the top lowest rates in the world. The
Arab Water Governance Report (AWGR) pre-
dicted a declining amount of water available in
2013 to a rate that is below 80 m³ per capita.
Yet, the water shortage in Manakha Western fects women, girls and children, who perform the
Mount is more tragic as water availability rate big burden of bringing water from far away open
may not even reach 50 m³ per capita per year. As water ponds especially in winter (dry season).
it is the case across rural Yemen, water shortage
is the most critical risk undermining livelihood
sustainability. The water shortages seriously af-
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The Water Crisis between
Mission Impossible and
Solutions
A s Manakha has high potential to harvest fog
to secure water especially for household
and domestic uses, the pilot introduced cost-ef-
fective fog harvesting techniques leveraging and
emulating the locally innovative fog-harvesting
structures for coffee production. Up-scale of the
techniques is derived by the role of women lev-
eraging on local knowledge and using local ma-
terials.
What is Fog Harvest? Why Fog Harvest?
I t is an alternative method for making water
available for human use. This innovative tech-
T he fog carries more than imagined. For in-
stance; it contains hundreds of liters of wa-
ter that is very pure and can be drank especially
nology is based on the theory that one can collect in fogy highland areas like Manakha, Socotra,
water from fog when conditions allow condens- Hawf, ErafLahj, Al-TurbahTaiz, Raimah, Sum-
ing the fog. marahIbb, MilhanMehwetand other similar areas.
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T he National Foundation for Watershed Man-
agement – in partnership/support with UN-
DP’s Water Governance Program for Arab States
To What Extent Can Fog Har-
vest Contribute to Solving
– partnered with CSOs in Manakha like Al-Nama
Development Association for Coffee Producers the Drinking Water Issues in
and Al-daee Al-fatimy Association in establish- Manakha?
ing five fog harvest units in the target areas.
F ive fog harvesting units units were installed
in various parts of Al-AWE’ Mountain and
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the results were well reaching beyond expected are no longer required to travel to collect water
sometimes. The fog harvesting units comprise 3 during the dry months.One of the fog harvesting
m x 2 m mesh screens that were able to condense units collected 40 liters in 6 hours with the others
enough fog to provide drinking water for a family making 15-25 liters for the same period. The av-
of five. This is the first example of a successful fog erage water harvested in a month perunit was 350
harvesting initiative in the Western Highlands. liters with the topmost harvesting 400 liters and
Local communities now benefit from the provi- the least below 100 liters in the month between
sion of drinkable water and women and children 15 October, and 15 November 2013.
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The Result:A 6 m2 fog harvesting unit is able to The Advantages of the System
condense enough fog to provide drinking water
for a family of five. The harvested water is clean and the Harvesting Units:
and has the potential to address water shortage in • The installed units incorporated traditional
more cost-effective manner. and innovative fog harvesting techniques; ii)
required locally available or simple inputs;
and iii) responded to the anticipated effects
of climate change on women, youth and other
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vulnerable groups.
• The design of fog harvesting units includ-
ed considerations of simplicity and ease of
maintenance. Maintenance requirements
form a significant factor in the sustainabil-
ity of the system. Design aspects were taken
into account when minimising maintenance
include: i) size of the system; ii) distance
between collection point and storage or use
location; iii) distance of the system from the
community or household; iv) potential water
supply with no energy needs; and v) required
materials and tools. Wherever possible, tech-
niques that are user-friendly and easy to main-
tain were promoted in favour of complex and
expensive systems so that specialized techni-
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cal knowledge for installation, maintenance in’ and ownership using available locally-
and repairs are not required. Moreover, locat- sourced materials
ing the screen according to ease of access by • The systems has the potential for scale-up
its owners is preferable to a site that would through provision of supplementary water
provide greater water yields with minimal en- for irrigating green spaces, controlling of soil
ergy needs erosion and desertification.
• The system included focus on sustainability
through promoting local community ‘buy-
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consumption sites or close to them.
• As the system depends on the continuity of
fog and stops if weather changes; it is essen-
tial that backup options are made available
to substitute the fog water and assure there
is water.
The Idea of Fog Harvest in Manakha:
Changing Community Perception
• Farmers of the area and those in higher alti-
tudes used to perceive fog as a real problem.
Locals used to complain from fog that used
Principles for Launching Fog to affect their movements, and pose threats
Harvesting Initiatives: on their agricultural farms especially during
frost periods. Locals did not know that it fog
• It is recommended that a small pilot is could carries substantial livelihood benefits
launched, monitored and assessed ahead of However, this perception has changed after
the installation to test the efficiency of har- the introduction of the fog harvesting sys-
vest in the specific area. tems. Fog harvesting units provided a cost-
• It is preferred that collection areas are the effective method to provide drinking water
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which used to be extremely short in terms FOG HARVESTING EXPER-
of supply during winter– that consumed lots
of time and effort by women and children to MIENT IN THE AREA OF
bring from distant sources. Such efforts usu- MANAKHAH
ally come at the expense of caring for smaller
children and school times. TARGET AREAS:
• Since there is a significantly encouraging
Fog Harvesting and resilience amount of fog that lasts for long and that there
Building is need for water; a big model was proposed
as a harvesting unit and a guiding model for
Many locals gathered at the units’ locations in
the people. Installation was done in five dif-
amusement and to get some water – as some peo-
ferent areas and the units will be monitored
ple believed it is medicine since it comes from
for a whole year with daily collection rates
heaven – that looks very pure and shining in color
registered in the “daily harvest forms” before
as they are used to stained looking water from the
results are analyzed and comparative findings
open and enclosed cisterns.
are reported. The model can then be spread in
the area.
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Table (1): Fog Harvesting Pilot Areas 5. The areas in most need for water
Area Location Unit Size Fog Period 6. The land topography
Al-aWEEI Addukmih 6 sq meters 6 months Oct-
Mountain March 7. The altitude above sea level
Ashuquq 6 sq meters 6 months Oct- 8. The community willingness to cooperate and
March
desire
Ashiber 6 sq meters 6 months Oct-
March 9. The nature of the area (the fog formation –
Al-Urdhi 6 sq meters 6 months Oct- density – length of fog season)
March
Al- ssa’ud HiffdhallahY- 6 sq meters 6 months Oct- 10. The slope nature in the area.
Mt asseen Cistern March
Factors behind Choosing a Location
for Fog Harvest
1. The space available
2. Fog streams areas
3. Available materials – material capacities
4. The speed and direction of winds (the com-
mon wind patterns)
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ter harvesting area is 6 sq meters. There is an
outflow at the lowest point of the frame taking
the water into the containing tool. The materials
available locally wee used with quality taken into
consideration in order to make a model that lasts
and bear the harsh environment. The materials
were:
1. Steel pipes of 2 inches
2. A green net of 50% like the one used in plant
nurseries
3. Steel bars to fix the net
4. Small twister to fix the bars strong
The Technical Specifications 5. Cement
6. A needle and thread to fix the net on the frame
of Aunit
T he unit IS A SQUARE FRAME OF PIPE- 7. Corner fixers to make the pipes connected
LINES 2 m x 3 m standing on bars at 3 m 8. 20 liters jeer cans
height covered by a net that is tied with a steel
bar of 8 ml in size. It is fixed vertically facing 9. A 0.75 inch hose to take water from outflow
the common wind direction. This means the wa- to the containers.
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Local Ownership and Scale-Up: more engaging and trying other ways to increase
the efficiency of fog harvesters units through intro-
1. SIMPLE, CHEAP AND EASY IDEA ducing some new design elements such as drilling
O wing to key advantageous characteristics of of tanks for collecting the condensed water instead
fog harvesting models including their easy of the use of plastic tanks which used to be parts of
construction, installation and maintenance on-site, the demonstration system. Replicating the model
besides the immense potential for scaling-up, lo- using locally-sourced materials and skills, the initi-
cals begun replicating the idea using cheap and ative has gained strong community buy-in because
practical methods. The locals have even become local communities have owned it. As such, this ini-
tiative has demonstrated cost-effective method to
support an increased replication of the intervention
that promotes greater potentiality for scaling-up.
2. THE ROLE OF LOCAL COMMU-
NITIES
S ince the locals are the beneficiaries; a real part-
nership between WAM and AL-Nama’ De-
velopment Association for Coffee Producers and
Al-ddae’ Al-Fatemi Foundation in Haraz reflected
in a partnership agreement for implementing the
project. The two CSOs have played a major role
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in the design, planning and implementation of the
experiment and most importantly building the ca-
pacity of local communities to understand the sys-
tem, which have already created a feeling of own-
ership and collective responsibility for the project
seen as potential for successful water solutions
that require local cooperation and interaction.
Education and Awareness
T he WAM foundation team launched a training dur-
ing the unit installation and after that for some
individuals. Adding to that awareness about preserv-
ing water and keeping the units well as well as ob-
serving and taking the harvest amount readings were
done. Various citizens were trained on how to install
the units and part of it was done practically during the
project work.
S everal workshops were held and attended by vari-
ous stakeholders like universities, research centers
and the Agricultural Research Authority.
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LESSONS LEARNT AND SUC-
CESS STORIES
A s the consultative team started installing
the units; locals split between some sar-
castic ones and others who were skeptical about
its success. Some gathered in a session making
fun of the foundation’s initiative and waiting
for dawn to go and laugh at the disappointment
created by such lunatic work. However; once
the threads of water came down the net, those
present were astonished at the amount of wa-
ter collected into the tank. The long feared for
the crops fog has become a good thing and may THE ACHIEVED OUTCOMES
bring drinking water. Prior to this some farmers
wanted big fans installed to scatter the fog away
but as the experiment goes on the image of the
T he primary results obtained from Al-Awee Mt
(the Western slopes in specific) indicate the
existence of fog that brings considerable amounts
fog is changing. of water due to the area being open at the Tihama
plains. Western parts of Manakhah are full of fog.
Readings collected indicated that amounts differ
from a day to another as the fog does with the
highest reading of 40 liters per day on a 24 hours
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period of ongoing fog. Fog usually comes from site, besides the immense potential for scaling-
3:00 pm and may continue until early morning up, locals begun replicating the idea using cheap
hours and the season is during winter when water and practical methods. The locals have even be-
becomes short in supply with springs drying out come more engaging and trying other ways to
and harsh drought looms. increase the efficiency of fog harvesters units
through introducing some new design elements
Early Signs of Impact: such as drilling of tanks for collecting the con-
O
densed water instead of the use of plastic tanks
ne old lady says we were pessimistic of fog,
which used to be parts of the demonstration sys-
we were staying in our homes, we did not
tem. Replicating the model using locally-sourced
bring water, but we did not know that God has
materials and skills, the initiative has gained
given us the fog to quench our thirst.
strong community buy-in because local commu-
Another lady who do not find the money for mak- nities have owned it. As such, this initiative has
ing fog unit has sold her sheep in order to con- demonstrated cost-effective method to support an
struct fog unit. She says all the good is coming increased replication of the intervention that pro-
from the sky, thank Allah. motes greater potentiality for scaling-up.
Local Ownership and Scale-Up
O wing to key advantageous characteristics of
fog harvesting models including their easy
construction, installation and maintenance on-
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Next Steps at the Local Level Recommendations
T he locals in Al-AWEE Mt of Al-Magharibah
Al-Awlia are looking forward to the sooner
rather than later invention of their own models
•
•
Regular maintenance of the units.
Continued education and guidance in the area
about harvest in the cheapest in easiest ways.
that can be put in place to collect water. They are • Helping people who adopt the idea by info
eager to find available funding for such fog har-
vesting techniques so that a network of them is • Extending the experiment longer and analyz-
installed as part of a multi-village project with a ing results before publishing the final reports
high productivity that compensate for the short- • Looking for funds to implement it wider in
age in water supplies. the area in a productive way
The way Forward: National Level
D eveloping the experiment and expanding
it to local communities within the Haraz
(Sana’a’) area as well as fogy mountainous ar-
eas like Summarah in Ibb, Hajjah Highlands,
Raimah Highlands, Mahweet Highlands, Hawf
Highlands in Al-Maharah Mt, Socotra Island
Mt, Al-Twrba Highlands in Taiz and Erraf
Highlands in Lahj.
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Rrepublic of Yemen
National foundation for Watershed Management
Sana’a taiz St. 45 Square
Tel fax : 009671 632259
mobile: 00967 777466038
P.O Box: 17368 - Sana’a
Email : wam.yemen.serv@gmail.com
Web: wam-yemen.org
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