IFAD, 2014
Ethiopia is experiencing long-term drought and erratic rainfall patterns, with climate change seen by its government, and the United Nations, as the main culprit. Arguably since 2011, this lack of crop water has resulted in several years of crop failures, which represents a state of an ongoing emergency (1).
The mission of this project is to at least double or triple crop yields and improve drinking water - for small farmers - through better shallow borehole development - that significantly improves both food security and gut health. The focus of this project is to create an artificial intelligence (AI) map system, called WellMapr©, on a mobile app, and personal computer that will drive down the costs and drive out risks for time-poor policymakers, donors, and agricultural aid workers, showing them where to invest time and effort more accurately for irrigation by shallow borehole development.
Today 25% of the population of about 115 million are undernourished, according to the World Bank (2) while a fluctuating population of around 7 million are surviving on aid-based feeding schemes.
Ethiopian agriculture offers some important solutions for food supply. It employs 80% of the workforce, and 75% of this group are small farmers living off farms of 0.7 hectares or less. These farmers, both male, and female are reliant mostly on rainfall, which as noted is increasingly abnormal. However, one tried-and-tested solution to replace rainwater is irrigation from shallow groundwater using boreholes. Such irrigation doubles or even triples their crop yields, Zeweld, W (3), but the groundwater has to be carefully or sustainably managed so that underground reserves are conserved and not overused.
Of course, a doubling of yields also opens up exciting possibilities for other small businesses to start up and employ people, in light technologies. These employers can preserve, add value, and send food to markets in different ways. All this is in addition to moving farmers out of subsistence and into the cash economy, whereupon they may be able to pay for their children's education and other family welfare, including early years nutrition for small children, which is so important for long-term cognitive development.
There is also another vital contribution that shallow boreholes make. In Ethiopia small farmers, and in particular women and children spend over 30 minutes per day (6), and often an hour or two, collecting water from a river, well, or spring. This time is saved by putting a shallow well on a farm, time that can be used for education and enhanced child care.
In Ethiopia, 60% to 80% of the population suffer from water borne diseases Tassew et al (7), but wells that are properly built, with a sealed source and proper soak away, largely eliminate water contamination by diarrhoeal and mosquito borne diseases.
Shallow wells go down about 30 meters, and usually have a simple hand pump. They are relatively easy to dig, or drill, and then the reliable operation and ongoing maintenance of the hand pump, by the small farmers, is both cheap and relatively straightforward.
In Ethiopia, the total area suitable for shallow irrigation is 60,000 (nice and flat) to 120,000 square kilometres (if we consider slightly steeper slopes), according to Worqlul et al, (4). Therefore this is probably 15% to 30% of the total farmland in Ethiopia, as the country has 385,000 square kilometres of farmland or 34% of the total land area, Statista (8).
Yet, possibly only 5.2% of the farmland which is also suitable for irrigation potential was irrigated during the 2015/16 crop year, CSA (5). So there is a big potential to grow a lot more food on the 94.7%, but only if more shallow wells could be both drilled at sustainable locations and then managed sustainably. And as part of sustainability, it will also be important for well diggers and drillers to test the water whenever it is found, to be sure it is suitable for human consumption and not contaminated by fluoride salts, pathogens, or agrochemicals.
MapAid obtained some data from the United Nations and one of our volunteers mapped the locations of many wells across Ethiopia. However, nobody yet seems to know if these are shallow, or deep wells, and other useful information like the depth of water, all of which helps hydrologists to dig or drill more shallow wells, with less wasted efforts. We are working on this!
Groundwater is tricky. Obviously, it’s out of sight, so detecting its depth and mapping it at scale, calls for innovative hydrological studies that lead to actionable solutions (like shallow boreholes) that are easy to use. The key is to find hydrological methods that are low-cost enough for big areas, and yet sufficiently accurate, so that policymakers, donors, and agricultural development workers can use our maps for better collaboration, and more accurately drill for sustainable water, at lower costs, and avoid the risks of aquifer depletion.
MapAid has been working in Ethiopia since 2012, and closely with the University of Arba Minch since 2016. In 2019 we teamed up with George Mason University and began work on WellMapr™. Next in 2022, we began excellent discussions with the Czech Academy of Sciences which culminated in signing an agreement for collaboration and funding in 2023, and some years into the future !
Under the Czech Academy of Sciences, we have been working hard with their Czech Geological Survey or "CGS" to build-test-refine WellMapr™ in Gamo, Gofa and Sidema Zones in the south of Ethiopia. Our collaboration has been excellent, because it has both high professionalism and friendship at its core.
We communicate effectively with intellectual support concerning geology and hydrogeology and the helpful financial support.
In 2025 we were joined by the Frontier Technology Hub "FT Hub", which is a business unit under UK Aid, at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office. Like CGS, the FT Hub have provided wonderful professionalism and friendship, through provision of business skills and financial support.
At MapAid we firmly believe that building a low-cost AI system to improve water access, is the best way to improve the lives of small farmers, as drilling wells at lower cost, will result in fewer failed drills.
MapAid and all of its partners believe in full collaboration because climate change does not respect any of us. It has smashed rainfall patterns in East Africa, and it is moving fast, with "rain coming at funny times and places". There is no other option, we have to collaborate, otherwise the water & food security of millions will inevitably perish.
Banana field at a small farm near Arba Minch town
A small well is like winning the national lottery. At least 47 million small farmers in Ethiopia are under the World Bank poverty line and hungry today, but a shallow water well & handpump means water for irrigation and clean drinking water. Irrigation can double the food supply the first season, so everyone gets to eat and this leads to a cash crop surplus, or effectively a sustainable long-term year-on-year cash hand-out, without external dependency.
Consider the opposite, without a well, without water, there is hunger, fear rises, and social unrest inevitably follows, which can spread with speed across large areas. But water cools things, it removes fear, it is life.
Village hand pump near Arba Minch town, ladies & children on water collection & carrying
Investing in the applied science and the business of developing better water access is an enlightened action on the part of the UK and Czech governments. Wells for small farmers across wide areas, have the potential to bring village stability, national stability and stability for all of East Africa.
It is worth noting that peaceful trade between East and West passes through the Red Sea, near East Africa, and so many countries have benefitted from this peaceful trade since World War 2.
It is therefore most enlightened of the UK and Czech governments to invest in water access in East Africa, starting at the village level. Not only does this contribute to safeguarding trade belonging to the UK and Czech economies, but also it protects the trade of many nations. It promotes regional peace and prosperity.
Village hand pump near Arba Minch town, ladies & children on water collection & carrying
In all our relations with our valued partners, we have one simple outcome or goal in mind for small farmers -
"Drinking water, irrigation and food supply… at lower cost!"
Colleagues at Arba Minch University Water Technology Institute, working on WellMapr
MapAid’s maps in Ethiopia are dedicated to Fabio Facoetti, one of our amazing mappers, from Italy, who passed away out of our sight, on Thursday 25th April 2013, aged 28, in Addis Ababa.
Fabio worked on data collection and maps, to support Ethiopia’s development, a country he adored.
Your donation helps us build maps (and occasionally visuals) to help other charities, the public sector, foundations, and corporate sponsors know where and why to focus their efforts. Our maps, therefore, help ensure that other aid money goes further.
When you donate to MapAid, your money will be spent on whatever is carefully considered, as needed to make these maps, that help get bread onto the farmer's table.
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