New Techniques Help Locate Groundwater

One of the most tumultuous civil wars is taking place in Somalia, leaving a legacy of famine and disease and the country in ruins. In partnership with the Belgian Survival Fund (BSF), IFAD has responded to the crisis by establishing the Northwestern Integrated Community Development Programme, an initiative aimed at improving people’s access to food, water and health services in Somaliland. A particularly successful result of the programme emerged from its rural water facilities component. Despite failed attempts at drilling for water by the British during the colonial period and by the Chinese during the 1980s, a geophysicist  recruited by the programme detected likely underground water sources in several areas by means of electrical resistivity techniques. Thanks to a complementary IFAD grant, a borehole was dug in the area of Dilla  and groundwater actually found and tapped.