Wine to Water

Since 2012, the Costa Family Foundation has been working in Uganda - alongside Insieme Si Può in Africa (ISP), an association based in Moroto - in the Karamoja region. This is sadly known as one of the poorest regions in the world, characterised by a semi-arid climate and inhospitable terrain, where rainfall is concentrated in a few months and increasingly occurs in a violent and torrential manner. The extreme environmental conditions, exacerbated by climate change that has further reduced the already scarce and unpredictable rainfall, cause chronic water scarcity and malnutrition. As a result, some 66% of the Karimojong live below the poverty line, with over 90,000 children and 9,500 pregnant or lactating women in acute malnutrition. Only 2% of children have access to a sufficiently rich and varied diet.

International food aid has often discouraged self-sufficiency and created a deleterious dependency. To counter this phenomenon, it is crucial to propose sustainable agroforestry solutions that actively involve the local population. In this context, in 2017, we launched the 'Wine to Water' project, with the aim of improving the availability of drinking water and increasing rainwater resources during periods of drought.

Concrete actions of the project include repairing and maintaining existing wells, installing rainwater harvesting and utilisation systems, installing drip irrigation systems for vegetable gardens, drilling new wells and installing hand water pumps. In addition to all this, and in order to ensure the sustainability of the project and strengthen local skills, we offer technical training to local workers, entrusting them with the installation, care and repair of the water systems.

In 2023, funding enabled the installation of an irrigation system to encourage the cultivation of a vegetable garden at the Gift of Mary Learning Centre in Katanaga to which over 300 children have access. 

(The project is also active in the current year)