Aqua Aina

The coastal province of Androy in the south of Madagascar has become known for the drought (and consequent famine) that periodically ravage the region. Climate change is bringing more irregular rain patterns that add to the existing water scarcity, complicating the survival of crops and livestock, as well as severely limiting human access to potable water.

Aqua Aina intends to tap into the abundant water resource offered by the ocean to resolve this situation, introducing a system to desalinate ocean water. The desalination process will be driven by solar power (which is ideal given the region's elevated hours of sunlight exposure) and will provide sufficient potable water to meet the locals' urgent needs.

Our solution can be easily replicated in coastal regions all over the world. We expect that potable water access will bring about a significant improvement in health as well as important social and economic benefits.

In Madagascar, nearly 60% of the population lacks access to safe drinking water (USAID, 2021). In recent years, irregular rain patterns have caused severe droughts in the south of the island, in turn leading to hunger. Madagascar is among the countries most affected by the the consequences of climate change (Germanwatch, 2020).

In particular, the region of Androy has earned itself a reputation for the famine ("kéré") that it periodically suffers. The local's main income stream is agriculture, but crops struggle to survive the worsening conditions and people are now migrating to escape hunger (Le Monde, 2021). Water access points can be up to 50km away from certain populations, making fetching potable water a 2-day commitment. Saltwater intrusion into some groundwater sources further degrades the situation. A solution to supply water for crops, as well as for human consumption, is pressing.

This challenge is of global proportions: around the world, 3.2 billion people live in agricultural areas with high water scarcity (FAO, 2020). In the coming decades, it is expected that more people will experience high water stress due to rising populations, increasing water demand, and climate change (UN Water, 2018).

The system will be a modular device made from local materials, in which users will introduce seawater. After several hours sitting in the sun, the device will provide clean water at the outlet, by way of thermal desalination: water is heated up so it evaporates, leaving the salt behind, and then it is condensed on a slanted surface, so that the water drops can be collected at one end of the system. Energy from the sun will power the system. The desalinated water can be then used for drinking or channelled for use in agricultural and farming systems.

To enhance the efficiency of the process, a solar panel and a small battery can be included to continue the process at nighttime, using a resistance to heat up the water. However, our intention is to make the design as simple to use and repair (should maintenance be required) as possible, so our main design will not include the solar panel. We believe that the simplicity of the device, added to the use of local materials, will drive its cost down significantly, allowing it to be scalable and quickly adopted by many families and agriculture and farming professionals in the region.

Located in the southwest of Madagascar, the Androy Region is the poorest Region of Madagascar, with a semi-arid climate, an average precipitation of 400 mm and which is poorly distributed throughout the year (ONE, 2020). The main ethnic group in the region is the Antandroy. The total population is estimated at 903.376 inhabitants (INSTAT, 2018) and 40% of which is located in the Regional County Municipality - Ambovombe District (ONE, 2020). This population is classified as a young and mostly rural population.

Interviews were conducted with local representatives in order to understand the root cause of the situation and to design a sustainable solution that carefully takes into consideration the population's needs. 

It is understood that water is a top priority in Androy to the point that when asked, "What makes the people of Androy especially happy?", the answer was obsviously: "People are happy when it rains because they can plant and they can collect the rainwater through a system installed on rooftops". 

In addition to the need for drinking water, the population is particularly desirous of water for agricultural and livestock purposes and would like to have access to water extending all year round and not just during the rainy seasons, now rare and exacerbated by the effect of climate change. The main income stream in the region is agriculture (corn, sweet potatoes, cassava, arachide) and farming (cows, goats). Aqua Aina assumes that providing water for income-generating activities is a logical continuation of its activities once the population is served for their basic water needs.

Finally, the project aims to tackle the cascading effects of water scarcity on all aspects of life such as improving health and hygiene for women who need more water than men according to our respondents, on the environment, on the economy and on the time lost due to the long distance to the water access points.

Aqua Aina recognizes that the most critical need in the selected region is access to water for human consumption. Once this basic need is satisfied, our work will center on the economic development by providing desalinated water for agriculture and farming systems. These systems will be designed in conjunction with the population, understanding the local ecosystem's requirements to prevent further damage to it.

Potable water access can improve health, enhance food access, and take the burden of collecting water off girls and women. These conditions will, in turn, contribute to improving the local's productivity and bettering their economic opportunities.

The stage of development we have selected is prototype because we are currently testing if the business model for the desalination technology we are offering fits the problem ("Problem-Solution fit"). As a matter of fact, at this stage, we have critically identified the existence of a pressing problem (i.e. water scarcity) and have built our value proposition around it. We test our product offering through interviews with representatives of the local population during which we enquire about their opinion on our solution in order to assess the potential of the technology. The main goal of our test is to identify how feasible and scalable our technology is.

Our solution provides an innovative approach in the form of Schumacher’s “Appropriate Technologies”, meaning that rather than providing a radically innovative and creatively destructive solution, it provides innovation for the poor and one that is appropriate for production in a low-wage, poor-infrastructure environment (Kaplinsky, 2011). The technology is simple to repair and operate and innovation should happen for local consumers at small-scale production with a small impact on environmental degradation. Our solution fits the “Appropriate Technologies” type of innovation as it is based on the local context using local materials from the region and it is a  more simplified process (as compared to reverse osmosis which is a more complex approach). Our solution can be catalytic in that it can enable broader positive impacts, with the primary impact being more and easier access to clean water. This would alleviate poverty in the region and thus lead to improved living standards which will enable improvements in other areas of life such as socioeconomic impacts in the long term (i.e. more children enrolled in schools rather than going to fetch water, use of water for agricultural purposes).

Since we are still working on the prototype and conducting research on the ground to finalize our business model, we are currently not serving anyone yet. However, our intention is to impact 100 people in a year, extending the solution to the most vulnerable marginalized villages of the costal region of Androy in Madagascar.

In five years, we aim to have reached enough households in Androy to allow the solution to grow by itself, giving the locals the know-how for replicating our design. Our intention at this point will be to expand to other coastal regions in Madagascar (and perhaps in other countries experiencing similar conditions). With this, we hope to reach 10.000 people altogether by that time.

It is important to note that these are the direct impacts of our solution: the people who are directly benefiting from enhanced water access. Many more will be impacted indirectly, through the improvement of economic conditions in the local communities and the enhanced provision of food from crops and cattle.

We will use the following indicators and metrics to gauge our short-term progress.

• We will periodically record how many people are accessing clean water (we will conduct a base study prior to intervention to gauge the population in need, but according to informants' estimates this is about 93.000).
• To measure our efficiency of our system in providing clean water, we will track the quantity of water desalinated and record the hours of operation of our system.
• We will train selected individuals to conduct periodic monitoring of water quality and check for particular elements present in the water.
• We will develop questionnaires to periodically track attitudes towards water in the region

For the longer-run monitoring of our impacts, we will additionally consider the following metrics:

• Health statistics (such as incidence of diseases such as cholera)
• Figures of school enrolment and dropouts (in particular adopting a gender lens, if statistics are disaggregated by gender)
• Migration statistics, to see if people are still migrating away from the region after our solution has been implanted in the region
• Record the amount of CO2 emissions avoided by desalinating water using only solar power as opposed to traditional alternatives such as fossil fuels

A total of 6 members currently work on this solution, all part-time and on a volunteering basis. We additionally count with 2 external technical advisors, and 2 field officers. 

Our team is, above all, interdisciplinary. Together, we reunite a vast set of assets, skills, and expertise that make us a very flexible organization and enable us to undertake a variety of challenges.

Diego has worked as a volunteer in southern Madagascar in the past. His background is in Mechanical and Energy Engineering and he has a Master's degree in Environment and Development.

Kareen and Juliana are Malagasy nationals based in Madagascar with international studies experience in sustainable business and sustainable finance, respectively.

Cam Tu, Ellie and Diccon all have international experience and can advocate for Global South issues. They can provide best practices solutions from elsewhere and apply them to the local context.

At the core of our values lie diversity, equity and inclusion. We are proud to say that we form an international, cross-cultural and multilingual team. Our team members live in 5 separate countries (Madagascar, Spain, Singapore, Poland and the UK). Most of our communications are done in English but we also work in French and Malagasy with some local actors.

We believe that our different cultural and personal values, as well as our different technical expertise and knowledge, enable us to approach challenges in new and innovative ways.

Our intention to participate in the Solve Challenge goes beyond the fundraising objective. We believe that benefiting from support and experience sharing with peers through a 9-month program can only push the development of the project to the next stages. 

Additionally, due to the nature of our solutions focused on technology and business model, the MIT Solve Challenge is very appropriate, allowing us to expand our networks and access coaching and mentoring throughout the stages of project development. 

Besides, given the acuteness of the situation in southern Madagascar, which is one of the most critical crises due to climate change, the MIT Solve challenge will provide with the visibility needed to raise awareness primarily on climate change issues and attract further partnerships and funding.

First, the development of a sustainable and pro-poor economic model is key to the success of the project given the particularly low-income profile of the population in the target region and the cost of deploying a desalination system at scale.

Second, a financial support is required although background in finance exists within Aqua Aina due to the lack of practical experience in pitching to investors and business planning. 

Third, legal and regulatory support is needed to deal with any issues we may encounter with the government and so as not to be directly confronted with the state.

Fourthly, monitoring and evaluation have proven to be essential for projects operating in this region. In fact, M&E was often lacking in existing projects to support businesses and create long-term impact and change.

Finally, the technological support is undeniable because technology is at the heart of the solution, and the need to scale-up the system in the most effecient way possible.

Partnering with companies and technology providers is essential to create a sustainable and low-cost supply chain partnership and to ensure that the cost-reflective water tariffs implemented are adapted to the purchasing power of the locals.

Besides, since the project is intended to be non-profit, grants and subsidies are needed until a certain stage of development, to help reduce the cost of water for end users. We therefore need partners who believe in our project and in particular a network of donors to support the project.

It goes without saying that being part of the Solve community will boost this project and its impact in an exceptional way through close mentoring and coaching than if it were done otherwise.