Saha Global

Ending clean water scarcity for people living in last-mile villages in northern Ghana has been Saha Global’s goal since my Co-Founder and I started the organization in 2008. The Elevate Prize funding will help us achieve this goal. Funds will be used to support our strategic scaling plan aimed at meeting 100% water coverage in remote villages in the Northern and Savannah regions by the end of 2025, reaching approximately 800,000 people. These communities are often excluded from clean water initiatives, and must not be left behind if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal of universal clean water access.

Saha's clean water model that uses simple, locally available materials. We initially started scaling in 2018, transitioning from volunteer-based program delivery to implementation through all-Ghanaian field teams that more than doubled our impact in less than 2 years. We paused scaling in 2020 to support partner villages through our COVID-19 pandemic response project. This brought in new customers and allowed us to test major changes to our model.

Scaling resumed in April 2021 to strong results. The Prize will give Saha the financial security to accelerate scaling, overcome risks, and eventually reach sustainable clean water access in northern Ghana.

I started my career as an aerospace engineer with a passion to solve complex problems. Getting involved in Engineering Without Borders as an undergraduate showed me how engineering can help solve urgent issues in underserved communities around the world.

When I became interested in the global water crisis, almost a billion people lacked clean water access. I was surprised to learn that a solution existed -  simple, effective water treatment solutions were widely available, yet millions of children still died from preventable waterborne diseases annually.

Wanting to do more, I entered graduate school at MIT in 2007 with a focus on low-tech, appropriate water treatment technology. My research brought me to northern Ghana. Like in other countries, simple and proven treatment products were locally available but the problem lay in distribution. The remote communities that needed these products could not access them. I teamed with Vanessa Coleman, an MIT colleague who studied consumer preference, to close this access gap by training local women how to use the products available in the market to treat water and launch small, clean water enterprises.

This work continues today with the goal of ending northern Ghana’s water crisis by the end of 2025.

Saha aims to solve Ghana’s water crisis by bringing the cleanest water to the hardest to reach people that need it most. We work in northern Ghana where up to 700,000 people live in rural communities that are not connected to municipal water systems.

Instead, families are forced to drink water from “dugouts,” highly contaminated, stagnant ponds where rainwater runoff accumulates. Women and girls collect dugout water but lack the tools and skills for making it safe to drink. Many have been doing this since childhood at the expense of education and other opportunities.

Without clean water, village residents are vulnerable to waterborne diseases. Diarrhea is a primary cause of death among Ghanaians under 5. Families also cannot practice sanitation and hygiene that help prevent infectious diseases. 

To address this urgent need, Saha trains village women to become entrepreneurs running small water treatment businesses that provide safe and affordable drinking water. The women learn how to use locally available materials, such as pre-dosed chlorine tablets and alum, to treat dugout water. Parallel behavior change campaigns teach residents about the health benefits of clean water and the importance of proper water storage so they can better protect themselves against diseases.

Our model is simple and scalable. It solves a complex problem with available, proven solutions instead of re-inventing the wheel. Traditionally, clean water scarcity is addressed using costly technologies or infrastructure. These solutions not feasible, practical or sustainable in most rural last-mile communities. They are too expensive to install and maintain. 

The Saha model incorporates locally available materials, and setting up a water business only costs $13 per person served: $2 for start-up equipment and $11 for 10-years of Customer Care, which ensures sustainability. The businesses are financially sustainable upon launch, covering operational expenses with sales revenue.

Our solution is tailored to local needs and experiences, transforming the burden of water collection to an opportunity for rural women who become leaders in solving the clean water crisis in their villages. These women receive mentoring during our Customer Care period and can enroll in our innovative micro-insurance program, enabling them to run the businesses smoothly.

Lastly, we believe in human centered design, using inquiry-led conversations to understand our customers' preferences and behaviors. Saha is obsessed with improving our model, running a robust R&D program to address our customers' pain points, making it easier for them to drink clean water. 

Saha sets up water businesses in last-mile communities, providing over 107,000 people with a with a sustainable clean water source. The villages gain basic water service and climb the SDG’s water service ladder.

The water businesses provide the women entrepreneurs stable livelihood. During our 10-year Customer Care period, the women are mentored until they can run the businesses independently, and families continue learning about the benefits of clean water. We also monitor clean water sales and quality, and address barriers to clean water consumption. Saha to commits long-term Customer Care because we have seen how other rural water projects have failed without the support needed to overcome the challenges faced in the first years of operation. 

Saha businesses also help increase agency and resilience. The women earn an average $1-2 weekly for 5-8 hours of work, adding 15-20% to their average household income. Many invest these earnings in necessities that improve their families’ quality of life. This investment in turn increases their role in household decision-making. Their success as entrepreneurs who have turned the burden of water collection into a life-changing opportunity helps inspire other women and girls. To date, we have opened 256 businesses run by almost 800 women.