OpenAg Foundation raises $1.3m to drill 1,000 boreholes in Southern Africa

Credit: OpenAg Foundation

A new non-profit, the OpenAg Foundation, has launched with an ambitious plan to drill 1,000 boreholes across Southern Africa, aiming to bring clean water to one million people while supporting food security and climate resilience.

At a high-profile fundraising event during the Cannes Film Festival, the OpenAg Foundation unveiled its first initiative, Water for Harmony, raising $1.3 million USD to kick-start the project. Each borehole will deliver clean drinking water to 250 to 500 people, support livestock and wildlife, and provide vital irrigation for drought-hit farming regions across Southern Africa.

The launch of the borehole project follows a new report from the Copernicus Global Drought Observatory, warning that rising global temperatures and less than average rainfall have significantly worsened drought conditions across the continent.

Jai Shroff, Chairman of the OpenAg Foundation, said:

The role of smallholder farmers has never been so important. On one hand, they need access to new technology, seeds, and even basic needs like clean drinking water – while on the other, they need backing at a policy level to help increase food security across the world. This is why we launched The OpenAg Foundation.

We want to transition farmers to sustainable agricultural methods and build coalitions that create a lasting change. But too many of these farmers are living in extreme poverty, so we need to target their short-term survival and prosperity, too.

We launched the Water for Harmony project to achieve just that. With much of Africa gripped by drought, we want to provide communities with fresh running water to feed their families and livestock, and irrigate their failing crops. Ultimately, we want to support smallholder farmers at every stage of their lives.”

The project builds on a pilot scheme in Zambia, where only 49 percent of rural residents have access to basic drinking water. The success of that programme inspired a regional scale-up at a time when water scarcity poses a growing threat to food production and stability.

The Foundation is chaired by Shroff, a global advocate for sustainable agriculture, and guided by a diverse board that includes former Argentine President Mauricio Macri, Zambian lawyer and entrepreneur Chipokota Mwanawasa and Fatma Al Khater, founder of Torba Farms in Qatar.

With further leadership announcements expected soon, the OpenAg Foundation will deliver technical and financial aid, improved seed access and agricultural policy advocacy to help smallholder farmers build lasting resilience.