Water is one of the most scarce resources for African farmers. Access to enough water in semi-arid regions is a huge challenge and shortages can lead to the loss of lives and livelihoods in times of drought. With climate change, water conservation will only become more imperative. Ethiopia has one of the largest populations of ruminant livestock. The Azgo region in Ethiopia has suffered severe droughts in the past. A study was conducted in Azgo to highlight the importance of livestock in securing the livelihoods of rural communities and establish how investments in water harvesters have impacted this. Water harvesters were originally provided free or subsidized by the government. Nearly all the households in Azgo have invested in them. Access to this simple technology for storing water has been found to dramatically improve farmers’ incomes by up to ten-fold. This study was a joint project of Compassion in World Farming ,CGIAR-Challenge Programme in Water and Food,International Livestock Research Institute(ILRI), International Water Management Institute (IWMI)and the Amhara Agricultural Research Institute.