Up for Auction
Daniel Wolf
During my recent trip to Uganda, the Lifeline team conducted an important market experiment: a silent auction to test consumer demand for the “Dan Can” — our new product innovation that has the potential to significantly improve water quality at the point-of-consumption.
We created the Dan Can as an alternative to the jerry can, which is ubiquitous throughout Africa and the standard vehicle for transporting water to the home. The problem with the jerry can is that it was designed to transport oil — not water. As such, it has a very narrow opening at the top and, hence, is extremely difficult to clean. With a second opening at the bottom that is wide enough to put a hand through and clean with a sponge or rag, the Dan Can solves that problem.
We are confident the Dan Can can improve water quality, but will people buy it and, if so, will they pay enough to cover the 50 to 60 cents extra it costs to produce? That is the question we sought to answer at our auction, which was conducted in late May in Aduku — a small town in the District of Kwania.
The answer was a resounding “yes”. All of the winning bids at the auction were for $4 and up — or about $1.30 more than the cost of a jerry can. In other words, the Dan Can is a solution that is looking like it can be scaled through private markets without the need for any subsidization and, hence, offers the potential to reach literally hundreds of millions of people across Sub-Saharan Africa.
To learn more, please take a moment to view this video from our Kwania auction: Dan Can Auction in Kwania, Uganda (May 2026)
