PROJECTS FINANCED SO FAR IN 2009 - £134,053
BELIZE, Southern, Toledo District.
£12,526
The GATE Program – Path to a Healthy Future (Garden-Based Agriculture for Toledo's Environment).
Funds for: seeds, tools and water supply resources.
Organic food gardens will be established at 32 primary schools throughout the Toledo District.
Beneficiaries: a minimum of 1,600 students who are active in the gardens (direct beneficiaries), another 6,000 student attendees who use the gardens and 18,000 local inhabitants (indirect beneficiaries).
Aim of Project Funding: providing seeds and tools to enable the production of fresh vegetables and fruit; to augment food donations to school kitchens (volunteer initiative) providing meals to the school children as part of the School Feeding Program. Also providing excess seeds to encourage students to undertake home gardens. To increase food security and nutrition and introduce organic gardening to the schools and students.
Water Supply Resources – providing 3 schools with improved water systems: rainwater collection and storage facilities (benefiting 350+ students); solar pump (benefiting 50 students); see-saw pump and irrigation systems (benefiting 80 students).
Students, community volunteers and PTA members will work alongside the project partner to establish the gardens i.e. making raised beds, setting up the nursery, planting and raising seedlings.
Financed through Plenty International (Tennessee, USA) working with in-country partner Plenty Belize.
INDIA, Singrawan Kala, Khakri-Veerpura & Salampur, Chhatarpur District, Vindhya, Mahendra Puri State, Uttar Pradesh.
£13,207
Empowering Communities Through Farm Livelihood Initiatives In Bundelkhand.
Funds for: seeds, fencing, water supply resources.
Beneficiaries: impoverished community members from the three villages – totalling approximately 993 people during the first year. Water Resources - 636 people (516 people benefiting from water wells and 120 people from water harvesting schemes); Vegetable Farms to benefit 357 people.
Aim of Project Funding: to establish vegetable farms: fencing three 24 acre plots of land and planting mixed crops to provide foodstuffs to beneficiaries and to improve their livelihoods through the provision of such fresh produce and through the subsequent sale of surplus crops.
To provide water resources: construct three community dug wells, install three water pumps (x2 diesel, x1 solar) and construct eight water harvesting structures (to recharge ground water aquifers).
Financed through HARITIKA (Uttar Pradesh, India).
INDIA, Sittam Patty Village, Helur Taluk, Tamil Nadu.
£8,500
Sittam Patty Seeds and Tools Distribution Project.
Funds for: seeds, tools, irrigation channels.
Beneficiaries: 3000 families (over 9000 people) in Sittam Patty Village and approximately 6000 other people in 30 nearby villages (from the provision of agricultural work, food and seeds).
Aim of Project Funding: to alleviate hunger and prevent undernourishment and starvation of disadvantaged farming families and widows. People in this district have died as a result of drought, famine and disease. When Vegfam was asked to help these families, they were in desperate need, with no other hope of help. Many had committed suicide – unable to cope. Debt stricken widows are particularly disadvantaged.
Thousands of acres will be planted up to provide much needed nourishing food all year and seeds from the harvest shall be saved and passed on to neighbouring villages.
Financed through Pastor Jesudoss (Madurai, India).
RWANDA, Southern, Ruhuha, Southern Bugesera.
£2,940.
Ruhuha Survivors Food Supply Project.
Funds for: seeds, plants, tools, land clearing and land preparation costs.
Beneficiaries: between 750 and 900 survivors of the 1994 genocide - consisting of widows and young adult orphans.
Aim of Project Funding: to grow mixed crops to ensure a supply of staple food to improve food security and nutrition. Income from the sale of surplus crops shall cater for special needs within the community and facilitate future investment into the project.
Financed through Comfort Rwanda (Scotland, UK), working with in-country partner Solace Ministries.
COLOMBIA, Tolima, Ibagu, Tierra Firme.
£10,000.
Organic Urban Agriculture in Tierra Firme Area project.
Funds for: Seeds, tools, training and related project support costs.
Beneficiaries: 50 families (upwards of 250 people). Indirectly about 1,600 people will gain from access to affordable food, gardening instruction, information, skills and techniques.
Aim of Project Funding: to improve the livelihoods of Women's Association families who were only able to afford to survive on bread and solid cane sugar. In this 2 year funded project, 45 family vegetable gardens will be established and 5 community gardens set up. The whole community will benefit from the vegetable gardens providing varied, nutritious food. An organic seed bank will provide seeds to be exchanged with other nearby women's organisations. Food preparation using vegan recipes and food grown in the gardens will encourage the beneficiaries to consume more vegetables, herbs and other plants.
Financed through Concern Universal (Hereford, UK), working with the local Women's Association "Abriendo Caminos of Tierra Firme, Ibagu".
INDIA, Southern, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Maharashtra.
£3,000.
Southern India Emergency Flood Relief Programme.
Funds for: vegan food packets and drinking water.
Beneficiaries: 4,500 destitute survivors of the floods in India, living in relief camps.
Aim of Project Funding: people in 3 relief camps in 3 different locations received nutritious vegan food and water as emergency aid, while they were waiting for government relief. The people had lost everything in the devastating floods that covered areas of India in October.
In these districts of South India more than 10 million people had been made homeless.
Financed through Pastor Jesudoss (Madurai, India).
CAMBODIA, Siem Reap Province.
£58,000.
Supporting Initiatives for Livelihood Improvement in Cambodia project.
Funds for: seeds, tools, compost, gardening materials, training and funding the construct- ion of: 11 rice banks, 2 irrigation canals, 3 ponds, 1 culvert gate, 1 dam and 1 spill way.
Beneficiaries: 1,800 people in 129 villages, including the poorest women headed house-holds, the landless, the destitute and the extremely vulnerable (elderly, chronically sick, HIV positive and disabled people).
Aim of Project Funding: Home gardens shall be set up on 390 homesteads. Seventeen rice growing demonstration plots will facilitate sustainable systems of rice production. Crops from many varieties of locally produced organic seed shall alleviate chronic malnutrition. The communities' capacity to be sustainably food secure will be increased as a result of the project and hunger months will be decreased (previously households faced food shortages for four to six months of the year).
Financed through Concern Worldwide (London, UK), in partnership with 3 in-country non-governmental organisations (NGO's).
MALAWI, Southern Region, Balaka District, Traditional District Msamala.
£25,880.
Msamala Environmental Rehabilitation and Livelihoods Improvement project.
Funds for: seeds, tools, 20 solar driers, training and other project support materials.
Beneficiaries: more than 16,500 poor, food insecure people (3,000 households) from 20 villages, including HIV headed households. A further 13,000 people will indirectly benefit from training, enhanced environmental benefits and the supply of affordable, healthy food.
Aim of Project Funding: to improve the livelihoods of families within one of the most environmentally degraded areas of Malawi, by using sustainable environmental rehabilitation and agricultural practices (organic crop production).
The target communities shall grow crops from quality high yielding seed, improving food security and the nutrition status of the households. Food deficit months shall be shortened by 4 months as a result of the project. Before the project, people were short of food for 7 months every year in between harvests.
80% of beneficiaries shall preserve and naturally process some of the food for future use.
Community based village grain/seed banks and nurseries will enable the people to build on capacities and build up reserves, to enable the project to continue beyond its funding life.
Financed through Concern Universal (Hereford, UK).
Total Projects Financed to November 2009 £134,053
A complete Projects Financed in 2009 leaflet shall be available in early 2010.
Please contact us for a copy. Updates are available on the website.
So far in 2009, Vegfam has funded projects which will help over 67,000 people in six countries. Seeds, tools and other food growing supplies have been funded to facilitate the planting of thousands of acres – to provide life saving nutritious food.
Water resources of 23 different types will provide safe, clean drinking water and much needed irrigation.
Vegfam is currently assessing several proposals for projects in Africa, Bangladesh and India. Please support our projects. Every donation makes a difference to someone's life. Thank you.