Improve Livelihoods of vulnerable young women group through a Net-House based agro-initiative and it support the young women group as their livelihood security and adapt the climate change issues
- 60 household learned about chicken raising by borrowing money from the saving group and have improved their livelihoods
- community have purified and safe drinking water facility
- 102 households know how to harvest brown water for home-gardening and it is functioning at homestead levels
The project builds up the capacity of the targeted 102 families following a triangle approach is given below:
- Step one ? provide capacity building related trainings for the target community. Trainers are Save the earth Cambodia (STEC) staff, and officer of Agriculture Extension Office, Livestock (AEO), Provincial Department of Agriculture.
- Step two ? Trained staff of STEC and AEO demonstrate the activities and the women take part as the observers
- Step three ? the target women take part in doing the activities and the STEC and AEO staff observer to guide them in need.
Gender Focus
The project identified an enormous problems at the target area in regard to community risks that affects the women and children and that can be reduced by multiplying land use techniques, and initiating micro agro initiatives at the homestead levels. The drought creates highly vulnerability at the target koh krohlor district locality that affects entire community livelihoods and damages the entire environment as well.
Notable Community Participation
The project will be providing awareness training on the environment-friendly livelihood security and support piloting women headed households to enhance their livelihoods mainstreaming climate and gender issues. Like; organizing community drinking water facility, Net-House, women driven saving group, chicken raising, harvesting rain water for safe drinking, protecting children from dengue and malaria, home gardening by harvesting brown water at the community team and individual homestead levels.
Project Results
The project organized 60 households under saving group to support their livelihoods and to ensure that the beneficiaries have access to financial supports during any hazardous time. The project supported with USD 3000.00 to the saving group. The number of beneficiaries have increased from 60 to 85. Their capacity on managing the saving groups money has increased significantly through series of trainings.
Demonstration farm to support 9 highly vulnerable young women, chicken raising for 60 old women that increased to 85, home gardening etc. climate friendly initiatives has been undertaken. A collaboration with department of Agriculture has been made to provide technical supports to the beneficiaries on climate adapted short lead time agriculture and livestock.
Some of the beneficiaries have been diversified their livelihood initiatives to pig raising, selling breakfast and soups from house to house, and small shop at her house.
The beneficiaries used to boil water for drinking by firewood. After having the water filter, they stopped firing wood to boil water that saved around (102 hh x 5 kg wood per day x 365days) 186.15 tons o firewood year. Only 102 households could save forest and reducing carbon emission to atmosphere through the water filters.
all the livelihood initiatives have been made connected and made accountable to the saving group. Any member from the saving group can borrow and invest money in any climate friendly. The community set the interest 2% that is the lowest rate in Cambodia.
The knowledge and skill transfer interventions along with livelihood initiatives made the community self dependent, encouraged them to comeback for their home based economy, build up community coherence and respect among the beneficiaries, building trust & confidence, reduced migration, each of the beneficiaries has the access to financial supports in case of any disaster, safe drinking water saved firewood and housewives? working hours, environmentally friendly livelihood opportunities.
In general, we can conclude that the project has reached its goal and objectives significantly and it has been contributing to the following issues:
I. Local and global environmental protection ?
The project enhanced the home based climate adapted agriculture and livelihoods like home gardening, demonstration farm, chicken raising, pig raising etc. They have been using organic fertilizer, composting etc. for their short lead time farms that resulted them from cutting down trees to support their livelihoods.
The water filter has been saving more than 186,150 ton firewood a year, housewives working could save 37, 230 hours from boiling water and invest this time into home gardens and other climate adapted livelihoods. The initiatives not only protected but also contributed in improvement of the local and global environmental issues.
II. Improved livelihood of community or poverty reduction
The target community used to grow only one crop in year that could provide them work around fur months a year. The rest eight months, they used to cut tree from forest and migrate for their livelihood supports. But the project has given them the skill training along with community based environmentally friendly livelihood options. Producing vegetables, raising chicken and pig, home hardening opened the opportunity for eating and selling to the market. Before when one family could earn 10,000 for a day, as example, they used to buy vegetables for at least 2000 riels a day, and there was no saving. But now, when the family can earn 10,000 and sell vegetables 2000 riels; they can save 4000 riels. They can have the same food but fresher and more natural. The daily gross income reaches to 14000 (10,000 + selling of vegetables 2,000 and saved money from buying vegetables 2,000).
This improved livelihood and reducing poverty from that community is much more significant when we consider the chicken and pig raising
