Lam Teungoh, Peukanbada, 20 minutes drive from Banda Aceh, was on one of the first villages to wake up and help themselves after tsunami. Its charismatic and well respected leader, affectionately called as Geuchik Bahar leads his 600 community members to be the partners of SSGF small grants. The tsunami swept away loved ones and all means of livelihoods in this former conflict area. One of the donations dedicated to Lam Teungoh is an ice factory from the people of France with capacity to produce 8 tons of ice daily. The production should be enough to meet the needs of 7000 people in Uleu Lhee, including for freezing fish destined for market in Banda Aceh. The 200,000 Euro investment was installed without support to manage the factory. SSGF helped set up the business plan and fund the establishment of a community-based company managed by selected community members. Initial reports suggest that this initiative has potential to provide a good example of local community capacity development through livelihood programme and to cut inequalities and dependency on middle men.

SSGF grant of $35,000 will be used as working capital for community groups, with a six month break even point. The main challenge of this project is to prevent conflict among the community and neighboring villages that do not have the same source of income and may use the same water resource. Production challenges will also include fuel efficiency, especially as the state has withdrawn fuel subsidies across the nation.

Currently, the ice factory is only able to serve customers who travel to the factory for retail purchase. Sales report recorded that there are around 600 fishermen who bought ice on site. The community is hopeful that the transportation and management plans can cover an estimated total of up to 7,000 fishermen per day through daily delivery of ice blocks. Although the first installment of the SSGP grant has not been received yet, the community has started trading activities supported by a payment advance from Yayasan Sosial Dian Desa. One of the expected impacts of this project includes community?s stewardship in protecting the remaining forest and to maintain the spring so that the villages can continue to enjoy a regular flow of clean water. An imminent threat that the community is facing is illegal logging. After the peace accord was signed, former combatants have returned to the village and log in the watershed of the spring, as timber has a high price due to the high demand to meet the reconstruction needs in Aceh.

Beneficiaries:
Direct: 600 Community members (fishermen)
Indirect: 7000 fishermen