Footprints Project
Since 2005, travelers like you have helped us change the world through micro-donations.
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A total of
3803
Travelers
-
donated
$25001.15
(100% funded) -
to help reduce
Poverty
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impacting
500
people -
in
Indonesia
Project Background
Sumba is an island in eastern
Indonesia. This amazing tourist destination lies far off the beaten track, has
a rich and unique culture, world-class surf breaks, and one of the best-rated
hotels in the world.
But
Sumba’s people face extremely high rates of poverty and stunting. Stunting is
one of the most extreme indicators of malnutrition, resulting from long-term
nutritional deprivation. Poverty and stunting in Sumba are driven and
exacerbated by low agricultural productivity that is further impacted by an
eight-month dry season.
The poverty rate for Laboya Barat
sub-district is 63%. A further 20% of the population are ‘near-poor’ and
extremely vulnerable to economic and environmental shocks.
This poverty and vulnerability causes a
negative cycle in which poor farmers are less able, and less willing, to invest
much of their limited funds into agriculture activities, as they consider it
too risky.
Current low productivity means there are fewer food crops available for consumption, which contributes to poor diet, poor health and malnutrition. Although the communities rely heavily on agriculture, their farming is highly dependent on rainfall. Unfortunately, the dry season lasts at least 8 months every year, and with climate change, rainfall patterns have become very unpredictable.
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Project Overview
SurfAid is working to help local farmers improve agricultural productivity by implementing demonstration farms, to grow relevant crops, and model good agricultural practice. Demonstration farms allow farmers to continuously learn in an informal setting. ‘Accompaniment’ – where SurfAid staff live and work alongside the community – will be used to support short formal sessions and ensure efficient use of participants’ time.
SurfAid is helping local farmers to overcome the long dry season and unpredictable rainfall due to climate change, by implementing a small-scale irrigation system in a new demonstration farm. This will allow farmers to learn new irrigation techniques and implement it in their own gardens and fields, to have year-round access to water.
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What’s Covered in Project Cost
Partners & Community Involvement
SurfAid in Indonesia will work together with the communities and local government of Laboya Barat sub-district. The communities and government will allocate land for the demonstration farm, community members will be engaged in the set-up and establishment of the demonstration farm and the irrigation system. Community members and relevant government personnel will participate in training on agricultural practices to improve production and maintain the irrigation system, so that positive changes can be maintained and sustained by local actors beyond this project. The communities will be engaged in the development of tailored training materials and contribute locally-available resources, volunteering their time and labour to the project, and the government will be engaged to provide follow-up through extension workers.
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How does the project fits into a larger strategy
This project contributes directly to
SurfAid’s overarching six-year program called NUSATANI (farming islands),
tackling poverty, stunting and malnutrition at household level through
nutrition sensitive agriculture. The program is currently in its third year.
Good
nutrition includes getting the right quantity of good quality, diverse foods
all year. These foods must be handled and stored safely to avoid causing
illness.
SurfAid
implements activities in the areas of food production, agricultural income,
improved access to health services and women's empowerment, to address the key
factors that influence nutrition status.
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