Farming for Food Security and Livelihoods

Thank you to all our donors, we have met our fundraising goal.

WHY ARE WE DOING THIS

Home gardens, water irrigation and training for 25 families so they can both eat what they grow and sell the remainder for a regular income.

Growing the fruit and vegetables at home means:

  • These families can always have food to eat, and don’t need to spend money on buying it. (In Sri Lanka, staple food is costly due to lack of supply from drought and other factors. A family can spend 40-60% of a family’s income compared to 8-12% spent in Australia.)
  • The savings that a family can make from growing their own vegetables can be used for other household expenses or saved for future use
  • Families will also earn a regular income, by increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables grown and selling the excess for a profit.

In order to ensure these 25 families succeed in their home garden businesses, our project partner will provide training on farming, financial management and small business.

Over the year, each family will be trained and supported to:

  • Grow fruit and vegetables using organic and modern farming techniques
  • Grow their farming business by increasing the amount of fruit and vegetables produced by the plants and good marketing
  • Manage household expenses
  • Save regularly, using savings to start their own small business, for instance, as a bee keeper for honey.

THE BENEFITS

  • 25 families will have food to eat each day from the crops they grow in their own back yard
  • By using organic farming practices these families can reduce the costs of farming and will be self-sufficient by using natural fertilizers and organic pesticides
  • 25 families will have food security into the future
  • By growing the produce in their own home gardens, these families will save money that they would otherwise have spent to buy food
  • In addition, the families will earn a regular income by selling the fruit and vegetables locally
  • Over the longer term, the beneficiary families can save and seek out new business opportunities.

After the project is finished, the 25 families will have home gardens set up which will provide them with food and a regular income through selling produce locally. They will also have saved over the course of the year and can look at starting their own small business, such as in bee keeping.

BACKGROUND

Many of the resettled families in the Korakankattu village in the Kilinochchi region already have farming skills. Prior to the civil war, these families were self sufficient, earning a regular income through farming, fishing and livestock. During the civil war, an economic embargo on raw materials heavily affected the ability of families in this region to continue farming activities.

The beneficiary families are now facing food insecurity. Due to the lack of tools and uncleared land, they are unable to commence a real farming livelihood. This project seeks to address food insecurity first, and then enable these families to build a farming business through which they can earn a regular income. Through the training provided, these families will have the skills to save and use these savings to establish other small businesses. BOLO proposes to establish a small business in bee keeping for honey as a pilot project to help establish the small or “micro” business culture within the community.