Women Banking Network

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SRI LAKSHMI

Sri Lakshmi lives in a village in Sri Lanka called Kanthansamy Nagar with her husband and two children. Sri Lakshmi and her family have been displaced multiple times as a result of the Sri Lankan Civil War, and each time, had to start again with very little. Her husband is an unskilled labourer and providing enough food for the family has been a challenge. She has been expected to raise her children and manage the household on a very small and irregular income. Her duties have meant that she has had limited capacity to contribute economically and, as a result, feels that she has not had the right to participate in critical financial decisions that relate to the household.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

We want to work with 110 women just like Sri Lakshmi to build a banking network and connect them to mainstream financial services. We will work with women to better manage their livelihoods, build financial literacy and strengthen savings practices. This will allow women to save and access loans to meet their needs and those of their families. Individually, it provides an avenue for women to engage with financial activity and strengthens their financial literacy skills. Collectively, it provides a powerful platform for women to come together to address the household, community or political challenges that they face.

WHY WE ARE DOING IT

Establishing  a banking network in Kanthansamy Nagar means that Sri Lakshmi and her neighbours will be able to keep their savings in a secure place. They will have access to low-interest and emergency loans that will help them meet their basic needs, support their livelihoods, improve their access to education and health, and see them through any emergencies. This is critical in for low income households, where interests rates can be as high as 35%. Setting up a banking network for these women means providing them with skills in financial literacy and leadership and gives them a voice in the financial decisions made in her household and community.

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

Over the course of five years, we will work with small groups of women in Kanthansamy Nagar and train them in financial literacy. Every week, the women will meet together, pool their savings and decide as a group on which member or members will receive a loan. There will be more than ten of these groups of women meeting weekly, and any money left over after the weekly meetings will be put into a cluster group that will be available for larger loans. All of the savings are recorded, meaning that should a women wish to draw upon her individual savings, she can do so. Every meeting a different member will act as the moderator, putting into practice their leadership training.

Once a month, a representative from each group will meet in this cluster group. These representatives will have additional training to help them oversee the smaller groups and maintain their sustainability and integrity. The cluster group engages with Palmera’s livelihood programming that takes place in the same village, meaning that the banking network is not only financially driven, but is also directed towards issues that directly impact upon the members and their community.

By working with the women to build their financial literacy and leadership skills and develop an advocacy platform that recognises and addresses the issues that they face, the impact of this program can continue well after we exit.

HOW CAN YOU HELP

In order to start and maintain a women’s banking network in Kanthansamy Nagar, we need to raise $41, 913. This works out a $279 per women; only $56 a year over the 5-year programme.

$56 a year to give Sri Lakshmi the gift of financial literacy and a voice in her household? We think that’s money well spent.

Youth Vets

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WHY ARE WE INVESTED IN THIS PROJECT?

For many decades, due to the civil war, the Northern parts of Sri Lanka was isolated from the booming Sri Lankan dairy sector.

Given this, it is no surprise that the Northern district of Mullathivu, the poorest region in the country where this project takes place, has one of the lowest annual milk production rate.

This is because techniques that help improve the breed of cattle and essential services for better cattle management fail to reach thousands of existing and potential dairy farmers.

Kumarani, one of the women dairy farmers, shares: “what is the point of rearing cattle if there are no vets and our cattle die?”.

This project aims to not only help Kumarani but over 9,000 other dairy farmers just like her.

Focusing on improving quality and health of the cattle, the programme will train thirty youth from the six divisions in the district. They will become ‘community vets’ and conduct artificial insemination and provide advice to the dairy farmers on best animal husbandry techniques. They will support the Provincial Department of Animal Production and Health (DAPH), who, although mainly responsible for developing the livestock programme, fail to reach the thousands of dairy farmers because of insufficient resources. They will also support existing Livestock Breeder Cooperatives, gathering dairy farmers, who have been severely impacted by the war and struggle to provide effective services to farmers.

By becoming ‘community vets’, the 30 youths will gain a secure job in a region where such opportunities are scarce. This is critical, especially as the prevalence of youth suicide in the North of Sri Lanka is one of the highest in the world.

THE BENEFITS

• Milk yield in the region will be increased, contributing to an improvement of the dairy sector which is fast becoming the region’s and nation’s most important sector. And that increase in the amount of milk available will benefit the population of the whole district, especially the children.
• Over 9,000 dairy farmers and their families will have access to services that will improve the quality and health of their cattle, increasing their income and enabling them to better stand on their own two feet.
• Over 9,000 dairy farmers will have better access to a wider range of services to support their livelihoods through connections with critical public and private service providers.
• Thirty young people will be trained as ‘community vets’ and run profitable businesses. They will receive a formal licence from the Government and will have the opportunity to gain a certificate on advanced artificial insemination technologies from a leading university in Sri Lanka.
• Six Government veterinary offices and six Livestock Breeder Cooperatives will be strengthened and their capacity built to deliver timely and effective services to the farmers.

Some of the selected community vets

HOW WILL THE PROJECT WORK?

After their formal training in how to perform artificial insemination and learn about best animal husbandry techniques, the thirty ‘community vets’ will work alongside the Government veterinary officers, who will continue to provide them with on the job training. Their work will also be supervised by the Livestock Breeder Cooperatives, who have an in-depth knowledge of the community in which they will work.

Each of the ‘community vets’ has been assigned a set number of villages and they will visit dairy farmers in those villages on a daily basis to provide advice and information, answer their requests for artificial insemination, conduct vaccination campaigns, register animals and facilitate the delivery of other programs.

The thirty ‘community vets’ will keep records on the number of artificial insemination they perform and follow up to assess whether it has been successful. If it has, they will ensure the calf and mother are well looked after and that all necessary services are provided.

By conducting such services, the ‘community vets’ will be the arms and legs of the Government in the villages, enabling critical interventions to reach farmers even in the remotest areas and strengthening and supporting thereby the work of the veterinary offices. They will also promote the activities of the cooperatives and work collaboratively with them for the benefits of the farmers in each division of the district. The capacity of those Livestock Breeder Cooperatives will be further built by setting up a fund enabling them to provide revolving loans to farmers, which will allow the latter to develop their dairy farming activities.

HOW DO WE ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY

This is a three year project which Palmera and our local partner SLCDF will be implementing. The project works within the existing structure of the Government veterinary offices and the Livestock Breeder Associations who are extremely supportive of the project and see the benefits it brings to their organisation and the community. They have committed to work with the ‘community vets’ beyond the three-year period. The ‘community vets’ themselves will have a sustainable business in an area where job opportunities are limited. Farmers and their animals will continue to reap the benefits of the project well after project completion by accessing timely and effective services.

The Cornerstone

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KANALA

Kanala has worked hard all her life, but has faced hurdle after hurdle. Her parents died when she was very young, and she had no immediate family to look after her. She got married, but watched her husband die a slow and painful death because of injuries he sustained in the war. She can still hear his moans of pain when she closes her eyes.

Kanala is now responsible for bringing up their three children on her own. She used to work as a labourer, but her children are too young to be left alone and the work isn’t regular enough anyway. She picks up a little money by doing odd jobs around the village, but with no steady income and no support network, she is desperately worried about the future of her family. She is prepared to work hard; she just needs an opportunity to prove herself.

THE PROBLEM

Kanala’s village, Theravil, is in the north of Sri Lanka. The agriculture sector in this part of the country hasn’t seen a lot of innovation, which has affected the dairy sector a lot. Cows have been dying of malnourishment and easily-treatable diseases because of a lack of expert knowledge – trained vets are few and far between. Even if a family is lucky enough to have a cow, it often doesn’t produce enough milk to make much of a profit, and the quality of the milk isn’t great – meaning that the price isn’t great either. But while there are market issues, there are also many people-centered issues that prevent their effective economic engagement. Post war, there is little care and trust for neighbours, women share that “they barely speak at all with neighbours, let alone engage on livelihood matters”. The foundation has been fractured, and along with addressing the market gaps, addressing these social gaps are critical as producers must work together to rise out of poverty.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Kanala and her family are going to be the newest generation of dairy farmers in Theravil. The aim is to build skills of working together and a value based foundation in all the producers. This is critical as producers must work together in order to solve problems – something that currently does not occur. The programme focuses on the training and mentorship of 12 cornerstones. The first is “passing the gift” where one family passes the first calf born to another family. Cows are sacred in this area, and through this pass the gift programme, deep bonds will be formed between families and communities.

The 12 cornerstones that we will be focusing on in this project are:

1. Passing the gift
2. Accountability
3. Sharing and Caring
4. Sustainability and self-reliance
5. Improved animal and resource management
6. Nutrition and income
7. Gender and family focus
8. Genuine need and justice
9. Improving the environment
10. Full participation
11. Training, education and communication, and
12. Spirituality

This is a series of many Dairy projects that we are running in this village to address the barriers in this sector. To learn more about the other projects, which will all work together, please see the following links:

• Milking it to save lives
• Sustainable dairy farming

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

This programme is not just about one-off training, it requires deep mentorship, reflections, and continued sharing of experiences. We will leverage the women’s bank that we will have formed in this village to support the delivery of this programme and its ongoing sustainability.

We will also leverage highly trained and skilled experts in these 12 cornerstone topic areas, who will be deeply engaged with the families and the women’s bank, to ensure the programme’s success.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This programme enables 150 villagers just like Kanala to be supported on these 12 corner stones, critical for their ongoing growth and success in the dairy sector. In order to start this project in Theravil, we need to raise $11,831. This works out at $79 per family; only $16 a year over the 5-year programme to help Kanala enjoy a better future.

A WHOLE OF VILLAGE TRANSFORMATION IN THERAVIL

This project is just one of the projects that we are doing in Theravil. We work through a whole of village approach to improve the economic well being of the families and transform the village. We will spend five years in each village breaking down the barriers that prevent the poor from engaging in profitable markets, and earning enough to stand on their own two feet.

This means barriers both in the market as well as those socio-economic barriers that keep vulnerable families economically excluded.

We will achieve this over a five year period, by:

1. Supporting the continued increase of income, assets and savings
2. Working to economically empower women & men producers so that they have a voice and agency in the homes, communities and the markets in which they work, and
3. Working to reduce the vulnerability of families so that they can recover from shocks and sustain their growth out of vulnerability

This project, “The Cornerstone” is just one of the many we will be undertaking in this village over the next five years. To learn more about the village vision and the many projects that will come together to enable this change, read more here

Learning the (ground)nuts and bolts

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AMAR

Amar and his wife have been working to establish a solid future for themselves and their four children. They are the lucky ones – their three daughters are studying and their son works in garment production. They can see that there are opportunities ahead, but in the meantime, they need to find a way to make a steady income to make sure that their children can keep working towards an easier life.

Amar and his wife face a common predicament in these areas: they have enough to get by, but they have no savings to use as a buffer, so as soon as there is a flood or an unexpected expense – they find themselves really struggling. The last thing Amar and his wife want are to be a burden on their children; they want to be able to look after themselves and send their children off out into the world. They have a small plot of land that was left to them in an inheritance, but they have never learnt how to work it properly, so it’s in pretty bad shape. They tried to plant the odd thing here or there over the past eighteen months, but everything kept dying, so they assumed that the soil was bad.

THE PROBLEM

Amar and his family live in Theravil, which is in the north of Sri Lanka. It was hit hard by the war, and it was still caught up in conflict in 2009. The agriculture sector in this part of the country hasn’t seen a great deal of advancement over the years either; the few producers of groundnuts in the region at the moment still use traditional methods, which sap the soil of nutrients and lead to diminished crops over time.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Amar and his wife, along with 300 other producers, will be engaged in the profitable groundnut sector. Many of these families are already working in this sector, but unprofitably. What we will be doing is working with them to break down all the barriers in this sector that prevent them from effectively engaging with the market.

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

We’ll be working with the producers to provide them with training, knowledge about the market, and advocacy skills. These producers will learn about the latest technology and come to understand best practice in cultivating their seeds and storing the groundnuts after they have been harvested. They will work together as a collective and use their combined influence to negotiate better prices with buyers, access government grants, and resolve any disputes. With their newfound knowledge, these producers will be able to produce more groundnuts of better quality, for which they will receive a better price.

We take a systems approach in how we work – transforming the systems that keep the poor economically excluded. What this means is that we look at the root problems in why the poor are not being connected to the Groundnut sector and work with the community and market actors to address these barriers, one by one.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This programme gives 300 villagers just like Amar the opportunity to use their land productively, access essential training and services, and create a more reliable income stream. In order to start this project in Theravil, we need to raise $81,985. This works out at $273 per family; only $56 a year over the 5-year programme to help Amar grow a brighter future for himself, his wife, and his children.

A WHOLE OF VILLAGE TRANSFORMATION IN THERAVIL

This project is just one of the projects that we are doing in Theravil. We work through a whole of village approach to improve the economic well being of the families and transform the village. We will spend five years in each village breaking down the barriers that prevent the poor from engaging in profitable markets, and earning enough to stand on their own two feet.

This means barriers both in the market as well as those socio-economic barriers that keep vulnerable families economically excluded.

We will achieve this over a five year period, by:

1. Supporting the continued increase of income, assets and savings
2. Working to economically empower women & men producers so that they have a voice and agency in the homes, communities and the markets in which they work, and
3. Working to reduce the vulnerability of families so that they can recover from shocks and sustain their growth out of vulnerability

This project, “Learning the (ground)nuts and bolts” is just one of the many we will be undertaking in this village over the next five years. To learn more about the village vision and the many projects that will come together to enable this change, read more here.

Landing a Better Future

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RANJITH

Life for Ranjith was hard from the very beginning. He was born out of wedlock and his parents rejected him. He was adopted when he was three months old and, growing up, life was a struggle. There was never quite enough food to go around and work opportunities were few and far between. He got married, but soon afterwards, found himself caught up in the war and spent time in the camps where he fell into a deep depression. His wife also suffered serious injuries during the war – she still has bullets in her leg which cause her pain and mean that she walks with a pronounced limp.

Ranjith was lucky enough to have a little land of his own to farm, but he would only cultivate eggplants. He didn’t know then that over-cultivating the one crop – his eggplants – would sap nutrients from his soil. So, each season his yield (and, as a result, his income) would be less and less, and he couldn’t work out why. In desperation, he tried to fix it with fertilisers and chemicals, and he pumped his land – he did everything he could think of to make things better.

But Ranjith’s land got worse and worse until it because completely unusable. This was catastrophic – his land was his only real asset. He decided to give up farming and started labouring instead – which is hard and precarious work at the best of times. He wanted to be able to pass down this land to his children – after all, it was his livelihood. Now, though, he doesn’t know what the future holds for him and his family.

THE PROBLEM

Ranjith’s village, Theravil, is in the north of Sri Lanka. It was heavily impacted during the war and experienced direct conflict as recently as 2009. On top of this, agriculture in this part of the country has tended to be quite traditional – there hasn’t been a great deal of investment or innovation in this sector here yet.

There are other things that have made Ranjith’s problems with his land all the more difficult. For a start, his lack of direct connection to the market means that he’s dealing with middle men and getting a bad price for his produce. This poses a big problem for Ranjith, particularly when he doesn’t have a lot of eggplants to begin with. He doesn’t have the right knowledge or connections to learn how to better manage his land and increase his yield. His isolation from other farmers in his community isn’t helping either.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Ranjith and his family are going to become one of the families who we will train in innovative agriculture practices. They will see first-hand just how well these new farming methods work. They will then become the leaders that bring these new practices to the other farmers in their village and, with our support, will help to start the process of transforming Theravil.

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

We will be working with 250 families to turn their fortunes around. They are going to learn more about their land than they ever thought possible: how to map it, how to use their precious water better, how to make their soil more fertile, how to look after their seeds, and how to improve the quantity and quality of their produce. We will connect them with the important players, including technical trainers, mainstream finance providers, and buyers in the market. We will develop their power as a group by setting them up as a collective, which will give them more control over their profits.

We take a systems approach in how we work – transforming the systems that keep the poor economically excluded. What this means is that we look at the root problems in why the poor are not being connected to the Fruit & Vegetable sector and work with the community and market actors to address these barriers, one by one.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This programme gives 250 farmers just like Ranjith the chance to make the most of their land, access essential training and services, and secure a better future for their families.

In order to start this project in Theravil, we need to raise $118,816. This works out at $475 per family; only $95 a year over the 5-year programme to help Ranjith land a better future.

A WHOLE OF VILLAGE TRANSFORMATION IN THERAVIL

This project is just one of the projects that we are doing in Theravil. We work through a whole of village approach to improve the economic well being of the families and transform the village. We will spend five years in each village breaking down the barriers that prevent the poor from engaging in profitable markets, and earning enough to stand on their own two feet.

This means barriers both in the market as well as those socio-economic barriers that keep vulnerable families economically excluded.

We will achieve this over a five year period, by:

1. Supporting the continued increase of income, assets and savings
2. Working to economically empower women & men producers so that they have a voice and agency in the homes, communities and the markets in which they work, and
3. Working to reduce the vulnerability of families so that they can recover from shocks and sustain their growth out of vulnerability

This project, “Landing a better future” is just one of the many we will be undertaking in this village over the next five years. To learn more about the village vision and the many projects that will come together to enable this change, you can read more here.

Hunger Relief

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When curfews hit, families were left without the daily labour that they rely on for food.

We responded with our Feed the Poor campaign to support 300 families. Through the generosity of donors, we were able to support 550 families.

The support saved lives.

But curfews have not been lifted and thousands of families remain without food – facing hunger and falling deeper into the poverty cycle.

The situation requires us to act.

We have identified 1,000 critical families through Sri Lanka’s North East. They need food immediately – dry rations including rice, dhal and the essentials.

If you can, give generously. Without your support, we cannot reach these excluded families.

Below are photos from the earlier food distribution response. For those of you who are able to donate we will be providing you an update via email in the coming weeks. Please check your spam as our updates sometimes end up there! If you miss your update, please do connect with us on Facebook or Instagram where we will also be posting regular updates. You can also reach out to us at [email protected]

If you can. Support now.

Graduating the Poor

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SASI’S STORY

I met Sasi at the psych ward. I was there visiting when a doctor asked me to join Sasi’s counselling session. She sat in silence. To her left was her youngest son, one of her five children, his disability so profound she could barely take her eyes off him. Sasi’s daughter, her second eldest at just 12, sat to her left. She had tried to commit suicide four days earlier.

Their father is in the ward, as is Sasi’s eldest brother. She has no one she can depend on to support her and her five children. So, she is bringing them up on her own.

Sasi doesn’t have any qualifications. To put food on the table, she has to work as a labourer far away from home. But because of her poor health and her need to take care of her children, she rarely gets work. The family has no savings and no safety net. So Sasi feeds her children plain tea and, when she can afford it, will give them rice once a day.

Often, they will just have tea and go to bed hungry.

She didn’t say much to me that day, but as I left, she whispered “they are just kids, what do I do?” For Sasi, there are few places she can go for support. When she looks into her future, she sees no way out. But there has to be, because she is bringing up five children who deserve more from life.

THE PROBLEM

In Sri Lanka’s North, there are women and men who live in absolute poverty. They are the poorest of the poor. They aren’t ready yet to be linked with the markets. Their priority, understandably, is surviving. But they still need to earn an income and do so with dignity. No one is supporting them to do this. This is partly because providing this support is hard: it takes a lot of money, local knowledge, and mentoring.

THE SOLUTION

This isn’t the life Sasi wants for her children or for herself. It’s not the life we want for Sasi or her children either.

That’s why, in the Kandavalli district of Killinochi, we are going to identify 100 of the poorest, like Sasi, and work with them over 2 years to graduate them out of absolute poverty. To do this, we’re working with a civil society umbrella organisation which has 460 members who work in each of the villages in the Kandavalli district. They have a real understanding of the people living there, and their deep local knowledge will help us to identify the families who need our support the most.

We’ll be adapting an existing programme to give these families a hand up. It’s a holistic approach that, over two years, gives ultra-poor households the tools they need to move from struggle to sufficiency.

It’s designed to address their immediate needs while also investing in their longer-term training, development and planning. It helps families secure the basic things like food and access to healthcare, but it also aims to build their financial resilience through savings. We also want to make sure that these families are integrated in their community. At the moment, they are often very isolated, which just makes their situation even more dire.

LET’S DO IT TOGETHER

With your support, we can identify the poorest families and start them on their journey. We can make sure that children, like Sasi’s, don’t go to bed hungry while also helping families find a better way to make a reliable income. For $2,212 a year, $92 a month or $23 a week, you can help us do this.

Decent Income Through Dairy

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TANUJ AND VANI

Tanuj and Vani have experienced much heartbreak in their lives. They had a good life and a happy family until the war. Both of their sons got caught up in the fighting, though Vani begged them desperately to flee. Their elder son died in the war and although their younger son returned home, he turned to heroin and disappeared shortly after, leaving his wife to bring up after their children. Tanuj and Vani desperately want to get their son help, but their priority at the moment is to start earning a stable income for themselves and for their daughter-in-law and grandchildren. They refuse to let the war make victims out of any more of their family members.

THE PROBLEM

The village that Tanuj and Vani live in, Theravil, is in the north of Sri Lanka. The dairy sector is profitable, however there are a range of barriers that keep the poor excluded or not being engaged effectively. Although many of the poor couldn’t take on the financial risk to purchase a cow, those who could, often chose not to, as vets are not easily accessible, lack of milk quantity produced in the village discourages buyers, and lack of buyers discourages the production of quality milk. In the village, because of all these barriers, farmers are reluctant to take loans and purchase hybrid cows, despite their significantly higher yield. There are currently no farmers in the village that know how to manage hybrid cows.

This is the cycle of exclusion. However, it can be addressed through targeted and systemic efforts. This is exactly what our project seeks to do.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

We will work with the government vet services and other private market actors to lift the knowledge base of farmers and introduce them to new cattle management practices. This begins with building and management of cow sheds, semi intensive cattle management practices, self-production of inputs and among other things feed management. We will connect farmers to all the necessary actors so they have continued access to these services, working with these services to strengthen their reach into the village where needed.

It is critical that we not only work with those in the sector, but vulnerable families who need to enter this sector to earn a decent income. We will provide subsidies for the purchase of cattle, which will have both a no-interest loan component and a requirement that families pass on the first born calf to another family.

This is a series of many Dairy projects that we are running in this village to address the barriers in this sector. To learn more about the other projects, which will all work together, please see the following links:

• Milking it to save lives
• Sustainable Dairy Farming

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

We will be working with 300 families to start their journey to become dairy farmers of hybrid cattle. We take a systems approach in how we work – transforming the systems that keep the poor economically excluded. What this means is that we look at the root problems in why the poor are not being connected to the dairy sector and work with the community and market actors to address these barriers, one by one.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This programme gives 300 villagers just like Tanuj and Vani the chance to raise a cow, access essential vet services, and secure a better future for their families. In order to start this project in Theravil, we need to raise $252,719. This works out at $842 per family; only $168 a year over the 5-year programme to help Shanthidevi and her family have a better future.

A WHOLE OF VILLAGE TRANSFORMATION IN THERAVIL

This project is just one of the projects that we are doing in Theravil. We work through a whole of village approach to improve the economic well being of the families and transform the village. We will spend five years in each village breaking down the barriers that prevent the poor from engaging in profitable markets, and earning enough to stand on their own two feet.

This means barriers both in the market as well as those socio-economic barriers that keep vulnerable families economically excluded.

We will achieve this over a five year period, by:

1. Supporting the continued increase of income, assets and savings
2. Working to economically empower women & men producers so that they have a voice and agency in the homes, communities and the markets in which they work, and
3. Working to reduce the vulnerability of families so that they can recover from shocks and sustain their growth out of vulnerability

This project, “Decent income through Dairy” is just one of the many we will be undertaking in this village over the next five years. To learn more about the village vision and the many projects that will come together to enable this change, read more here.

Connecting to Markets

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

VARUNIYA

Varuniya lives with her elderly mother, her husband and three children in Kanthansamy Nagar, a village in Sri Lanka. Varuniya and her family recently returned from India, where they had been living in the refugee camp for more than 20 years. When returning to their home, they found a lot had changed: their land had been neglected and was now overgrown, the soil was now different and there were new quality requirements that hadn’t been in place before and their network of buyers from twenty years ago no longer existed.

Varuniya has 2 acres of land, enough to provide her with a good income, but she struggled to get the right price and produce at the quality that buyers expect. She hasn’t been trained on any of the new requirements and with the changing weather patterns, is unable to prevent losses in her harvest.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

We want to work with 105 small-scale farmers just like Varuniya to build thriving farming businesses and be able to compete in the market place – by helping them to develop new practices, technologies and access to strong financial products. We want to support farmers like Varuniya to invest money each season and to protect themselves against losses by taking out insurance. By doing so, we will be providing farmers of Kanthansamy Nagar with a complete bundle of services to be competitive and successful in the market place and help them break down the barriers that keep them excluded.

WHY WE ARE DOING IT

There are a number of benefits to helping Varuniya and her fellow farmers in Kanthansamy Nagar to develop their businesses. By identifying and training these farmers in new practices, technologies and techniques, they will be able to improve the productivity of their farms and better compete in the market place. They will be able to get a better price for their produce and enjoy a more reliable long-term income. Through a stable and growing income they will be in charge of their own destiny, able to make decisions for the improved well being of their families.

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

We will begin this project by running a workshop with the members of the village about their farming business to identify the key barriers and challenges they face. We will then work with companies, governments, think tanks and other experts to identify the technologies and practices that will overcome these barriers. Once we have done so, we will invite 105 farmers to self-select for training in the new technologies or practices. We will work closely with these farmers over a 5-year period to ensure that they are effectively implementing the training and monitoring the increase in the quality of their produce, the productivity of their farm and the increase in their income.

While we do this, we will simultaneously improve the financial literacy of farmers so they better understand when loans are required and how to select the right financial provider. We will connect farmers with a range of providers and work with them so they can access the provider best suited to them. Accessing financial providers is essential not only for loans but also for insurance purposes. We will work with farmers to educate them on the need for insurance practices, identify the right insurance product and providers and improve the financial literacy of farmers so they can continue to select the best option for them.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Building thriving business farms in Kanthansamy Nagar costs as little as $349 per farmer; only $78 a year over the 5-year programme.

Banking on Change for Good

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

CHAND AND JANU

Chand and Janu are best friends. They have lived in the same village for as long as they can remember and have shared life’s highs and lows together. When Chand’s husband died unexpectedly, Janu was there for her day and night. Janu held Chand as she wept, fed her small mouthfuls of congee, and sang her to sleep. Chand returned the friendship when Janu lost everything in a flood; she kept Janu’s spirits up and through sheer determination and a lot of hard work, she helped Janu start all over again.

Like many women in Sri Lanka, though, Chand and Janu are not financially literate. They have no savings and the only loans available to them have crippling interest rates. They don’t have a voice in their households or in their communities; they aren’t taken seriously as decision-makers or authority figures.

THE PROBLEM

Chand and Janu live in Theravil, a village in Sri Lanka’s north. It’s a very traditional village and women haven’t been given many opportunities to speak up about the future that they want for Theravil. Financial literacy levels are low and there isn’t a strong community network. The civil war was still very active in the area as late as 2009, and villagers are still recovering from the trauma of the conflict.

WHAT WE ARE DOING

Chand and Janu are going to be 2 of the 400 women who will make up Theravil’s first women’s bank. They will be grouped into smaller clusters and self-help groups, which will help them to understand the importance of saving, will allow them collectively advocate for the things that matter to them and will provide local sources of capital to the village – such as loans, which will support the villagers of Theravil access education and health services.

HOW WE ARE DOING IT

These 400 women will be crunching numbers in no time. They will be trained in financial literacy and leadership skills, and will learn how to advocate for the things that matter to them. The self-help groups will sit down weekly to pool savings and make group decisions about how these funds will be used. A real benefit of this is that it develops strong community ties and creates platforms for change in the village.

We take a systems approach in how we work – transforming the systems that keep the poor economically and financially excluded. What this means is that we look at the root problems in why the poor are not being connected to needed financial services and work with the community and market actors to address these barriers, one by one.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

This programme gives 400 women just like Chand and Janu the opportunity to develop financial skills, access leadership training, and enjoy access to mentors. In order to start this project in Theravil, we need to raise $75,523. This works out at $189 per woman; only $38 a year over the 5-year programme to give Chand and Janu a voice in Theravil.

A WHOLE OF VILLAGE TRANSFORMATION IN THERAVIL

This project is just one of the projects that we are doing in Theravil. We work through a whole of village approach to improve the economic well being of the families and transform the village. We will spend five years in each village breaking down the barriers that prevent the poor from engaging in profitable markets, and earning enough to stand on their own two feet.

This means barriers both in the market as well as those socio-economic barriers that keep vulnerable families economically excluded.

We will achieve this over a five year period, by:

1. Supporting the continued increase of income, assets and savings
2. Supporting the continued increase of income, assets and savings
3. Working to economically empower women & men producers so that they have a voice and agency in the homes, communities and the markets in which they work, and
4. Working to reduce the vulnerability of families so that they can recover from shocks and sustain their growth out of vulnerability

This project, “Banking on change for good” is just one of the many we will be undertaking in this village over the next five years. To learn more about the village vision and the many projects that will come together to enable this change, read more here.

Women’s Village Bank – Colony

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

WHY ARE WE INVESTED IN THIS PROJECT?

In each village where we support rural entrepreneurs and farmers, we simultaneously support a women’s village bank, because without a way to hold on to income gains, families remain vulnerable to falling back into poverty. This project will take place in the village of Colony.

In the village of Colony there are over 350 families and to date there has been no independent savings and loans programs in this village. We are invested in this project because building savings habits and creating a safe way to save and a platform for loans enables women to build wealth and improve their resilience to shocks which would otherwise risk their family from falling back into poverty.

It enables women to stand on their own two feet, make their own decisions and be in control of their financial circumstances.

THE BENEFITS

Increase in savings which not only increases wealth but provides a buffer to unexpected changes or shocks that may otherwise have a family fall back into poverty

• Financial independence and improved financial knowledge
• Improved social capital and women from different backgrounds in the village work closely together to save and lend
• Independence from money lenders and other adverse financial providers for short terms cash requirements
• Access in the village to safe and reliable cash injections
• Life long improved savings practices

HOW WILL THE PROJECT WORK?

This unique savings program aims to work directly with 100 women in the village of Colony, Mulaithivu.

Savings and loan programs especially amongst women are proven to be one of the most successful and cost effective programs!

It works like this – Firstly we identify a trusted woman in the community who becomes our mobiliser. She is trained on all that she needs to know but other women from the community who have done this in their village (who we trained through previous projects).

With her we go door to door, speaking to women and engaging them on this idea. One group forms of roughly 10 – 20 women. They have never saved before and they wonder how they will be able to manage it. But slowly ideas are generated like like buying rice together in bulk. If more inspiration is needed then we visit other women who are further along the journey in other villages who can mentor and inspire!

Over time they begin to save and in doing so they inspire other groups, with the help of the mobiliser and our team. One groups turns into many. They are trained over a period of 12 months on 10 critical areas focusing on everything record keeping, to loaning money, to running a meeting to financial literacy. They are also trained on critical social issues like child abuse, domestic violence and safe migration.

They meet each week, they save, they lend and they share. In time in the village we have engaged 100 women (approx. 10 groups) and now we can form a cluster. This is a group that sits above the 10 groups with 2 representatives from each group. They gather the savings that are not lent as loans and distribute it as larger loans to a women in the group. They also undertake specialised training in some critical business environment and social matters and help coordinate a voice for the women in the village.

The group will be open to all women who want to partake in the groups – it will leave no one out!

HOW DO WE ENSURE THE PROJECT IS SUSTAINABLE AFTER WE LEAVE?

The low overhead operations makes the groups profitable and financially sustainable. Studies conducted among groups conducted through AFRICA show that 95-100% of the groups regroup after graduation and continue operations without the NGO’s support.

Training is provided for a period of 18 months to the social mobiliser and support is sustained for the social mobiliser and the group members for the 5 years that Palmera continues its presence in the village. Although the program is handed over to the members in its entirety within 18 months of inception, support and monitoring continues to ensure sustainability post our exit from the village. This program forms part of a 5 year village program in the village of Colony to increase income, savings and improve access for youth to profitable sectors.