The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Womble on March 25, 2014, 08:47:22 pm
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Hi Folks,
I've just been thumbing through the latest mailshot from Practical Action (http://practicalaction.org/), who work to help folks in poorer parts of the world through simple technology development. For example, in areas of Bangladesh prone to monsoon flooding, they show locals how to build floating raft gardens (below). These mean that the crops don't get ruined when the water levels rise.
(http://www.digital-development-debates.org/files/_media/content/issues/Issue%2006/Teaserbilder_480x326/02_Science_Technology/02_The-Floating-Gardens.jpg)
(http://cdn1.practicalaction.org/2/0/4d7f7a20-d794-4646-a2e4-3d2f1661b3dc.WyI2MDB4NjAwIiwic2NhbGUiXQ.jpg)
So, as an engineer, I love these guys. They use such simple concepts to great effect, and teach skills that can be used again and again, with resources people have at their disposal.
It got me wondering though, are there any smallholder type development charities out there? I'm already aware of organisations like Send a Cow (http://www.sendacow.org.uk/) (I was so thrilled with Mrs Womble suggested buying me a pair of goats for my birthday, then she sent them to Africa on my behalf! ;D ). However, are there others out there doing similar smallholdery development work that I should be aware of? :thumbsup:
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we need a like button..great post womble :thumbsup:
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Providing microfinance through sites like www.kiva.org (http://www.kiva.org) is one way.
You can choose which sectors and countries you want to lend to. I have made a number of loans to various people and co-operatives and have a number of loans on going.
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Great post, Womble. We both support Kiva - I asked for Kiva vouchers for my 50th birthday and folk were very generous - so I get to make loans regularly :thumbsup: We also support FarmAfrica.
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Great post, Womble. We both support Kiva - I asked for Kiva vouchers for my 50th birthday and folk were very generous - so I get to make loans regularly .
What a great idea Rosemary (note to self to remember this for next Bday) and thank you Henchard for the idea ....
..... I have a friend in Tanzania who is trying to help her village finish a warehouse that was started in 1999 and left as a shell when the Gov changed ( TIA ... this is Africa). The warehouse will allow them to store food and sell at 40% higher price and thus make enough money for school fees etc. .... I've emailed her the links. She is an amazing young lady who worked the roads to finance her younger brother through school then at the age of 25 knitted jumpers to finance her own secondary education.
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Great post, Womble. We both support Kiva - I asked for Kiva vouchers for my 50th birthday and folk were very generous - so I get to make loans regularly .
What a great idea Rosemary (note to self to remember this for next Bday) and thank you Henchard for the idea ....
..... I have a friend in Tanzania who is trying to help her village finish a warehouse that was started in 1999 and left as a shell when the Gov changed ( TIA ... this is Africa). The warehouse will allow them to store food and sell at 40% higher price and thus make enough money for school fees etc. .... I've emailed her the links. She is an amazing young lady who worked the roads to finance her younger brother through school then at the age of 25 knitted jumpers to finance her own secondary education.
Maybe we should have a TAS collection for your Tanzanian friend. I'd donate. How much does she need?
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Wow that would be amazing!
She has done a complete breakdown of costs and the total is 52,000,000 TZs !!!
Luckily that is only about £2000
This would make a difference to a whole village enabling them to store food till the price rises and to use it as a 'bank' ... storing food till they need money for school fees or medical fees.
I can totally vouch for Jessica. I have met her and her family twice when I have been in Tanzania. (we have supported her through college to train as a social worker and she now has a job with Emmanuel International. )
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GoodGifts provide a catalogue full of ideas that contribute to helping folk make their own way in life, I used to buy gifts from there instead of buying things for relatives.
Can't offer financial help how but when I was last looking into it I opted for Woodland Trust funding over Kiva, can't remember why but I think it was the high interest rates they charged their customers that pays their "bank" overheads, salaries etc. Was at least 2 years ago tho so not sure of the details now.
You might also be interested to look at using the websearch ecosia as an alternative to google, they donate to tree planting in the Amazon rather than give you nectar points like yahoo..
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One thing we done when running the fund raising was to offer a goods..like a T-shirt…we were getting them for £5 and selling them for £10..everyone knew this , but because they had something to show, they seemed happy to donate…this went to hats, fleece shorts … all with the kayak logo
in the 4 years we did it, we raised £14K
another way is easy fundraising…people shop as normal and easy funding send you a cheque
it can be linked to ebay, car insurance. clothing..nearly everything really
http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk (http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk)
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Just bumping this thread, rather than start a new one.
I just found out about Traidcraft's "Fair Necessities" campaign, which aims to provide smallholders in developing countries with tools, training and equipment to enable them to increase their yields and escape poverty trap.
Also until the third of April, all donations will be match funded by the UK govermnent, which effectively doubles their value.
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/tradecraft.jpg)
More details here for anybody who's interested :thumbsup: (http://www.traidcraft.co.uk/donate-now)
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One teensy word of warning. Giving a cow isn't always the best thing to do. Think of the situation where people's cattle have died, because of drought and lack of grazing. If you give households a cow, partly it will be owned by the man not the woman, but the shortage of grazing will not change and this cow, and all the others will be contributing to further shortage of grazing and creeping desertification. Goats are even worse as they strip scrub and trees as well as pasture, with long term bad effects. Apparently owning that extra cow or goat can lead family sizes to increase, which exacerbates the food security problems even more and sets the scene for another crash down the line.
I have given goats too, before I learned more about the effect of this. I am wondering if the West is looking through rose tinted spectacles, failing to understand the cultural norms in the area they are donating to. The adverts for giving a goat, cow, etc are all very jolly with struggling smallholders transformed to smiling ones, but is the reality a little different?
I tend towards supporting crop growing, but again, a population of pasturalists will not only not know how to grow crops, but it may well be an inferior life as far as they are concerned. In many areas, the number of cattle you have indicates your wealth, and turning to growing crops is a social downstep. From a dietary point of view too, pasturalists who live on dairy and blood products from their herds may well not adapt easily to a vegetarian diet.
I certainly feel that helping with spreading knowledge and providing land, seeds etc must be better than handouts which only move the problem forward once the short term situation has been dealt with.
However ( and there seem to be a lot of those in this discussion), care must be taken that the seeds given out are not generic types, or Monsanto specials, but are local seeds for local conditions, or they could end up causing the smallholder to drop into even more debt.
So we need to think very carefully about just what help we are giving, and the long term effects of that help, as well as short term. We all get a rosy glow when we give, but let's make sure we choose what we give very carefully.
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Some good points there.
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I know a chap who works for an aid agency who particularly dislikes the "let's dig a well for this village" brigade. Fetching water is the important job that children and early teens take responsibiity for. If you take this away they have no role in their society and get into lots of trouble .....
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Very interesting Marches Farmer. I hadn't thought of that.
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Guys, come on, help me out here! ???
We mustn't give aid as it just leads to dependency
We mustn't give livestock or they'll wreak environmental havoc
We mustn't build wells or the children will get into mischief with their four hours a day of extra free time
So what ARE we meant to do? Uncharacteristically for me, I am asking this seriously for once!
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Well said Womble. I think it all shows how complicated the whole subject is. There is no one right answer that will work everywhere. And it's not as simple as just giving money. We have to do the research and find the projects that are doing the right things in the right places. Oh and can I put a good word in for Lend with Care.
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I absolutely agree Womble - whatever are we to do to help this situation? You could say it all boils down to education, but even that has to be teaching knowledge that is appropriate to each community, rather than to a totally different culture, climate and financial setting.
I am a firm believer in education, starting with getting as many children as possible into school. When you think how many young people here spend their time trying to bunk off school, whereas children in the very poorest societies are absolutely desperate to get an education, it is frustrating in the extreme. But if children the world over become better educated then they will be the ones who grow up understanding the problems of their own country, and being able to carry out research and suggest solutions which may actually work.
Being cynical, a lot of the poverty and need in certain countries is caused by corrupt officials and endless wars. How do you deal with that? I haven't a clue, but I hope someone does.
While we wait for all this to come to fruition, yes, we have to do something to help. This is one world, and we're all a part of it. However, my word of caution was not to say 'don't help', but more 'think carefully just how you give that help, and that you don't do as much harm as good'.
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Following this treads recent direction ....... I'm going to point you back to my earlier post .... I need to start this seasons push to raise some more for the warehouse completion ........... any money donated to this will all go to the project (less money exchange deduction unfortunately) and will directly help children attend school and health clinics .......... if you want to know more please contact me.
Linda
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As I see it nothing else matters until there is clean water! The children still have to go to the well for it, but for goodness sake, they are children! They play! They may have a little more time to do that or perhaps get some schooling.
Not enough work for them if we subsidise wells??? Well woop de doo!!!
That's where my money goes - other than cancer research which is a worldwide problem whatever the colour, creed, nationality.
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It sounds as if it's when there is just one thing done that it unbalances things. The triad of clean water, hygienic toilets and schooling go hand in hand.