The Impact of Education and Empowerment
In the upland, hilly area of Tacloban city, Philippines, is a farm that has been selected for OnePlate’s second project.
The Tacloban project is a perfect example of sustainable farming, creating long-term solutions in the developing world that provides more than just a band-aid remedy.
The Tacloban project has the objective of creating a sustainable initial impact in the lives of 120 families which will flow through the wider community. These families were greatly affected by a typhoon that destroyed a lot of the area, leaving many families in the community extremely vulnerable.
The Impact on the Community
Each of the 120 families will be given organic seeds and will be educated in integrated organic agriculture to start their own home fruit and vegetable gardens.
“THE AIM IS TO ADD SMALL-SCALE HOME FRUIT AND VEGETABLE GARDENS TO INCREASE THE AMOUNT AND VARIETY OF FRUIT AND VEGETABLES THAT ARE CONSUMED BY FAMILIES BECAUSE OF THE NUTRITIONAL AND HEALTH BENEFITS”, SAID DR DON VAN COOTEN, CEO OF WORLD RELIEF AUSTRALIA AND ONEPLATE PARTNER.
Demonstration activities and training sessions will be implemented, which includes educating the families about creating organic fertiliser and pesticides.
“Creating organic fertilisers and pesticides are important,” said Don. “The temperatures in the tropics are relatively constant so without the cold seasons to reduce pests you can have a real pest problem, but there are organic methods of dealing with them.”
Nutritional Gardening
As the farm is on quite a large amount of land it creates the opportunity to engage in sustainable practices such as agricultural recycling.
“The farm has the opportunity to implement agricultural recycling, for example worm farming, you can sell the worms or use them on the garden.” said Don “There is a large variety of organic waste from the plants and animals to recycle.”
Alongside a focus on organic and nutritional farming, educating the families on the nutritional value of food creates a significant impact on the health and wellbeing of the people.
By funding projects that have an emphasis on education and empowerment, we are creating a long-term solution that enables impoverished communities to grow nutritious fruit and vegetables and generate an income.
Together we can make a significant difference.
