Funding support by: Oxfam Germany
Project cost Rs: 11,238,750.00
Project period: From 1st July 2015 to 31st December 2018.
Project background: In year 2014, a pilot project named “Sustainable Livelihood & Civil Society Development Programme for tea plantations and adjoining village communities” was implemented in the Nuwara Eliya district of Sri Lanka with the collaboration of Oxfam Germany. The project aimed to promote sustainable livelihood among three poverty stricken community settlements; two tea plantations which consisted of an Indian origin Tamil community and an adjoining rural village with a majority being of Sinhalese ethnicity in the Nuwara Eliya district of Sri Lanka. This pilot project was funded by the Erbacher Foundation through Oxfam Germany. Though PALM Foundation proposed this project as a three year project, Erbacher Foundation provided funding support for a one year period and does not intend to continue their financial support further due to changes in scope of funding of the institution. Within the first year of the project, all the planned activities of the project were successfully achieved. PALM Foundation is now seeking funding support to continue this important project and replicate the project achievements in surrounding tea plantations and villages. By incorporating the findings and lessons of this pilot project, PALM Foundation has formulated a new project proposal for widening the project scope and serving more families. This proposal aims for creating sustainable livelihood opportunities and addressing environmental problems of vulnerable plantation and adjoining village people in Nuwara Eliya district of Sri Lanka.
Target Group: 480 poverty stricken families of four4 tea plantations and four villages which are situated in Walapane Divisional Secretariat Division of Nuwara Eliya district in Sri Lanka.
Overall project goal
The plantation and village communities of Nuwara Eliya District in Sri Lanka are able to create sustainable livelihoods and build the capacity of civil society structures to satisfy their basic needs and rights, laying a foundation for their holistic development.
Main areas of project objectives
1 - Organizational development of community structures
2 - Sustainable livelihood development and environment conservation
3 - Financial, infrastructure and marketing service development of cooperatives
4 - Gender equality promotion
Expected outputs of the project:
| 1 | Organizational development of community structures |
|---|---|
| 1.1 | 40 to 60 small groups, eight location wise community based organizations ( CBO) formed and strengthened. |
| 1.2 | Eight CBOs linked into two cooperatives and functioning effectively. |
| 1.3 | Members acquire skills in leadership, negotiating with duty bearers, good governance, administration/ management and operations (including carrying out business). |
| 2 | Sustainable livelihood development and environment conservation |
|---|---|
| 2.1 | 480 members are engaged in home gardening and practicing eco farming. |
| 2.1,1 | 240 farmers of estates and villages out of 480 home gardeners have gained in-depth knowledge and skills in eco farming, producing surpluses and act as multipliers. |
| 2.2 | Domestic level garbage management systems are practiced by the members. |
| 2.3 | Members will have basic agro base infrastructure facilities. |
| 2.3.1 | Environmental conservation messages on soil erosion control, prevention of harmful pesticides/ artificial manure, tree planting etc. are disseminated at divisional, village and estate levels. |
| 3 | Organizational development of community structures |
|---|---|
| 3.1 | All required systems and procedures of the cooperatives are established in two cooperatives and linked with the Department of Cooperative Development. |
| 3.2 | The eco farming members of two cooperatives have access to obtain small scale agro equipments, machineries and transport facilities on hire basis from their respective cooperatives. |
| 3.3 | The estate residents and villagers have access to obtain necessary financial services through established savings/credit schemes of two cooperatives. |
| 3.4 | A community led marketing system is established by two cooperatives. |
| 4 | Gender equality promotion |
|---|---|
| 4.1 | Men and women are sensitized on gender equality and GAD concept incorporated to project intervention as a cross cutting theme. |
| 4.2 | Women members of community structures are empowered to take up leadership positions and ensure at least 30% women representation in office bearer positions. |
| 4.3 | Women are engaged in income generating activities (IGA) and home gardening. |
| 4.4 | Each location has established gender committees to address GBV . |