SEDA is using green
energy agriculture to bring economic change to rural communities.
Empowering disadvantaged men and women through
agricultural development, SEDA is working to transform 24,725 acres of
unused village land into a source of sustainable income for poor village
farmers. Jatropha Curas (green energy), traditional herb
plantations and rice paddies will make up an environmentally and
economically feasible agribusiness based on a system of inter-cropping.
Once forest, this land in rural Vientiane
Province has been largely cleared for firewood and timber, leaving it
exposed to erosion and without economic benefit to the villagers. As a means
of survival, villagers have been harvesting native-growing
herb plants for a meager income, and mostly living off what food they can
gather from the depleted forest. Through SEDA and microfinance, they want to
create prospering farms to sustain their community for future generations.
SEDA is currently undertaking a three year project, working hand-in-hand with the
farmers to create Jatropha Curas plantations and establish a producer
cooperative in collaboration with the local farmers to ensure fair trade and
stable market principles. By the end
of 2009, SEDA aims to have no less than 9000
acres planted with economically feasible Jatropha, with the rest of the land
to be planted by the end of 2010.
Cash crops made up of traditional medicinal herbs and rice
paddies to generate food will be interspersed throughout the farms,
with 30 per cent of the entire land to be set aside for
conservation and rehabilitation.
Central to SEDA’s organizational philosophy is
the belief that development efforts must empower the participants, not
transform them into dependent beneficiaries. We believe that cooperatives
and other forms of collective action must be encouraged and supported. It is
essential to spend the time necessary to educate village producers on the
principles and techniques of cooperation, and to train them in leading and
managing their own economic enterprises, thus eradicating poverty and
creating lasting change.
SEDA is operating in partnership with the
University of Minnesota’s Department of Plant Pathology, the University of
Florida, Bread for the World, Global Giving and Global Reach International.
Visit our Global Giving page for more
information and to contribute directly to the Green Energy Agriculture
Project.
