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Current Funding Appeals
Following from the successful results in our current project sites, Feedback
Madagascar and Ny Tanintsika constantly receive numerous new requests from
communities and local authorities eager for our support in the development
of different projects in their areas. These cover the entire range of our integrated
projects. Below is a small selection from our current appeals. Contact
us if you would like further information regarding any of the following
or our other project appeals.
Wild Silk Forest Appeal
Appeal: £20,000
Plant 30,000 trees - Help 170 families save their forest + livelihoods
‘While one silk thread is strong, many woven together are stronger’ - Malagasy Proverb.
Description: This project supports women's groups and households to protect the endemic tapia forest - the last remnants of highland primary forest - through the revitalisation of the silk industry in Madagascar. Much of the tapia forest is still at risk of degradation from logging, bush fires and the invasion of pine trees which threaten its survival. A healthy forest is essential for the survival of silkworm cocoons and the wild silk business. It is essential that we step up our efforts to promote and expand the benefits of the silk industry in this endemic region.
We implement this project by training women weavers on all stages of silk production; from raising the silkworms, to spinning, weaving and increasing the commercialisation of their silk product such as scarves and cloth. We also train households who protect the forest on the most effective practice of conservation and forest management - how to create an optimum breeding system for the silkworms. This helps to increase and protect the amount of silk that the women can sell allowing them to earn a good living, so they can send their children to school and make sure that their whole family is well fed and healthy.
By continuing with our best efforts to protect the re-introduction of silkworms and the tapia region we can commit to fighting against poverty in the region alongside the continued protection and conservation of the threatened tapia forest. More Info >>
Forest Silk Scarves
Purchase a "lamba" - a traditional Malagasy forest silk scarf worth £45
You can further support our Wild Silk appeal by purchasing a "lamba" - a traditional Malagasy forest silk scarf - the product made by participants of our Wild Silk project as featured on the BBC. The cost of your purchase pays a living wage to project silk weavers and helps further deveop the 'market' for the wild silk products.
If you would like to support this project by purchasing a "lamba" please contact jamie@feedbackmadagsacar.org
Motorbike purchase
Appeal: £2,800
(£2,800) for a Yamaha motorbike
Description: With extensions in project sites and increasing requests from rural communities for help, our field agents now oversee activities in several ‘communes’ (boroughs).
Distances between different project sites are significant, many project sites are over 45km from the district’s administration centre. Time spent on travelling has been identified as the major factor limiting real ‘contact’ time with local communities. Field agents’ fatigue due to this physical exertion impacts on their performance. Up to a quarter of field agents’ time is spent travelling on foot between sites because they are in areas where public transport does not exist or is very infrequent and unreliable. Roads are often impassable, especially in the rainy season when even by 4x4 vehicles have trouble. Motorbikes, however, are able to get through to the remote villages and are very fuel efficient, using just 4 litres of petrol for 100 km.
Objectives:
- Improve efficiency and effectiveness of projects to enable more time to be spent on-the-ground carrying out community capacity-building work, rather than on travel time by foot between villages.
- Enable access to all project sites, even with the most extreme road conditions, so as to ensure continual monitoring of activities and support to communities.
- Greater assistance to beneficiaries of our numerous projects, allowing more time for; Assisting forest management associations with their conservation & community development projects, Supporting community volunteers (traditional birth attendants, family planning providers, agricultural educators, etc.)
Population to Benefit: Initially hundreds of members of forest management associations & communities bordering the rainforest 'corridor' through support to food security, community development & conservation work.
Location: Various rural communes in the Ikongo district.
Solar panel for 'Soamiray'
Appeal: £2,530
Description:‘Soamiray’ is a women’s association in Ambohimahamasina created with assistance from Feedback Madagascar / Ny Tanintsika that develops the traditional craft of basketry into a sustainable and professional sector. There are now 77 active members working in 11 different workshops. Soamiray has seen huge progress with clear improvements in the quality of their products, their main client is now the fairtrade company ‘Hazomanga’. Soamiray’s objectives are to:
- Improve the standard of living of members.
- Promote women’s participation in action for development, conservation and ecotourism.
- Promote the sustainable use of natural resources, particularly those used in the basketry sector.
FBM/NT has secured 2 years funding to help support Soamiray develop the basketry industry into one that is professional, competitive, environmentally sustainable and socially advantageous. We aim to secure a regular monthly income for 150 women after two years & ensure that the association is fully independent & functional & able to fulfill regular large orders. The new project will fund the construction of a crafts centre & office for Soamiray, and NT/FBM have been given a ‘Single Side Band’ (SSB) short wave radio to help them communicate with their clients, however there is no electricity available on which to run it.
Objectives:
- Enable the use of their SSB radio non-stop, ensuring constant communication with clients
- Provide an additional income-generating activity for the women’s association, as outsiders can pay to use the BLU radio, & the crafts centre can also be used to accommodate tourists.
Needs:
- 2 solar panels
- Regulator
- Aluminium frame
- Cables
- Battery
- Convertisser
Population to Benefit: The 70+ members of the women's association, expected to double over the next year.
Location: Ambohimahamasina (SE Madagascar) area borders the rainforest ‘corridor’ which links the national parks of Andringitra and Ranomafana.
Distance to nearest road: 39km