Project Background
Climate change affects food supply, leading to reduced access to food for families. On the remote island of Rote in Indonesia, building climate-resilient food security means shifting to crops that require less water and implementing smart water preservation systems.
This project collaborates with communities to develop innovative, resilient food systems that can withstand environmental changes. By helping communities establish adaptive nutrition gardens, we pave the way for a sustainable future where access to diverse, nutritious food remains steady despite climate fluctuations.
Project Overview
The project objectives are to improve access to diverse diets and increase the community’s plant-based protein consumption to meet the balanced diet recommendation from the Ministry of Health.
To achieve these objectives, there are two main approaches.
- Improve the supply of diverse nutritious diets by:
- Developing a mini demo farm at SurfAid basecamp which will be used as a learning center
- Distributing plant-based protein seeds that are resilient against climate change (e.g. beans, nuts) to women groups
- Improve knowledge and practices of balanced diets of women and children under five years old by:
- Providing a series of education sessions to women, men, and caregivers about Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) and the first 1,000 days of life
- Developing and producing a set of interactive communications materials on CCA and the first 1,000 days of life that are GEDSI sensitive (Gender Equality, Disability and Social Inclusion).
Key Project Outcomes
- 1 mini demo farm established at SurfAid basecamp
- 20 women groups (or 100 women) received seeds
- 728 households (or approx. 2,912 people) received CCA and first 1,000 days of life education sessions
- 2 sets of IEC communications materials produced
These outputs will contribute to the improvement of the nutrition status of women and children to reduce stunting in Rote Island, East Nusa Tenggara Province. These will be measured regularly through monthly monitoring by our Community Development Officers (CDOs).
What costs are covered?
The project funds will cover:
- Mini demo farm establishment
- Agriculture specialist
- Basic equipment for establishing demo farm
- Purchasing and distributing plant-based protein seeds
- Local transportation to distribute the seeds
- Technical Assistant to help women groups in planting
- A series of education sessions to women, men, and caregivers
- Trainers or coaches
- Materials, venues, and transports
- Developing and producing a set of interactive IEC communication materials
- Developing and designing the materials using a graphic designer and video editing
- Social Behaviour Change Specialist
- Printing the IEC materials
Partner and Community Involvement
The local government is committed to eradicating stunting and is willing to collaborate with various stakeholders, including SurfAid. We will work together with the government at all levels – our government partner Kemen Desa, Bappeda, the District Health Office, the Village Development Office, etc.
Further, there are several government-related or sponsored activities, such as SIO SODAK nine actors that are involved in improving the health status of the community, selected by the current district stunting program and “Kakak Angkat Keluarga Asuh”/foster sister/family (the foster sister is usually working as a civil servant). They could play a role in promoting health messages to the community directly or they can work collaboratively with the health workers.
How does the project fit into a larger strategy?
SurfAid works with, supports, and strives to improve existing government structures and policy, including through active local government participation. We will train the health workers, which increases opportunities to replicate the program and/or scale it up in other areas and creates opportunities for it to be adopted in their strategy/policy.