FIGHT HUNGER AND POVERTY THROUGH AGRICULTURE AND BETTER EDUCATION IN KATETE DISTRICT
A TIKONDANE COMMUNITY CENTRE PROJECT DEVELOPED WITH THE FINANCIAL HELP OF THE WALDENSIAN CHURCH OF ITALY (UNION OF METHODIST AND WALDENSIAN CHURCHES).
“19 steps out of poverty” is a early education program for 520 households living in 56 villages in Katete District, focused on changing their mindset about basic health and nutrition, and training about permaculture and small-scale farm entrepreneurship.
The delivery of the program will contribute to better health, wealth and education in one of the world’s poorest area.
Tikondane Community Centre will run this program for the local population in spring 2021, with the financial help of the Waldensian Church of Italy.
THE DONOR
The Waldensian Church of Italy (Union of Methodist and Waldensian Churches) has stated to allocate the Otto per Mille IRPEF funds exclusively to the implementation of social, healthcare, humanitarian and cultural interventions both in Italy and abroad.
Tikondane Community Center applied to the Otto Per Mille 2020 call with
“19 steps out of poverty” project, which has and has been claimed eligible from the Waldensian Church in September 2020 and funded for € 20.000,00.
THE PROJECT
Description and objectives
The delivery of the program is meant to provide an effective mindset change from single maize culture to permaculture in subsistence local farmers (520 households), alongside nutrition education especially for children, and the creation of entrepreneurship chances in agriculture for local women, who could sell their production surplus to Tiko or other markets in the area.
In the past years, Tiko has been trying to deliver “19 steps out of poverty” program on a regular base, failing because of the lack of long-terms resources. This time, with the help of The Waldensian Church of Italy, the approach will focus not only on the program delivery itself (Action 1), but also on the future sustainability of the delivering organization (Action 2), which needs to look forward to keep on fighting against poverty and hunger in the area.
Action 1: Delivery of „19 steps out of poverty“ program.
After 20 year of activity in Katete District and some pilot experiments carried out with small groups of women since 2005, Tiko developed the “19 steps out of poverty for the subsistence farmer” program, a simple training course for local farmers concerning the following areas:
- Step 1: From witchcraft to science;
- Step 2-6: The importance of bacteria;
- Step 7-13: Nutrition: a balanced diet;
- Step 14-19: How to grow food and be sustainable?
After attending the 7- days seminar at Tiko’s, women are provided with stuff and materials to start their own compost heap (Katete soil is so denuded it does not keep any moisture) and growing vegetables and cassava to form “nsima”, the local staple. Key factor of the program is the methodology, which consists in the promotion of the permaculture (e.g.growing crops with other vegetables), and the personalized supervision of Tiko staff, which will visit the women several times a year to help them practicing what they learned during the seminar.
Action 2: Capacity building for Tikondane Community Centre
Tikondane Community Centre has been fighting poverty and malnutrition in Katete District since its foundation. At the time, „19 steps out of poverty“ program represents not only its best asset in this battle, but also the great opportunity for the development of the organization itself. In fact, a regular yearly delivery of the program to 26 women’s clubs will contribute to the future sustainability of the Community Centre in two different ways:
- Generational change: the yearly delivery of the program will force the centre to improve and renew its accounting with the training of a young human resource, to train a proper electrician (electricity is a real problem in Katete and it’s fundamental for water) and especially to train and elect a new general director.
- Asset renew and expansion: running a lodge and a restaurant to host people from all over the world, alongside growing vegetables and running small-scale food production are the income generating activities that Tiko need to be boost in order to guarantee its future.
Budget and transparency
| Item | Amount | Own funds | Waldensian Church |
| Human resources | €4,096.80 | €4,096.80 | €0.00 |
| Travels and subsistence | €3,183.96 | €3,183.96 | €0.00 |
| Training | €3,000.00 | €0.00 | €3,000.00 |
| Equipment and materials | €8,586.89 | €2,600.00 | €5,986.89 |
| Acquisition, construction and renovation of immovable properties | €24,100.00 | €14,099.69 | €10,000.31 |
| Communication and visibility | €1,012.80 | €0.00 | €1,012.80 |
| Overall total | €43,980.45 | €23,980.45 | €20,000.00 |
The Waldensian Church of Italy has financed the project for € 20.000,00 on a total amount of 43.980,45. Tikondane Community Centre will be co-financing the rest of the amount with its own resources and other donations from all over the world: please, feel free to support us!
One reply on “19 Steps out of poverty – with „Otto 8 per mille” – Newsletter No. 2, June 2021”
[…] completed a project with “Otto 8 per Mille” from Italy, which you can find out more about here: 19 Steps Out of Poverty. We’re planning a new project in this spirit with the help of Otto 8 per Mille – we will […]