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. Please contact us if you would like further information regarding any of the following or our other project appeals.

GPS (Global Positioning System)

Appeal: £1,100
(£110 per GPS)
Description: 10 GPS are needed to support numerous activities carried out by FBM/NT as a tool allowing the team to collect reliable data in the fields of water, agriculture & conservation.
Objectives:

Build capacity to carry out feasibility studies on villages where it is appropriate to use well drilling techniques to provide clean water supplies.
Contribute to the Malagasy government’s information database on water & sanitation, requiring the location of all water points / systems & latrines.
Build capacity to monitor rainforest destruction / illegal occupation, whether by FBM/NT or by community forest management associations, to assist the creation of new protected areas in Madagascar.
Develop an efficient method of measuring results related to the plantation of reeds (raw materials) for basketry & crafts, as well as different agricultural activities.

Needs:

2 GPS for our water & sanitation team.
2 GPS for our conservation agents.
1 GPS for use with our basketry / income-generation activities (for raw materials / support to reed cultivation).
4 GPS for forest management associations in Ambohimahamasina (forest surveillance).

Population to Benefit: Literally thousands
Location: Different rural communes in the Ambalavao district.

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

Office for community ecotourism association

Appeal: £2,384
Description: The local authorities in Ambohimahamasina have been working to promote community-based ecotourism in their area since 2002, as a means to generate income through rainforest conservation. The FIZAM association is currently made up of 125 members, including guides, porters, community home-stays, forest management associations, craftsmen and women, and the local authorities. Support has been given to FIZAM to build capacity, & the number of tourists is now increasing. However, FIZAM does not have their own office yet, and facilities to receive tourists are insufficient. Although members of the association are ready to contribute as much as they can to building an office, they require external funding as funds are as yet insufficient.
Objectives:

Improve facilities for ecotourism in Ambohimahamasina, in order to increase the number of visitors.
Increase local income-generation as an incentive for rainforest conservation.
Raise awareness about rainforest conservation.

Needs: An office for the FIZAM community ecotourism association, 8m x 4m, comprising:

1 guestroom for visitors
1 office & information centre
1 sales-point for local crafts & products
1 store-room (for tourists to leave bags, to store tents, etc.)

Population to Benefit: The 100+ members of the ecotourism association, as well as numerous indirect beneficiaries
Location: Ambohimahamasina (SE Madagascar)
Distance to nearest road: 39km

Tapia Tree Planting Campaign 2008

Appeal: £1,500

Description: The tapia forest is the only natural forest which exists in Madagascar’s highlands. It is home to great wealth, including the production of wild silk cocoons, medicinal plants, plants used for dyes as well as orchids. Eight community forest management associations are supported by NT/FBM in their management and conservation of the tapia forest. Each forest management association carries out reforestation of tapia and other species annually, in order to restore the forests. For the tree-planting campaign this year, the objective of planting 45,000 tapia saplings has been set in order to ensure the reforestation of 30 hectares.
Population to benefit: All the population bordering the tapia forests, around 585 households.
Location: 4 rural areas of the region of Amoron’i Mania : Ambohimanjaka, Ilaka Centre, Ambohimahazo and Anjoma Ankona.
Distance to nearest road: Between 0km and 40km from the national road RN7.

1000 Livelihoods- sustainable income appeal

Appeal: £20,000
Description: Our Sustainable Livelihoods campaign will try to help people out of rural poverty to build a better future, by providing them with a sustainable income through a range of tried and tested cottage industries.Silk production and weaving, wickerwork/basketry crafts and bee-keeping have all proved to be reliable, successful businesses in rural Madagascar. We are confident that we will be able get as many as 1,000 people out of the rut of rural poverty, and into Sustainable Livelihoods, for life. We fill the gaps that the local people cannot supply, by:

Identifying beneficiaries
Providing them with technical training and workshops
Helping with up-front costs and delivery of materials and equipment
Setting up marketing/sales channels
Advising on managing environmental impact to make the industries sustainable
Helping transfer forest management to locals wherever possible
Building, promoting and monitoring the businesses.

Population to benefit: directly the 1000 people trained, indirectly many more, as this project also benefits the families and communties where the sustainable income schemes are implemented.
Location: The neighbouring rural boroughs of Ambohimahamasina & Miarinarivo in the Haute Matsiatra region, and the rural boroughs of Ambohimahazo, Anjoma Ankona, Ambohimanjaka, Ilaka Centre & Ambatofinandrahana in the Amoron'i Mania region, Fianarantsoa province.
Distance to nearest road: Between 15km and 45km to the nearest national road.

click here for downloadable information on the 1000 Livelihoods appeal (PDF, 327KB)

Training for traditional birth attendants in Southern Ikongo district

Appeal: £ 1,333 for 40 TBA
Description: Train traditional birth attendants in some of the most remote and marginalised rural communities, in order to improve maternal and child health and promote family planning. This sum includes their ‘kit’ which they receive on completion of an ‘apprenticeship’ with the local health centre (attending births in the presence of a qualified health agent).
Population to benefit: The training of 40 TBAs will benefit hundreds, even thousands, of women and their families.
Location: The rural boroughs of Ankarimbelo, Kalafotsy, Morateza, Antanakambana and Ifanirea in the Ikongo district, Fianarantsoa province.
Distance to nearest road: These rural boroughs are very very isolated … (some are 350km by road to Fianarantsoa.)