[Rohingya Refugee Support] Homestead gardening, and water & sanitation improvement project

2022-01-07 ミャンマー避難民, activity-news

In collaboration with the local NGO Mukti Cox’s Bazar, IVY launch new project, homestead gardening for Rohingya refugee camps and water and sanitation improvement project in host communities.

It has been 4 years since Rohingya fled from Myanmar to neighboring Bangladesh in 2017. The displaced Rohingya refugees continue to face many difficulties and are in need of assistance. In the refugee camps, income generating activities to earn are restricted by the Bangladeshi government, and they have limited means of income other than being employed as staff of the UN and NGOs conducting humanitarian response in the camps, or doing retail business to sell grocery or fresh foods in market. Although the UN’s continuous food assistance has ensured a minimum level of food security, there are no options in terms of nutrition and food diversity, in particular households with low incomes continue to face chronic food shortages.

In order to help vulnerable households secure food, and to enable them to continue to make use of the area around the shelter to grow their own vegetable gardens, IVY began providing support for proper agricultural techniques for practicing vegetable gardening in the Rohingya refugee camps. In Cox’s Bazar, vegetable farming season is in the winter when the squalls stop. We will promote the spread of home gardens in the camps by providing training on proper techniques for growing and harvesting crops for home use, and distributing seeds and seedlings of vegetables and herbs suitable for the diet and land of the Rohingya people, making full use of the small space around the shelters (under roofs or other space) in the refugee camps.

In addition, we have started water and sanitation improvement project in host community. The communities hosting refugees have also undergone significant changes in terms of security and economy over the past 4 years. Originally, shallow wells and dug wells were used for drinking water, but due to the refugee influx, there have been outbreaks of diarrhea caused by E. coli contamination of shallow aquifers, and the water runs dry in the winter season due to excessive pumping. Therefore, securing sufficient water in both quantity and quality throughout the year continues to be a challenge. In this project, we will install deep tube wells in villages that are particularly far from the water source and provide maintenance and management training to villagers so that they can use the water safely and adequately throughout the year.

*This project is implemented with fund from Japanese ODA (Japan Platform) and your donations.