GLM Finland and GLM Zambia have launched a cooperation with a finnish board game Norsun muisti (Memory Of The Elephant). It is not an ordinary memory game, in this game you save animals and reunite families. Purchase of every game funds planting of a tree in Zambia.
Orders: lassi.raunio@norsunmuisti.fi or online store https://holvi.com/shop/LcZNwB/ (in Finnish)
More info (in Finnish):
http://norsunmuisti.fi/
https://www.facebook.com/Norsunmuisti/
Due to some unfortunate technical challenges our web pages were down for some time. Now the pages are published again and we will be updating them as we can. Thank you for your patience and welcome back to follow the work of GLM Finland, GLM Zambia and GLM Swaziland!
Saimme viime vuoden lopulla hyviä uutisia Ulkoasiainministeriöstä Sambian ilmastokestävyyshankkeemme suhteen. Rahoitus kolmelle seuraavalle vuodelle myönnettiin ja tärkeä työ pienviljelijöiden elinkeinojen tukemiseksi jatkuu! Työ sekä Sambiassa että Suomessa on alkuvuodesta lähtenyt käyntiin ja odotamme innolla ensimmäisiä aktiviteetteja kylissä.
Swazimaan ilmastoaloitehankkeeseen emme valitettavasti saaneet rahoitusta tällä kertaa, mutta yhteistyö GLM Swazimaan kanssa jatkuu ja tulemme tukemaan heidän työtään muun muassa varainkeruun muodossa.
Muistathan, että jäsenmaksut ovat tärkeä osa varainkeruutamme. Jäsenmaksun maksamalla voit olla mukana vaikuttamassa satojen ihmisten elämään Sambiassa ja Swazimaassa.
Jäsenmaksut 2017: Perusjäsen 20€, vähävaraiset 15€, yhdistys- ja kannatusjäsenet 50€
– Saaja: Green Living Movement Suomi ry
– Tilinumero: FI31 4309 0010 0705 06
– SWIFT-koodi: ITELFIHH
– Pankki: Liedon säästöpankki
– Laita viitteeksi nimesi ja sähköpostiosoitteesi.
Olemme kiitollisia tuestasi!
Reforestation is an important climate change mitigation strategy. Chief Chamuka and a senior headman planting the first tree of the reforestation activity at the project inauguration in Kanakantapa.
A new project designed by GLM and Plan International Zambia to strengthen climate resilience in rural communities was officially launched on 10 February, 2016, in Chisamba district, Central Province.
The Strengthening Community-based Management of Environment and Natural Resources project, valued at 515,000 euro, aims to support effective and sustainable production and land management practices and build the resilience of communities to climate change impacts while broadening livelihood opportunities.
Over the four-year run of the project at least 6,430 households, or nearly 35,800 people, are expected to benefit directly in Chamuka and Chikonkomene wards, with youths representing a third of this target. The project will aim to deliver tangible benefits to small-scale farmers, including increased incomes, through project activities in conservation farming, beekeeping, fish farming, tree planting and restoration of degraded land, and the diversification of forest product investments.
Speaking at the project inauguration in Chikonkomene, GLM’s Team Leader Emmanuel Mutamba underscored the project’s importance in GLM’s mission:
“The project we have launched today in partnership with Plan International Zambia fits well with the GLM philosophy, which defines local community participation and ownership of development initiatives as the most effective way for these communities to achieve development sustainability.â€
Plan recognises GLM’s strong track record in participatory climate resilience action as key to the project’s implementation.
“After a long and thorough search for a suitable partner with whom to implement the project with, we are glad that we settled for GLM,†said Wiscot Mwanza, focal point person for the project and Water and Sanitation Manager for Plan International Zambia.
“We believe that GLM will live up to our expectations and those of the target communities and other key stakeholders. On our part at Plan, we shall go out of our way to give GLM the required support to ensure the project ends with a resounding success.â€
The project launch was attended by over three hundred people, including community leaders, youths, women, and several government officials from the province and district levels.
The official project run will be from December 2015 until November 2019, with funds provided by a grant from Plan International’s German National Office.
The past quarter in the climate resilience project was dedicated to capacity building in the project communities. Trainings in Monze, Mumbwa and Luyanshia districts were addressing the importance of education and the keys for a successful training. The objectives of these ‘Training of Trainers’ events were to equip participants with skills for training others and creating awareness on climate change and also to identify strategies for creating awareness on climate change.
The ongoing year has been full of other successful activities as well. At the beginning of the year, a group of farmers in the Shimbizhi and Chiyumu communities received small livestock, such as chickens and goats, from the project and now every partner village has been part of this activity. The owners are committed to donate some of the offspring for other farmers and this way the number of the beneficiaries increases through every pass-on. Finally, all community members in the villages will benefit. Farmers have not been used to see chickens and other small livestock as an income source before, but now some of them have even managed to cover school fees by selling animals. One family have reared 50 chickens from the one they got from the project and another family has already 15 laying hens.
Another objective of the project is to activate young people. Especially popular among the youth was a climate change awareness meeting which was organized alongside with a football tournament. Four teams from the project communities competed with each other in the ‘Climate Change Tournament’ which , in addition to football, included also education on climate change and its causes and effects through drama. The day was of course coloured with traditional dances.
In the rural areas, hardly anyone owns a TV but radios are very common instead. Therefore, it is an excellent way to reach people. GLM Zambia has conducted two radio shows which were produced and aired at Sky FM radio station in Monze. The discussions centred on the impact of climate change on community livelihoods and how the communities could become more resilient to the effects of climate change. The discussants were GLM staff and farmers’ representatives from Chisuwo and Chiyumu. The radius of Sky FM covers thousands of people and the station has received requests for continuation of the programme.
The year 2015 is not over yet but let’s take a little glance at the upcoming year. GLM Zambia will have two enthusiastic ETVO-volunteers in the team and the first one will arrive already in January.
The Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show 2014 took place between 30th July and 4th August in the capital city, Lusaka. The show is the country’s premier annual event at which local and international manufacturers, farmers, entrepreneurs and artists converge to showcase their innovations. The theme for the 2014 event was “Breaking New Ground – and Celebrating Zambia’s 50 Years of Independence”.
GLM Zambia and Network for Environmental Concerns and Solutions (NECOS) shared a platform to showcase their dry sanitation projects and dry toilets, thanks to the support from the Global Dry Toilets Association of Finland which secured the exhibition space. On display were information materials on dry sanitation, dry toilet models and samples of organic manure from the dry toilet.
As word went round amongst curious show-goers looking for something new to feed their eyes and minds on, the number of visitors to the stand kept growing from a handful on the first day of the show to hundreds by the last day. GLM and NECOS staff as well as students attached to the two organisations were available throughout the six-day show to provide information and demonstrations on how the dry toilet works. Many of the visitors had never heard of dry sanitation before, and people from different walks of life, including research institutes, academia, agriculture, students and ordinary members of society, were evidently mesmerised by the concept.
“When I first heard of the dry toilets idea, I was not for it. Now with this information, explanation and demonstration, I have a totally different perception. I wish we had this innovation spread across the country”, said one female visitor to the stand. The demand for dry toilets was clearly unprecedented, much of the interest coming from ordinary community members. One of the male visitors noted: “We are so crowded in my compound, we can no longer find space for pit latrines. I see this as a permanent solution to our predicament.”
Some researchers and students who visited the stand also showed interest in adopting ecological sanitation for their academic works. For GLM and NECOS project staff, the show was just the right platform for effective and rewarding outreach work.
GLM Zambia and and NECOS stand at the 2014 Zambia Agricultural and Commercial Show
GLM Finland will serve lunch on the Restaurant Day on Sunday August 16th in Turku. The food will be made from locally picked and produced food to support our partners far away!
Menu:
– Nettle pancakes with mushroom, bean or zucchini filling
– Wild-herb-green salad
– Blueberry, sea buckthorn berry or apple pie and Aunt Päivi’s cookies with coffee or tea
Also for vegans!
Price is €8.
We will open at 12.00 and serve until 16.00, if food won’t run out before!
A fleamarket will also be organised at the idyllic courtyard during the Restaurant hours – come and find clothes, CDs, LPs and toys!
All of the profits will be used in GLM’s projects in the rural Zambia and Swaziland.
Siaynemukela / Welcome!
‘Community Strategies for Climate-Resilient Livelihoods’ project, funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, started at the beginning of this year by educating small-scale farmers on what climate change is. Participating communities have been discussing the causes, impacts and mitigation strategies. Adaptation plans will be drafted for each of the four partner communities, taking into account the local livelihoods and environmental challenges.
Key adaptation strategies in the rural areas are sustainable agricultural practices. The commonly used slash-and-burn method rapidly destroys nutrients in the soil, which raises the pressure to burn new areas for fields, further accelerating deforestation and erosion. GLM organises training on agroforestry, crop rotation and composting for the farmers. Organic farming eliminates fertiliser costs, while taking care of the soil.
In agroforestry, nitrogen-fixing trees are planted in the fields. The trees also provide ingredients for natural pesticides, leaves for medical use, timber and fruit, while giving shelter from wind, thus decreasing erosion. Many farmers have cattle, chicken and goats whose droppings can be composted to produce organic fertiliser. Shifting to organic farming takes time and requires a lot of work, but according GLM’s experiences, harvests will increase and working hours reduce after three years.
Furthermore, the community members receive training to improve their capacity to work as entrepreneurs and advocates within their own community, but also to impact decision-makers. This enhances the self-sufficiency of the farmers when the project comes to an end. The project also involves chicken and goat production and establishment of nurseries to provide additional livelihood sources. In addition, farmers will visit other GLM´s partner villages to share experiences and approaches, as learning from fellow farmers has proven to be an effective means to change one’s way of thinking.
The overall objective of the project is to create stronger rural villages which have the required knowledge and skills to survive in the changing climate.
