Micro Sustainable Community to Combat Poverty
The Sustainable Community is our ambitious initiative to combat hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition in Weledi and beyond through income generation via sustainable farming practices. Our secondary goal also is to provide adequate shelter, renewable energy, water, and food security for those who are unable to do so themselves, such as the homeless elderly and disabled in Weledi.
Our community-based initiatives are easily replicated and encompass a range of sustainable farming and social projects. These include:
- Aeroponics – vertical, aeroponic farm.
- Aquaculture – a fish tank farm.
- Poultry production - a small-scale poultry farm, mainly egg-producing chicken breeds.
- Milk production - a small-scale milking cow farm.
Additionally, we have established a farm-to-table grocery store. Social projects such as a small shelter/facility for the elderly and disabled are implemented on a per-community basis according to need and may not be required for reproduction.
Project I: Aeroponic farming, aquaculture fish farming, chicken farm, milking cow farm, farm-to-table grocery store
The first project is designed to combat hunger, malnutrition, and food insecurity in the community of Weledi using aeroponic farming, tank fish farming, small chicken farm, and small milking cow farm including a farm-to-table grocery store to sustain the project. Inhabitants of Weledi do not own farmland, and their traditional mud-and-stick-built homes are constructed in small government-allocated plots. Hunger, food insecurity, and malnutrition are widespread and common in this region due to economic disadvantages, abject poverty, high inflation, drought, etc.
Project II: Shelter/Facility for the Elderly and Disabled
The second project is to provide the homeless elderly and disabled in Weledi with the necessary shelter, power, and running water for a safe, warm place to live. The elderly population in Weledi is one of the most vulnerable and neglected groups in this society and have suffered too due to the loss of their spouses, children, and relatives due to HIV/AIDS, poverty, disease, or conflict. They have no source of income or social security. They live in makeshift shelters made of mud, sticks, and plastic sheets, without access to electricity or clean water. They suffer from malnutrition, illness, and isolation.
Project Goals:
- Contributing to the sustainable development of Weledi through job creation, income generation, social capital building, and improved food security.
- Reducing the community’s environmental impact through the use of renewable energy sources, organic waste management, water conservation, and soil-less farming techniques.
- Providing dignified and comfortable living conditions for disabled and elderly individuals who currently lack basic amenities.
- Enhancing the health and well-being of disabled and elderly individuals, as well as vulnerable children, by providing access to clean water, sanitation facilities, nutritious food, and income opportunities.
- Empowering disabled and elderly individuals, as well as vulnerable children, by fostering a sense of belonging and purpose within their community.
- Enriching the lives of disabled and elderly individuals, as well as vulnerable children, by exposing them to positive influences and practical skills through mutual interaction.
We believe that these projects have the potential to make a significant impact on the community of Weledi and beyond by providing a sustainable source of food that will help combat food insecurity. We believe also that these projects will make a lasting impact on the lives of the disabled, elderly, and vulnerable children in Weledi. It will provide them with dignity, security, hope, and opportunity for a better future. It will also contribute to the sustainable development of their community and environment.
Adverse Living Conditions of Our Elderly
The video below was created by an Outreach Ethiopia graduate, Selehadin, that now has a media career.