Support Refugee-lead Agriculture Project

We are a group of refugees living in Kukuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. We have started growing our own food using permaculture techniques because of our limited resources in this desert climate. Any funds received will go towards agricultural tools and inputs, materials for infrastructure, and towards improving the living conditions of vulnerable individuals so that we can bear one another‘s burden.

The Volunteer Youth for Children Association is a community-based organization created in 2020 in order to support vulnerable refugees, women, empower disadvantaged youths, care for vulnerable children, and address the refugee community's needs and problems. We are strategically located among the community and provide participatory development, care for the most vulnerable, address agricultural and food insecurity issues, leading the socio-economic transformation of our own community through empowerment from within.

PROJECT CONTEXT & JUSTIFICATION
Poverty exacerbates already poor living conditions for refugees without income, especially women and youth. Even with the harvest of multiple crops, most refugees can barely feed themselves with the harvest, let alone sell surplus products for meager income. Further, agriculture is a lengthy process and income is very delayed following the wait for a harvest and sales. Growing vegetables using permaculture techniques has the potential to increase the income of vulnerable refugees and particularly woman, without waiting long period before harvest, or requiring more water than is available.

This why the Volunteer Youth for Children Association wants to fundraise $1500 for the purchase of agricultural tools and seeds for 15 refugees women, so that they can start their own farm and have agency over their food production, in order to improve the living conditions their households. Funds will also go towards training in permaculture and climate-smart methods in order to reduce the growing period and increase profits for the refugee growers.

VISION: Volunteer Youth for Children Association's dream is to create a community that is able to implement community care and education.

MISSION: Our mission is to promote youth and children's empowerment, advocate for quality access to health information and lifelong learning, and to improve living conditions for displaced people in Kakuma Refugee camp, especially through food we grow ourselves within our community, using climate-smart agriculture and permaculture techniques.