Sustainable Development Research Foundation

Update: The matching grant was fully funded and $25,000 was wired to SDRF on Thursday, December 16, 2010. Thank you!

One Day's Wages is excited to announce a grant to Sustainable Development Research Foundation (SDRF) - a community based organization doing amazing work in Southeast Asia. ODW pledges to grant $10,000 (40% of their proposed project) upon the successful completion of SDRF securing $10,000 of additional funding through this matching campaign through their supporters.

The Livelihood Project centers on developing sustainable livelihoods for hundreds of HIV/AIDS-affected families in seven provinces in Southern Thailand where the prevalence of HIV disease is among the highest in Asia.  Those who are infected are marginalized by society and most have no employment, housing, access to education, or hope for the future.

We aim to provide resources to these communities to raise and market “ocean” tilapia (fish) to generate income. SDRF already has a wealth of experience in the practice of farm-raising tilapia in Northeastern Thailand and raising ocean fish at the Marine Research Institute.

The Livelihood Project would support the training, equipping, and maintenance of tilapia ponds at the level of a community or a group of families. The families would then market and sell the fish to generate income and thus the resources to escape poverty.

Based on preliminary research and SDRF’s experience, tilapia would be a marketable commodity in this region and the families would be able to maintain the micro-enterprise with minimal overhead costs. In addition, given the region’s proximity to the ocean, there is potential for easy access to water resources as certain species of tilapia have the unique quality of being able to thrive both in fresh and salt water.

The desired impact of this project is that within two years, a significant number of HIV-affected families (the network of HIV communities currently numbers over a thousand people and growing) will have the means for a sustainable livelihood. If the program is successful, then it will serve as a platform to reach other at-risk communities in the region.

To learn more about SDRF, please visit their website here.

Photos: (Top to Bottom)

1. Tilapia would be raised in nets within ponds such as these. This photo shows the fresh-water hatchery system at SDRF’s Isan Aquatics Farm in NE Thailand.

2. Tilapia fry

3. CHAC families will farm the fish in salt water nets such as these

4. IAF staff gathering bags of tilapia fry to be shipped to the South. At SDRF’s Marine Research institute, the tilapia will be acclimatized to salt water