OUR PROJECT
Welcome and thank you for your interest in the SAFER Project. We are happy to answer any questions not answered by the following description. Just send us a mail!
SAFER ODisha
The fact that our climate changes, and our world is facing more and more disasters that are becoming more severe each year, is undeniable. But even though climate change is one of the biggest threats of our time, the changes to weather patterns do not affect all of us equally. For some, it's just a known fact, perhaps a distant worry for the future. For others, however, climate change poses an immediate and catastrophic threat. The rural community in Odisha, India, can undoubtedly be put in the latter category. For hundreds of years, the coastal state has faced numerous extreme weather events like cyclones and tsunamis. However, with the changing climate, the occurrence and threat of these hazards only rise, accompanied by new environmental challenges unknown to this region before.
But how do we face these events and minimize the risk for the most vulnerable communities? The government in Odisha is known for its investment in disaster risk management since the 1999 super cyclone and has achieved a significant reduction in disaster deaths when natural hazards struck the state. Saving lives in the face of disaster is the first step, but there are many more steps to take. Especially in rural Odisha, disasters may take fewer lives now, but livelihoods are still destroyed mercilessly. And in the nature of the disaster, it hits worst where the most vulnerable are, taking the little they have and leaving destruction and despair, making the community even more vulnerable than before.
Changing this can be done in many ways and should be done at the root cause by stopping climate change through environmentally friendly action globally and addressing inequality locally. But there is also the need to address immediate actions to reduce the vulnerability of livelihoods in the rural community, to strengthen their resilience and create a way forward for these communities. This is what our project "Securing Agriculture from Environmental Risks" (SAFER) sets out to achieve. The project focuses on reducing the vulnerability of agriculture to climate change and extreme weather events and is conducted by local staff and managed by the local NGO OSVSWA.
In rural Odisha, many farmers lack access to education about climate change, how it threatens their livelihood, and how to protect against the hazard. Through educational awareness-raising meetings explaining the effects of climate change in Odisha, an understanding of the threats will be achieved—a first step in reducing vulnerability. Through repeated meetings and specific workshops with the communities, this will be complemented with specific skills in adaptation strategies to build risk reduction capacity.
With this project, the ever-intensifying cycle of destruction and rebuilding will take one step closer to being broken. However, to ensure the rural population of Odisha will be sustainably resilient, your support is required. Help this project to succeed, and many more to take its place in the future by sharing and following the process of the project. Only together can we make sure that the future is bright for everyone, especially those who only face darkness right now.
Timeline
To achive our project outcome many steps will have to be taken. The Project conception is only a small part of the long process to reach as many farmers as possible in Odisha. Trough a comprehensive pilot project the project will be assessed. A positive outcome will lead to an implementation in many more Blocks all over Odisha.
Block-level Assessment
Identify Adaptation strategies
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Local Participatory Assessment
Advocacy