ICRAN Small Grant
Continuation and Strengthening of the Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement and Development Process within the Communities of Bar Reef, Kalpitiya, Sri Lanka
Under the ICRAN EU South Asia Project, completed in 2008, the Sustainable Livelihood Enhancement and Development (SLED) process was developed in collaboration with IUCN, IMM and partner organisations in South Asia. Small grant projects were initiated in selected communities to implement the Discovery, Direction and Doing phases of the SLED framework, resulting in several pilot projects.
Due to the success of this community level approach, the Marine and Coastal Resources Conservation Foundation (MCRCF), a local partner, was able to strengthen the SLED program and extend it to other fishing villages also highly dependent on the resources of the Bar Reef. Collaboration between the Centre for Rural Empowerment and the Environment (CREE) and ICRAN has facilitated this continued implementation of the validated SLED process.
The eight activities taking place under this contract are:
| Activity No. | Activity |
| 1 | Expand the home garden improvement programme within the influence area of the bar reef. (At least 10 home gardens will be improved) |
| 2 | Provide fingerlings and feed for five beneficiaries those engaged in sea-bass culture |
| 3 | Seaweed faming and processing for five beneficiaries |
| 4 | Introduce Ornamental fish farming for five beneficiaries |
| 5 | Provide fingerlings and feed for existing red tilapia farmer and to provide assistance to additional beneficiary to commence Red tilapia farming |
| 6 | Conduct three one day workshop on the theme “Coastal Environment and Livelihoods” |
| 7 | Prepare and install three awareness boards on “Environment and Livelihoods” |
| 8 | CREE webpage development |
Progress to date includes:
Difficulties were experienced in the sourcing and purchasing of imported sea-bass fingerlings, leading to a redirection of funds to the ornamental fish activity. Now, 10 beneficiaries are being provided with start up funds and guidance on this aquaculture activity in the Bar Reef.
Beneficiary selection and baseline surveys for impact monitoring have been completed through the use of semi-structured household questionnaires and focused group discussions for home garden improvement, seaweed farming, ornamental fish farming & tilapia farming. To select the appropriate beneficiaries for each activity, the following criteria were adopted;
- Should be a person previously engaged in fishing in the Bar reef area;
- Level of income;
- Skills possessed;
- Family size;
- Willingness to engage in the programme.
Purchasing construction materials for commencement of ornamental fish farming, seaweed farming and tilapia farming was started in the previous year. In this respect required bamboo materials and plastic nets were available for cage construction. Required specifications have been prepared for constructing ponds for the ornamental fish and tilapia farming. In addition arrangements have already been made to purchase fingerlings once construction has been completed.
To enhance the ongoing home garden programme the following activities have been conducted;
- Distribution of seeds to ten beneficiary families completed;
- Design of awareness boards completed.
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