Projects
Goat Rearing project – East Java, Indonesia
Together with a local foundation, Riverbed has started a project with goats. In a small impoverished area on the slopes of a volcano in East Java, 8 pregnant goats were loaned to 4 families in the village of Kampung Anyar. After the kids were born, the mother goats, once pregnant again, were shared to four other families. This roll forward within the community continued until all families that were interested had a turn. The kid goats served two purposes. Some were kept to produce a family; while some were sold to provide income. In seven years, 800 goats were born from the initial seed group of eight, providing a significant increase in income of the villagers.
Major keys to the success of this project was:
- basic training in household finances.
- training on the ins and outs of a cooperative and cooperation among community members
To continue the forward momentum of the program and provide a framework for skill building, the village created a cooperative where money can be saved and through which basic foodstuffs such as rice are purchased in bulk.
The village is self-supporting now..
The start of a savings and loan cooperative as part of the project.
A lottery decided who would be included in the first round.
Coffee cultivation Central Java, Indonesia
A small village high the mountains of Central Java had borrowed so heavily that almost all their land became committed as collateral for their loans; so the bank effectively owned their land. Bad harvests of potatoes followed by incompetent dairy farming practices had brought the small plot farmers to the brink of losing their lands. Their minister helped them change their attitude to loans and so opened the way to begin thinking about other crops. Previously, the land had been used to grow coffee. The Community under leadership entertained the idea of recommitting to coffee cultivation.
Riverbed stepped in to support the fledgling initiative by providing:
- Basic financial management skills training
- Coffee growing expertise
- Support during planting and nurturing of the small coffee plants
A cooperative was formed among the farmers; Riverbed matched the initial financial contributions of the farmers, becoming a partner who will share in the eventual profits. The profits will serve to fund future initiatives, dedicated as is this to the Foundation belief that lasting change is created when people must strive to earn it.
Bell Pepper project – East Java, Indonesia
Riverbed was approached to support a bell pepper growing project. The person who approached us wanted to expand and professionalize her business. We supported the farmer by guaranteeing her loans with a bank. However, the project went wrong due two problems:
- Internal disagreements between the farmers
- It was too easy to lend money from the bank which created a lay-back attitude.
When we noticed that things went wrong and seemed to be unmanageable we pulled back the guarantee. Lesson learned. But 2 years later one of the farmers who had joined the project has extended his bell pepper growing business and now has 3 greenhouses. We seemed to have functioned as a catalyst after which he could do things on his own.
