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Aceh: Livelihoods recovery in West Aceh
Salt production is a long, hot process, which begins with the salt farmers collecting crystals from the shore at dawn, and involves 8 hours of drying and dehydrating the salt crystals and seawater.
Predominantly run by women, the traditional salt farms consist of a small fire stove, a pan in which to evaporate seawater, and a shelter made of palm fronds. Salt farmers produce 15-30kg of salt each per day using the traditional units, which they sell for very little in the local market. In South-West Aceh APHEDA is providing 26 new salt production units to the salt farmers who lost their farms in the tsunami. These new farms are more efficient and a lot safer than the old units, which sometimes caught on fire when it was windy. Through this project, APHEDA hopes to improve the economic conditions of the salt farmers, and provide them with a safer way to make a living.
In West Aceh APHEDA is working with AnNisa, a local NGO that provides training and support to local women's business collectives to improve the business management, marketing and vocational skills of Acehnese women. APHEDA is constructing a training complex in Meulaboh, which will be run by AnNisa to initially train more than 350 women from 24 business collectives. These women run a range of small businesses, including sewing and embroidery, making banana chips, and producing straw hats for rice farmers. Some of the women require further skills training in order to improve the quality of their products and to diversify their skills, and all of them want to learn how to market their products and manage their finances better. APHEDA and AnNisa will work together to assist these women so that they can increase their incomes and can more easily manage the living costs for them and their families.
Both of these livelihoods recovery projects are funded by Volkshilfe Austria
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