About this project
Show list of needs
Material
|
Goal | Optimum |
|---|---|---|
|
Hand sanitizer gel
Purchase of hand sanitizer gel for use by family members
|
US$ 840 | |
|
Face masks
Provide reusable masks to producers to prevent the spread of Covid-19
|
US$ 600 | |
|
Floor disinfectant
Purchase floor disinfectant for household disinfection
|
US$ 630 | |
|
Liquid hand soap
purchase containers of 1ltr liquid hand soap
|
US$ 520 |
Task
|
Goal | Optimum |
|---|---|---|
|
Distribution management
Expenses for the management and operation of the campaign and delivery of supplies.
|
US$ 270 | |
| Total | US$ 1,710 | US$ 2,860 |
General information
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends frequent hand washing, social distancing, and the use of masks, as the fundamental measures to reduce the spread of COVID 19. The implementation of these measures can exacerbate the condition of poverty that is quite high in the rural sector of the province of Esmeraldas. It is important to highlight that the majority of communities of rural producers base their sustenance on the activities they carry out in person during the day. Very often, their main source of income comes from the sale of their agricultural goods in the market or their use for self-consumption, and the casual labour for a daily wage in their places of origin. Many of the small producers that live in the sector of our Association do not have sufficient resources for the purchase of antibacterial and sanitizing products, such as soaps, alcohol, masks, chlorine etc., that can help protect themselves and their families.
At the beginning of the pandemic, these rural areas did not have a significant number of infections compared to urban areas. In the last couple of months, the situation has changed . A new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic is currently present in our territory, with higher numbers of infections compared to the first months of 2020. In this context of limited resources, vulnerable populations are the most affected and most at risk of contracting the virus. Hospital services have already reached their limit due to the considerably higher number of COVID-19 cases in our communities.
This project aims to support the health and promote hygiene practices for the rural producers in the province of Esmeraldas, and in this way prevent the spread of the virus and the death of more people, who represent this important productive sector of the country.
In our association, Asociación Artesanal Sabor Arriba, we have worked for more than 10 years to improve the living conditions of small cocoa producers located in various cantons of the province of Esmeraldas. We have worked to position, market and promote the quality and origin of the cocoa beans from a national to an international level. Currently, our Association is launching this campaign to support 300 rural families of small cocoa producers.
In August, we implemented a campaign that supported 100 families with the delivery of cleaning kits. Additionally, we trained a large number of rural families to use preventative measures, such as proper hand washing and disinfection of their homes. Today, with a second wave underway, and the rural areas much more affected by the spread of the virus, than at the beginning of the pandemic, we would like to ask for your support to collect funds so that 300 cocoa-producing families can maintain their health and protect their lives through proper hygiene practices.
Main features and goals of the crowdfunding campaign
To date, the goal of our Association is to raise enough funds so that 300 families of essential small producers have supplies for proper hand hygiene to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.
Today more than ever, at a time that we are being impacted by the second wave of the global pandemic, where poverty, overcrowding and deficiencies in the sanitation and health systems complicate the containment and prevention, we trust that with your contribution and support we can achieve the goal of acquiring the necessary hygiene products to support 300 cocoa-producing families in the "Green Province" of Esmeraldas.
Each hygiene kit for a family contains:
- Antibacterial soaps.
- Hand sanitizer gel.
- Floor disinfectant.
- Masks.
Why this is important
Government statistics show that most of the small producers of this variety of cocoa live in conditions below the poverty line, due to the low prices they receive from the sale of their cocoa beans and the fluctuations in the price of this product on the world trade market. This situation prevents them from generating sufficient resources to improve living conditions. According to the latest population and housing census of Ecuador (2010), the data on poverty due to unsatisfied basic needs in the province of Esmeraldas far exceeds the national average of Ecuador (60.1%), reaching 78.3% of the population of this province.
The proposed project was born with the purpose of supporting 300 cocoa producers in the rural areas of Esmeraldas. We are hard-working and humble people. We believe in our abilities, and with joy and courage we work every day on our farms, sowing and harvesting Fine Aroma Cacao in agroforestry systems to boost our exports and produce quality chocolates and complementary products at an international level. We contribute to the food needs of the country, but because we live far from the main cities, we are often forgotten.
Our Association is trying to ensure that 300 families of small producers, who live in rural and hard to reach areas, have sufficient hygiene supplies to take care of their health and that of their families.
In the province of Esmeraldas, which is characterized as one of the areas with the greatest natural, cultural and ethnic biodiversity in Ecuador, the Sabor Arriba Artisan Association was founded in 2008. Our Association brings together around 300 small producers of the select National Fino de Aroma cacao. This organization is based on the principles of solidarity, cooperation and reciprocity, and its objective is to advance "good living" of its members in harmony with nature.
The Association is established in the “Green Province”, on the sparsely populated northern Ecuadorian coast, where an exuberant nature prevails everywhere in the form of fauna, rivers and tropical jungle. In it we can find, under the shade of other trees, the traditional cocoa crops, which have sustained a good part of the weak economy of many small producers in these latitudes and are behind some of the best chocolates in the world.
The members of the Sabor Arriba Artisan Association work in the cantons of Esmeraldas, Eloy Alfaro and Río Verde, the latter being the canton where the Sabor Arriba headquarters is registered.
Social commitment
Solidary
We are committed to protect the health of small producers. Today, there are 300 additional families that need support. Our goal is to collect enough funds to assemble 300 hygiene/cleaning kits to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Our social commitment is to strengthen and improve their living conditions. The objective of this initiative is to protect the health of the essential producers and contribute to the fulfillment of SDG 3 Health and Well-being, which seeks to maintain good health conditions for producers located in rural areas of Ecuador.