Advocacy In Decomposed fertiliser (AIDER)
Helping the Underprivileged Community
The people who live in Teluk Layang are considered stateless, which indicates that the government does not recognise their citizenship despite being born and raised in this country. Their predicament caused the denial of their human rights, despite the fact that they had no control over the fact that they were born without citizenship in this country. This was not in any way a decision they made. Because of the complexities of the situation, generations of stateless people in Sabah have gone undocumented, with the number growing by the year. Although no official figure has been established, their population is estimated to be between 500,000 to 1,000,000 people. Due to the absence of legitimate identification papers, it is difficult for individuals from Teluk Layang to find work in the public or private sectors in this country. Unemployment drives them to hunt for other possibilities to get money to buy needs. Farming is a highly significant activity in their society. There are around 400 villagers that primarily rely on agricultural operations as their major source of income and food. Fertiliser is one of the materials often used in farming. In the absence of fertilisers, agricultural output and productivity would decrease significantly. However, fertiliser prices are very expensive and difficult for these low-income communities to own. Therefore, it is necessary to put into action an effort that will provide assistance in the manufacturing of composed fertiliser for them. It is feasible to increase their crop yields by utilising this composed fertiliser.
Overview of Issue / Background
The people who live in Teluk Layang are considered stateless, which indicates that the government does not recognise their citizenship despite being born and raised in this country. Their predicament caused the denial of their human rights, despite the fact that they had no control over the fact that they were born without citizenship in this country. This was not in any way a decision they made. Because of the complexities of the situation, generations of stateless people in Sabah have gone undocumented, with the number growing by the year. Although no official figure has been established, their population is estimated to be between 500,000 to 1,000,000 people.
Due to the absence of legitimate identification papers, it is difficult for individuals from Teluk Layang to find work in the public or private sectors in this country. Unemployment drives them to hunt for other possibilities to get money to buy needs. Farming is a highly significant activity in their society. There are around 400 villagers that primarily rely on agricultural operations as their major source of income and food.
Fertiliser is one of the materials often used in farming. In the absence of fertilisers, agricultural output and productivity would decrease significantly. However, fertiliser prices are very expensive and difficult for these low-income communities to own.
Therefore, it is necessary to put into action an effort that will provide assistance in the manufacturing of composed fertiliser for them. It is feasible to increase their crop yields by utilising this composed fertiliser.
Project Objectives (Vision & Mission)
- To introduce the composed fertiliser terms to the villagers in Teluk Layang.
- To educate the villagers in Teluk Layang on how they can use waste materials as something useful in their daily life.
- To improve the farming activities among the villagers.
- To help the villagers reduce their cost of living.
- To promote environmentally-friendly and economical solutions to recycle waste among the villagers.
The main objective of this project is to introduce the compost fertiliser terms to the villagers in Teluk Layang. This is because the villagers are not exposed to this kind of knowledge due to their education level.
Therefore, by carrying out this project, we will be able to introduce the composed fertiliser terms so they can understand and practise the knowledge that will be very useful in helping them in their farming activity and also increasing the quality of their crops.
Furthermore, our group mission is to educate the villagers on how they can benefit from the waste materials by producing the composted fertiliser so they can save their money as there is no need for them to buy the fertiliser and just use their leftovers to produce their own compost.
Moreover, recycling food and other organic waste into compost also has a number of environmental benefits such as reduced greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient recycling, and drought mitigation. So, our group came out with these visions and missions to educate and help the villagers at the same time.
Project Details (Activities and Tasks)
- Project introduction: Discussion with our key partner (Borneo Komrad), the NGO in charge of the 400 villagers of Kampung Teluk Layang. The main agenda of introducing compost fertiliser to the local community is proposed and the process of getting consent to use required facilities such as water, electric, classroom, etc.
- Local community outreach campaigns: Educate the local community about the compost fertiliser project through house-to-house visits and flyers are distributed to the villagers. During this process, the local communities should be well-informed to dispose of household waste such as food leftovers and rotten plants into our compost bins.
- Fertiliser-making process: The compost bins containing organic waste are buried in two thirds of the village to produce compost fertiliser. By supplying organic materials (food leftovers and rotten plants), water and oxygen, the decaying agent used which is Bokashi will break down the materials into useful compost fertiliser for agriculture use. Bokashi composting is an anaerobic fermentation process so during the fertiliser-making procedures, the compost bin should remain sealed, therefore could also avoid unpleasant smell to the villagers. The data collection process is done to ensure the compost fertiliser is ready to use.
- Education on the compost fertiliser implementation: The local communities are introduced on the procedure of compost fertiliser application on plants and important aspect such as the optimal quantities of compost fertiliser should be used is properly explained to the villagers.
Expected Project Result & Outcomes
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Aniq Azraei2 years agoRM 2.30 -
Gernevie2 years agoRM 2.00Goodluck
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Jason James2 years agoRM 50.00
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Nyan2 years agoRM 5.00
106% of RM487.30 Goal
Project Information
| University name | : | Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) |
| Project leader name | : | Gernevie Charlie |
| Instagram link | : | https://www.instagram.com/aider_my/ |
| Project implementation date | : | 2022-11-05 |
| Location of project held | : | Kampung Teluk Layang, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah |
| Beneficiary | : | Villagers of Kampung Teluk Layang |
| Number of beneficiaries | : | 400 |
Section I
a. Project Goals:
To assist the underprivileged community in Kampung Teluk Layang, Kota Kinabalu, by utilising organic waste materials as an important material in the production of compost fertiliser in order to increase their farming operations and crop yields. Simultaneously, this project can raise awareness about environmentally friendly and cost-effective garbage recycling methods not just among villagers but also among the public in general.
b. Fund-raising support & Other external sponsorship: No.
c. Project Implementation:
d. Project Flow Summary:
- 20 Mei 2022
- -Discussion with key partners- Brief talk of the project ideas and beneficiaries
- -Local community outreach campaign: Educating the local community on the compost fertiliser project
- 31 Jul 2022
- -Post-project approval: Getting approval from Khind Starfish Foundation
- 17 June - 6 July 2022
- -Social media updates and info
- 16 July-30 July
- -Promoting our project and crowdfunding campaign
- 1 Aug 2022
- Received Grant from Khind Starfish Foundation
- 19 Sep - 13 Oct 2022
- Resources planning, budgeting and materials purchasing
- 16 Oct - 22 Oct 2022
- -Materials arrival and delivery
- -Preparation of compost bins with the local community. The compost bins were buried in two thirds of the ground surface.
- 29 Oct - 5 Nov 2022
- -Education on the compost fertiliser terms: Telling the community what type of waste materials is suitable to produce compost fertiliser.
- -The making and mixing process to produce compost
- 5 Nov-13 Nov 2022
- -Progress monitoring
- -Compost fertiliser collections and implementation on plants.
e. Difficulties
-Although the location of our project is close to our university, the only route and way to reach Teluk Layang is occasionally locked, so we have to climb off the gate to get there.
-We have to go there at the right time because we have to cross a section of the beach on our way to Kampung Teluk Layang. The beach can have very high tides at times.
-We are having difficulty bringing materials such as composting bins to the site as we have to bring them by hand.
f. Language or cultural barriers
Our teams had a pleasant interaction with the residents and school children of Kampung Teluk Layang. Because of the full cooperation provided by our key partners, Borneo Komrad and the teachers of Sekolah Alternatif Teluk Layang, our project execution is moving smoothly and efficiently. Teachers assist us in keeping control over the children.
g. Project Implementation Process
Overall, each of our team members was clear on their various roles, which allowed the project to be implemented smoothly and efficiently. Furthermore, our partner, the teachers of Sekolah Alternatif and Borneo Komrad, provided us with invaluable assistance and support in project coordination. We were delighted that all of the children and residents were pleased with the project's outcomes. Finally, the AIDER project successfully raised funds through crowdfunding while also educating the public on the significance of creating and thinking creatively in order to survive and make valuable things from trash, such as compost fertiliser.
h. Beneficiaries
Our project aims to expand the residents of Teluk Layang's knowledge about the terms of composing fertiliser from waste materials. In addition, it is also a part of helping them to reduce their cost of living. Since most of the families living there lacked documentation (as the stateless community) in this country, this made it difficult for them to find work. So this idea will assist the villagers there to produce their own decomposing fertiliser and save money by not having to buy fertiliser from the market since farming is one of their primary sources of food. However, these projects also benefited the young generation on how it is important to create and think creatively to survive and produce new materials from waste. It is currently one of our key problems since we frequently rely on others rather than producing new materials to improve our standard of living. So, this project comes out with strategies to broaden their knowledge on how waste materials can invent a fertiliser for their wellbeing.
i. Post-project
This project is our first attempt to help underprivileged communities in Teluk Layang by educating them on ways to recycle their food waste into fertiliser. The residents were very polite and excited about the project. Before the project started, the residents were brief on what to do. The residents understood the practices taught to them. Therefore, making the project a huge success and the objectives were achieved. The community teachers are also helpful to take part in making the activities with the youngsters and residents. The project may not be achieved successfully without the help and support from the community teachers and residents in Teluk Layang.
Section II
Section II (a)
How does or will your project contribute to happiness? Short-term? Long-term?
As the main purpose of this project is to expand the knowledge about the term of composing fertiliser from waste material, in the short term this project will educate the residents to make use of their daily waste into something useful. Apart from turning the waste into something useful, this will also improve the quality of their environment as less waste is thrown away producing unpleasant smells and views in their surroundings. In the long term, the product produced from this project would help the people to reduce their living cost and also allows them to produce their own organic products, especially food which is essential.
Has your project changed the way you think about the world? How has it changed you?
Yes, our project is related to the Bokashi technique of converting waste materials into compost soil. As the world's population continues to rise and we produce more food, we realise that there is a need to buy less and create sustainable means of waste management. Bokashi composting is an excellent way to recycle materials that would otherwise be discarded. Not only does this practice add beneficial germs and microbes to the soil, but it also benefits the plants. Furthermore, we realised that not everyone is born with a silver spoon, thus even with just a little assistance, our project can encourage the disadvantaged in finding other alternatives to nourish their soil for farming as their primary source of food.
Section II (b)
Gernevie:
“Part of being a person is to help others”
Faiz:
“I wonder” took you on a path of of greater understanding of our surroundings
Affif:
"We've come to Earth to take care of life. We are here to look after one another."
Leo:
"It is our personal responsibility to preserve and protect the world in which we all live."
Laili:
‘’Even a small help can work toward helping a person”
Azim:
“"There's nothing more rewarding than seeing everyone happy and smiling. Thank you for providing us with this chance.”
Section III
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