Project Name: Community Action on Natural Resource Management for Decent Living (CANDL)

Donor: Manusher Jonno Foundation

Total Budget: Tk 76,27,827

Staff: Eight (six male, two female)

Duration: January 2009 to December 2011

Working Area: 20 villages in five Unions of Khagrachari Sadar and Panchari Upazillas

Participants : 600 (241 male, 359 female) CANDL works in poor communities which have a variety of natural resources available, but whose members have few employment opportunities. We work with individuals who have limited chances to earn incomes, such as youth and women.

Project Purpose:‘To strengthen local communities’ control over land and resources by creating livelihoods opportunities’

Project Summary: Through CANDL, 60 ‘Self-Help Groups’ have been created in Khagrachari Sadar and Panchari Upazilas, each focusing on one type of income-generation activity: nursery development, agro-processing, or handicrafts creation. With TUS help, group members work to grow, process or create products for sale in outside markets. They develop new income opportunities to support themselves and their families, and take control over their own lives and livelihoods.
TUS provides material, training, and technical support to the groups, encouraging them to make use of sustainable natural resource management practices in the development of their products.
Some of the handicrafts groups are using local materials and their traditional knowledge to make bamboo baskets, mats, and other goods. Others focus on using traditional weaving methods and natural materials to create blankets and clothes based on indigenous designs. Agro-processing groups use local fruits, vegetables and spices for making a range of nutritious, chemical-free jams, jellies, pickles and dried fruits.
The twenty nursery groups have each established and are able to care for their own nursery, and are making plans for earning incomes in the coming seasons. Some of the groups have already started selling their saplings, and making profits. By July 2010, the groups sold plants worth about Tk 1,47,940 in total, and have plans to increase this in the future. TUS supports all groups, helping them to sell their goods in local and national markets. The groups are able to perform cost-benefit analyses for their products, and have started to identify existing and potential markets, build links with customers, and create products based on customer demands. The groups also use a TUS-led Sales and Display Centre to sell their goods in Khagrachari.
In addition, 45 groups have established and are using ‘Group Development Funds’, following motivational and technical support from CANDL and local government institutions. The funds encourage members to save the money they can, and contribute to the development of their activities. The groups use the funds for opening bank accounts and buying the materials they need to create their products.

Reference Contact Details:
Shaheen Anam (Executive Director)
Manusher Jonno Foundation
House 10, Block F, road 1
Banani Model Town
Dhaka – 1213
Telephone: 02-8824309