Sustainable development to reduce disaster vulnerability

ACTED continued activities in the north of Nias Island, beginning a second phase of the livelihoods intervention and completing a Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) project in April 2010. ACTED’s demonstrated success during the first phase of livelihood recovery activities funded by the Canadian Red Cross (CRC) led to an additional 20 months of support to strengthen farmer and fisherman cooperatives in 40 villages, to improve the local governance in 26 villages, and to support the fishing sector through the training of 11 new boat builders and the distribution of 26 boats completed by trainees.

Strong and sustainable local governance in Nias

In Northern Nias, ACTED continued to support capacity-building of the local government in 24 villages of Lahewa, Lahewa Timur and Afulu sub-districts. Training and networking activities were implemented to reinforce good village governance, which is the foundation of long-term development and improved livelihoods for these communities. At a time when the Indonesian government is putting decentralization laws into practice by devolving power from the sub-district to the village level, training in planning, budgeting, fundraising, as well as implementation and monitoring of village development road maps is essential to community capacity to solve problems collectively. In 2010, ACTED trained 217 local government members. ACTED’s support to the establishment of Badan Perwakilan Desa (BPD, village councils) Fora in three sub-districts provides communities with a place to share best practices and strengthen their advocacy role. The BPD Fora in Northern Nias represent the first example of such networking among community-based governance structures in the whole of North Sumatra Province.

Increasing entrepreneurship and community cohesion in Nias

According to our mandate to ensure sustainable transition from emergency response to recovery and development, ACTED continued a two-year project supporting 161 Self-Help Groups (SHG) and 11 marine carpenters. ACTED focused on entrepreneurship skills, training the SHGs in business plan development and implementation to complement training in production, post-harvest processing, and marketing. Boat building was promoted as an income-generating activity that is key to recovery and livelihoods in coastal communities. In 2010, ACTED trained marine carpenters in environmentally friendly and sustainable boat-building techniques, and provided them with tools and supplies as start-up capital for the creation of village shipyards. ACTED also provided practical business training to 48 Self-Help Group volunteers in 2010. These volunteers are now taking an active part in promoting recovery and growth by dedicating their skills and knowledge to training their own communities. ACTED’s program supports sustainable livelihoods in agriculture and fishery while reinforcing social cohesion through community-based associations and volunteering.

Promoting sustainable livelihoods and reducing disaster risk

ACTED is committed to continuing long-term development interventions in Nias to build upon the foundations laid during our relief and recovery assistance since 2005. The island is still rated at the highest risk level by the National Disaster Agency. Strengthening local governance and increasing economic growth are essential to disaster preparedness and resilience for Nias communities and ACTED addresses this with capacity building at the local, sub-district, and district levels as well as assistance to key livelihoods sectors such as fishing and agriculture. The threat of recurring natural disasters throughout Indonesia was highlighted in 2010 by the tsunami in the Mentawai islands off the coast of West Sumatra and the eruption of the Mount Merapi volcano near Yogyakarta on Java. ACTED continues to provide emergency responses and early recovery aid during incidents such as these when necessary and in coordination with the Indonesian government, donors, and partner NGOs. ACTED is currently expanding Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) programming to additional communities in Nias and integrating technology and media into our community-based disaster mitigation activities. ACTED also hopes to extend programming in livelihoods and DRR to new areas in East Indonesia such as Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT) and Sulawesi.