Help us Raise $40,000 to End Rural Poverty in Cambodia with our Mushroom Grow Houses Project!
Could you live on less than $0.45 a day?
Can you imagine having to live each day with less than two quarters in your pocket? In Cambodia, this is an everyday reality.
Eighty percent of the country’s population lives in rural areas and almost half (40-45 percent) lives on less than $0.45 a day. In addition, more than 70 percent of Cambodians rely entirely on agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods, and yet most do not make enough money to provide their families with ample food or to send their children to school.
Tapping the power of mushrooms to alleviate poverty in Cambodia
To help make agriculture more profitable for rural farmers in Cambodia, World Hope International has established the Mushroom Grow Houses program. In Mushroom Grow Houses, straw mushrooms are grown in small, greenhouse-type structures that are better at maintaining climate conditions than traditional mushroom growing (see images). The production recycles rice straw as its main input, and rice straw is readily available to rural farmers. As a result, the straw mushrooms have a grow cycle of just a few weeks, making the path from cultivation to market a quick – and lucrative – one.
Over the past year, these Mushroom Grow Houses have been proven commercially-successful: They are accessible, affordable, and provide a year-round cash flow to the farmers that use them. In support of the Mushroom Grow Houses, WHI drills deep boreholes, which provide access to water for surrounding households. These borehole wells support agri-business that is not dependent on rainfall patterns, while yielding the additional benefit of safe water for local families.
Finally, as part of the project, WHI connects farmers to markets, which is the last step in ensuring that increased production leads to increased income. The mushrooms are chemical-free and can be sold to the local market at a high price: 1 Kilogram takes a price of 5,000 Riel ($1.25), as opposed to the 2,000 Riel ($0.50) farmers get for chemically-treated mushrooms. Because of its income-generating potential, this innovation is poised to have a significant positive effect in rural communities.
Help us continue our Mushrooms Grow Houses Program
We are calling on donors like you to help us continue this life-changing agriculture program in Cambodia! We need to raise $40,000 by December 31, 2017 to extend our program efforts. Please make a donation today to help end poverty in Cambodia.
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Sponsoring Churches:
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