The charity

Mercy Corps is delighted to be the beneficiary charity for the sixth year running at the Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon. Mercy Corps is an international development charity that works in over 40 countries worldwide helping people to turn the crises of natural disaster, poverty and conflict into opportunities for progress.

The 2009 Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon raised over £165, 000 for Mercy Corps work in India.

Mercy Corps has been working on tea estates in Darjeeling since 2003 through the Community Health and Advancement Initiative (CHAI) funded by Starbucks/Tazo Tea.  The only international NGO working on the estates, Mercy Corps has become an accepted player in the tea sector with many influential figures supporting the organisation’s work, including tea estate owners and managers. Mercy Corps, with funds raised from the 2009 Artemis Great Kindrochit Quadrathlon, is now planning to further improve working conditions and enable tea workers to play a larger management role through the purchase of a tea estate* to be run in conjunction with the community.  The estate will be run as a profitable social business that will improve working conditions, increase incomes and address the numerous challenges that tea communities face. 

* All funds raised through the 09 Quadrathlon will support this proposed programme in India.  However, if this project cannot be carried out as planned, or if the project becomes overfunded, funds will go to other Mercy Corps’ projects in India that help families and children in need.

Further information on the 2009 AGKQ project can be found at www.mercycorps.org.uk.

 

The money raised in 2010 will go towards funding a Mercy Corps project in Guatemala, working with indigenous people to secure land rights and achieve a better quality of life, free from poverty.

2010 Project Information

Guatemala is an overwhelmingly poor country. 80 percent of the population live in poverty and of that 80 percent two- thirds live in extreme poverty. Millions of Guatemalans still live in homes made of mud and walk hours daily to tend farms for little pay. The main reason for this is that fertile land in Guatemala- the most important means of production in an agricultural economy- is concentrated in the hands of a few, roughly 2 percent of the population owns 70 percent of the country’s productive land.

Since 2003, Mercy Corps has been working to resolve land conflicts in Guatemala and as a result, 8,946 indigenous families have so far been able to secure land and with it their dignity, identity and means of survival.

Improving Food Production in Poverty Stricken Guatemala

The project supported by the Quadrathlon, is the vital next stage in helping families to maximise the potential of their land, grow sustainable and profitable crops, and generate livelihoods for themselves and future generations.9000 people will directly benefit from this project and the knock on effect will be to secure a stream of diverse, nutritional food and to increase food security of the entire populations of the 25 communities in which this project works.

Through this fantastic project, 500 families will be incorporated into chains of production which will allow them to increase their income and ensure the legal certainty of their land. Health and nutrition will be improved through education and training. Mercy Corps will measure progress through the following:

• 25 producer groups (500 families) in poor communities will generate income as a result of their direct links to market.
• 500 new employment opportunities will be generated in rural communities
• 20 new rural businesses will be established.
• 500 new businessmen and women implement good productive practices, good manufacturing practices, and good business practices.
• 10 productive value chains with high potential at local level have been analysed, identifying bottlenecks and opportunities.

 

Mercy Corps will achieve these results through:

• Extensive training in crop diversification, improving the quality of production to match market demands and making products more competitive.
• Facilitating understanding of the market place, identifying large players, establishing contacts.
• Teaching, in indigenous language, how to identify buyers and build and maintain commercial relationships.
• Serving as a model for other neighbouring communities and other beneficiaries, thereby increasing jobs in the region.

 

The next stage of this successful project will run until Jan 2012 and will only be possible with the support of all the Quadrathletes. The European Commission has already committed €360,375 of the total budget, conditional on Mercy Corps securing the remaining €120,125. Every penny from the Quadrathlon will therefore leverage 4 times its value in programme worth!

For further information about Mercy Corps please visit www.mercycorps.org.uk