How to help your Farmers in 2020

Last year was tough due to the uncertainty, difficulty in finding new land and then the stress of moving but in 2020 we face even bigger challenges as we try to make Kokkoya a financially sustainable business on its new site while further developing the site and the team. We do not need volunteers to help us farm but we do need your help.

The basics- what everyone can do

Word of Mouth- help us spread the word. Members invite non-members over for dinner made with our produce, post what you cook on social media, show your colleagues your work lunch. Ask people, ‘hey have you heard of Kokkoya?’. Bring people to our cafe (when it opens). Share our posts, events and news. Basically, name drop ‘Kokkoya’ as much as you can. 

Study- learn more about the current food system and the impact it has on our environment and health. Then share that information. 

Become a member- the most direct way to support what we do. Take the Kokkoya challenge and eat only from us, know where everything on your plate comes from! The planet and your body will be grateful.

Support local- Parasol is our favourite restaurant as they only use locally sourced ingredients and buy as direct as possible. So ask your favourite eateries where do they buy ingredients? Shop, eat, drink as local as possible and ask others to do the same. Yangon Farmers Market and The Makers Market are the perfect places to practice this also.

Be an active citizen - actively take responsibility and initiative in the issues of public concern. Start a climate club, be the leaf collection point for your neighbourhood, pick up trash, join community events etc. 

 

If you have the following skills/interests, we would also love to hear from you-

Writers- we are looking for contributors to our monthly newsletters/website- articles on local green initiatives, book reviews, recipes etc.

Photographers and Film Makers- we always need photos and so welcome anyone to take photos of our farm/food/team as long as we can use them for promoting us also. We would like to make some short films on farming, how-tos, cooking etc and are looking for anyone who can help put them together with us.

Wood Workers- we have some pretty nice tools at the farm and would love them to be used to create treehouses, artwork, boxes, signs, furniture, playgrounds etc. Mickey’s Real Wood has a great introduction to wood working classes to start and then come play and develop your skills further in our space. Its free- just make us cool stuff.

Grant finders and writers- we need grants to fund solar panels and a new cooler but are struggling to find the time to find these grants and write the proposals. We are also looking for smaller grants for projects in our neighbourhood- playground, waste management, drainage, trainings etc. Please help us if you can.

Trainers- we are looking for trainers to lead team workshops on almost anything interesting and applicable to what we do- food, health, admin, computer, 5S, system thinking, wood working, management, design etc. 

Events- We are still looking for someone to help us coordinate events and also collaborators to organise events with or even just ideas for what kind of events you would like. We are counting on events to help us cover our costs at the new farm, so this is an important one.

Classes for children- we have a lot of kids in our neighbourhood and we would like to offer free morning classes including English, environment, yoga, or just play.

Compost Researchers- help us test and record different ways to compost in this climate using local materials.

Air Pollution Problem Solvers and Advocates- we have a smelter next door to us and would like to change this and need help, advice or simply someone to start calling anyone/everyone who would be able to advise on this. 

Translators- We need help to translate English to Burmese on our social media. 

Up to you- if you have a skill and think it is useful for what we do please get in touch. 

Please email us directly at hello@kokkoyaorganics.com