To U-landshjelp fra Folk til Folk, Norge

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1 JANUARY-DECEMBER 2016 REPORT To U-landshjelp fra Folk til Folk, Norge Farmers Clubs Madimba THE PROJECT AT A GLANCE 2 THE DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES JANUARY - DECEMBER THE PROJECT RESULTS JANUARY - DECEMBER THE EFFECTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES 7 THE CONCLUSION 8 THE ANNEXES 9 Annex 1: The results in numbers 9 Annex 2: The testimonies, recommendations 10 Annex 3: The produced materials 11 Annex 4: Photos from the project 15 HUMANA PEOPLE TO PEOPLE CONGO HPP - CONGO

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS THE PROJECT AT A GLANCE 3 THE DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES JANUARY - DECEMBER THE PROJECT RESULTS JANUARY - DECEMBER THE EFFECTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES 8 THE CONCLUSION 9 THE ANNEXES 10 Annex 1: The results in numbers 10 Annex 2: The testimonies, recommendations 11 Annex 3: The produced materials 12 Annex 4: Photos from the project 16 2

3 THE PROJECT AT A GLANCE 1 Name of the project 2 Operation area Farmers Clubs Madimba 3 Project Leader Doris Malungu Kinzau, Kifua, Kingombi and Kibangu, Madimba Territory in the Kongo Central Province 4 Address Lukoki street, N 9, Cité de Gare, Kongo Central Province, DR Congo 5 Telephone / / plkbiondi@gmail.com The idea of the project is to increase food security and to reduce poverty among 250 subsistence farmers and their families in Madimba territory in the Kongo-Central province. Madimba is 120 km from Kinshasa on the national road n 1 and the territory has potential to produce big amounts of food for people in the capital. 6 The project idea 7 The people at the project However, many farmers cannot use this opportunity, because they are poor and do not have the necessary farming skills, tools and transport systems. Farmers Clubs Madimba organizes farmers in sustainable structures and trains them in new agricultural techniques to increase their production and improve their living conditions. The area is being turned into a desert by trees being cut for charcoal to provide energy for Kinshasa, so the project is also planting trees to reduce deforestation. 1 Project Leader 1 Farmer s Instructor 25 club committee members 250 farmers Humana People to People Congo (HPP-Congo) in partnership with Sympany started the Farmers Clubs program in the Kongo Central (former Bas-Congo) province in October The program started with 750 farmers. The project with the first 750 farmers ended in September 2015 with 586 active farmers in all the activities. 8 The history in brief The farmers were organized in clubs learning new agricultural and conservation methods. In October 2013, HPP-Congo received funding from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to start a tree planting campaign in the same project with the goal of planting 125,000 acacia trees. In May 2015, HPP-Congo received funding from UNDP and in November 2015 a small financing from Deloitte and Touche in Austria to continue to plant yet 2

4 25,000 trees. The project continued in 2016 with a smaller number of 250 farmers who are engaged in the tree planting activities and garden farming. 3

5 THE DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES JANUARY - DECEMBER 2016 The territory of Madimba is located 120 km from Kinshasa, the capital, and has a population of around 414,112 inhabitants. This population lives mainly on agriculture. Madimba represents a strategic point to supply the markets of Kinshasa with agricultural products such as cassava, maize, groundnuts and other vegetables. But this population lacks knowledge about the concept of fighting global warming and protecting the environment. Madimba is surrounded by manmade savannahs, where the forest has been cleared to provide firewood for the population of Kinshasa. To improve this situation, HPP-Congo has set two major objectives: (1) Farmers learn about global warming, organic compost and install the processing units The idea is to increase progressively the knowledge about how climate change is affecting the world and how to face the consequences by organizing bi-monthly lessons on environment topics. The clubs must be visited to be assisted by the project in their activities, and the farmers learn how to make organic compost. The Project organizes one annual Open day to share the results from the clubs with more people in the community. (2) Plant 25,000 trees 25 committee members will be trained in how to take care of the trees and on the importance of planting trees. The program has established 15 nurseries in schools and among farmers and students will be mobilized to saw and transplant small trees. 25,000 trees will be planted by the end of March

6 THE PROJECT RESULTS JANUARY - DECEMBER 2016 Result farmers in clubs have received lessons on environmental issues and start processing crops During the year 2016, farmers carried out their activities in clubs that are organized with an elected committee of 5 members to lead and manage the activities they are implementing. The lessons have been carried out on the demonstration fields in order to strengthen the capacities of 250 farmers hands on. The lessons have also featured the problem of climate change, the reasons behind global warming and greenhouse effects and the means to address those challenges. The farmers acquire the necessary competences to increase agricultural production using sustainable methods. A total of 12 lessons on environment protection and conservation agriculture have been taught monthly to the 250 farmers. Namely: (1) Establishment of a nursery, (2) Management of a nursery, (3) The importance of trees, (4) Composting, (5) Weeding (6) How to plant acacia trees after a period in the nursery, (7) Trees transplantation techniques, (8) Why do agro-forestry, (9) The plants to be associated with acacia tree in agroforestry, (10) Weeding periods, (11) Biological fight between plant parasites in agro-forestry. Farmers were taught how to transform cassava into different products. Cassava is one of the most consumed food items in the project area and around. The huge and untapped market opportunities for cassava can be effectively exploited to transform the agriculture production. The challenge faced by the farmers is to be able to exploit the marketing opportunities and profitability through effective and efficient cassava value chain development. Cassava has diverse end-uses despite its widespread subsistence cultivation as basic food. Given its versatility and high starch content, it can be transformed into many important products/derivatives (cassava chips, high quality cassava flour (HQCF), starch, and ethanol). 5

7 Organic fertilizers created through composting is gaining ground and all the farmers are encouraged to go for this during next year season B (March-July 2017). The farmers have been organized in formal cooperatives since the beginning of 2015, and each village has a cooperative. As planned, the project has conducted bi-monthly visits to each of these cooperatives to follow up and provide the needy support to the farmers. In the first semester, an Open Day was carried out with all farmers eager to grab prizes. On that day most of the stakeholders were present, and the cooperatives presented their work, and they also competed against each other to be the best producers. Result2. Nurseries are organized in schools and clubs and trees are planted Nurseries were established in some of the primary schools in the 4 villages belonging to the project area. Throughout the year children learned tree planting in theory and practice as part of their school curriculum. The teachers were responsible for the mobilization in the schools to ensure a good involvement for the children. There were some changes in the number of pupils in the schools when the classes resumed in September 2016, and the overall numbers are as follow: Villages Schools Name of village Nursery Farmers Name of school Nursery Children KINZAU 4 63 BOKO KINGOMBI 2 63 BOKO KIFUA 5 61 MAYIDI KIBANGU 4 63 PAPA NZUZI Total Total

8 THE EFFECTS OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES - As a result of the capacity building sessions about new farming techniques and the use of organic compost, agriculture production has significantly increased and the soil is fertile. - Farmers are in the habit of planting trees in order to protect the environment and contribute to reducing the problems of global warming. Approximately, 26 hectares have been reforested on former savannah. - - The beneficiaries of the project have increased their understanding about the environmental, and they are able to contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gases thanks to planting trees and by stopping slash and burn to clear more land. - Thanks to the activities in the project, women in the community are more involved in making decisions about community affairs. 7

9 THE CONCLUSION Fighting global warming and climate change by strengthening the farmers capacities and introducing new agricultural techniques with soil conservation and environmental protection is what the project really engaged in during As of now, community members are able to assess the danger that threatens them if they keep on cutting the trees without replacing them with new ones. Youth has also participated actively in the fight against the destruction of the ozone layer by organizing tree planting actions and sensitization campaigns about protection of the environment. Much more focus has been given to women s empowerment and involvement in decision making and these efforts aim at encouraging women to contribute to the development of their communities. The lessons and the discussions in the clubs has created an reduction in gender discrimination, and it has provided leadership and self-esteem to some of the women. 8

10 THE ANNEXES ANNEX 1: THE RESULTS IN NUMBERS Indicators Number of lessons given to the farmers on environment Number of trained farmers on conservation and processing of the crops and on organic compost 2016 Planned results 2016 achieved results Difference Number of visit to the cooperatives Number of Processing units installed 2 0 Open day organized Number of committee members trained Nurseries established Number of farmers active in total Number of active sales committees Farmers apply new farming techniques Families reached with cross cutting topics Number of fruit and acacia tree planted Comments They were all installed in 2015 The 5 remaining clubs are still organizing themselves 9

11 ANNEX 2: THE TESTIMONIES, RECOMMENDATIONS Testimony from Mr. Pyra Manitu November 26th, 2016 PYRA MANITU is the president of the Club Simba Zola. I am very grateful to HPP-Congo for the news agricultural techniques I have acquired and practiced with the support of the Farming Instructor. These techniques really helped to improve the production of my crops mainly the vegetables. As a result of the increase of the production, I have managed to pay the school fees of my 4 children without any problem. 10

12 Londe Kavuaya, November 23rd, 2016 Testimony Mr. Lula Diko Suza I am a farmer from the Club Zola. I have managed to buy iron roof sheets to cover my house thanks to the production of vegetable I did using the improved techniques we were taught by the project. I have also paid school fees and bought school manuals and books from the same harvest. We are appealing for a 3 to 5 years project extention from the donor. 11

13 Testimony from Mr. Mukilango Malu October 5th, 2016 I belong to the Club called LUTONDO. I am a tomato producer and during the year 2016, I have sold tomatoes for than 100 USD from my garden. The income generated has allowed me to solve family problems such as school fees and medical treatment. My wish is to see the project extended for 5 more years. 12

14 ANNEX 3: THE PRODUCED MATERIALS Madimba Farmers Club Madimba Vegetable Garden Support Project Theme: Catch up courses in the clubs Date:. Attendance register No. - Names and surname - Gender - signature 13

15 Madimba farmers' club Project Attendance list at the Quarterly Meeting of Club Committee Members Date:. No - Names and surname - Capacity - Gender - Signature 14

16 ANNEX 4: PHOTOS FROM THE PROJECT 15

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