FARMERS CLUBS MADIMBA

Transcription

1 FARMERS CLUBS MADIMBA U-LANDSHJELP FRA FOLK TIL FOLK NORGE Report January-December 2014 Humana People to People Congo (HPP-CONGO)

2 CONTENT The project at a glance Presentation of the idea and the content of the project The project achievements January December 2014 Effects of Project Activities The project in numbers Conclusion Documentation materials 2

3 The project at a glance 1 Name of project Farmers clubs Madimba 2 Geographical Operation Area Madimba territory in Bas-Congo province 3 Project Leader Priscilah Chigariro 4 Address N 3.10 rue Q, Laula Gare Kisantu 4 Telephone Skype pchiga1 pchigariro@gmail.com To increase food security and to reduce poverty of 1000subsistence farmers and their families in Madimba territory in Bas Congo province. 5 6 The Idea of the project and the people it reaches The People at the Project People around Madimba live from agriculture. Madimba is 120 km from Kinshasa and has possibility to produce large quantity of food for people in Kinshasa. However, many farmers cannot use the opportunity, because they are poor and lack agricultural skills, tools and transportation system. Farmers Clubs Madimba envisages a greater coverage of the area through reaching more farmers in The villages covered are Kingombe, Kibangu, Kinzau and Kifua 1 Unit Leader Priscilla taking the leadership in the project. 4 Project Leaders are responsible for the overall implementation of the project activities. Each project leader is in charge of 250 farmers organized in 5clubs of 50 farmers. Each club is headed by the club committee who works in collaboration with the project leaders. 20 Farmers Clubs committees responsible for assisting the 4 club leaders in the management of club activities. 20 sales committees responsible for the clubs common purchases (tools, seeds) and sales (transport, markets, negotiation, sales 3

4 7 The history in brief Humana People to People Congo (HPP-Congo) in partnership with Stichting Humana started the Farmer s Clubs program in the Bas Congo province of DRC in October It the beginning, it seemed to be difficult to mobilize enough farmers and to convince the farmers that they had to participate in the lessons. This has changed, however, and in mid 2013, the project leaders decided increase the number to 1000 farmers because of the interest to participate in the program. In October 2013, HPP-Congo received funding to start a tree planting campaign in Farmers Clubs Madimba with the goal to plant 125 hectares of acacia trees. This campaign will continue into HPP-Congo will organize the farmers in a 3 years Farmers Clubs program. Presentation of the idea and the content of the project The Farmers Clubs Program has been designed by the Humana People to People Movement to provide a program to increase food production, and to engage poor rural families in improving their livelihood. The Farmers Clubs program in DR Congo will meet the agricultural objectives of the Government to reduce poverty in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals The project will empower the farmers to become active and contribute efficiently to the development of their communities. It is the aim of the Farmers Club project to assure food security in farmers households by improving their production and to significantly increase their incomes with the organization of sales committees and co-operatives. This will be achieved by practicing sustainable agricultural farming methods. The project is in the third year and all the 1000 farmers has been organized in to 20 clubs of 50 farmers per club being lead by 5 committee members in each club. Each committee member leads 9 other clubs members in different actions such as weeding the crops together. The farmers receive lessons every week in theoretical and practical basics. The club leaders are having different training on how best they can lead the clubs, they meet every month for evaluation meeting where they share challenges and find solutions at their level. 4

5 The farmer Instructors and the project leaders are continuing having the individual home and field visits to access health and hygiene and to access the practical work done in the field on the new methods of farming. Thereby the farmers are mobilized to participate in all the actions on health and hygiene like cleaning the house, cutting the grass around the homes, toilet construction, having hand washing system and rubbish pits. In the field, the farmer instructors and project leaders make follow ups on the practice of the new methods of farming which includes sowing in lines, spacing, crop rotation, using the certified seeds, minimum tillage, stop slash and burning system, mulching and many more. Seed multipliers have to be trained that they produce good quality seed which will be used by the other farmers to increase their production. The literacy program will continue letting all the farmers to be able to read and write that will make the possibility of all the farmers register their production to access profit and loss. On the other hand, the committees for buying and selling will receive knowledge on how best they can get the best markets. The Project leaders and the farmer Instructors will continue training the committees to look for the markets. Objectives: 1. Introduce new activities to increase production 2. Teach sustainable agricultural techniques to 1000 farmers 3. Improve family health to render the family more productive, secure a better economy and a better life The project achievements January December Result 1: 1000 farmers are increasing their production and varieties The project has 20 operational clubs. 20 demonstration fields are in operation with cassava, maize, soya, cowpeas and groundnuts being grown in season A and only cassava in season B. 934 are farmers actually in the program. The project organized 1 training session on good governance with the different local authorities with aim empowering the local leaders on their responsibilities and implication in the development of their community. 47 local leaders participated in the training that was organized for 53 local leaders. 2 field days were organized and 600 farmers participated together with 40 invited guests. The theme was conservation farming and farmers were explaining what they have learnt and the importance of conservation farming. A training session on gender balance was organized for the committee 93 out of 100 participated with 41 local leaders. 472 farmers were attending literacy classes, and 376 of them wrote the tests and received certificates. 5

6 51 staff meetings where organized to assess activities and search for strategies to overcome the difficulties encountered in the fields. The difficulties are related to practicing the techniques learnt during the training sessions in the demo fields. Some techniques are not yet being applied in individual fields like following lines of plants, distance between plants and crop rotation. 3 Farmers club council were organized for the staff to plan and strategize on how best the project can produce best results and reach the goals. Project leaders attended a week long workshop that was organized by the botanical garden of Kisantu. This workshop was capacitating the project leaders on how to plant fruit trees and graft them to produce fruits within a year and also on bee keeping. The information was passed to farmers in the demonstration fields. 72 farmers attended the training on commercialization and 20 committees were formed for buying and selling in common. 73 committee members and 18 local leaders attended the meeting together with the District administrator on how the project is going to hand over to the community and who will be in charge of the activities. 4 cooperatives were formed in the four villages and were legalized Result 2: 1000 farmers in clubs have received lessons and training on new agricultural techniques The farmers have learnt all the 6 techniques. Since the beginning of this year, farmers have benefited from a systematic assistance on how to apply the 6 agricultural techniques they learnt during weekly meetings. The 3 techniques are minimum tillage, crop rotation and planting on line with the right spacing. Farmers have learnt the techniques in the first year and they are continuing to use them. Farmers are successfully implementing all the 6 techniques in their own farms. 76 farmers were trained on seed multiplication which will help them produce their own seeds of different varieties. The farmers will be able to get more seeds at an affordable price and also produce for their community and increase their produce. 150 farmers have received new improved varieties of cassava that they will plant together with acacia. All the 1+9 have received 5 small packets of seeds that the project got from partnership with Baker Creek Heirloom seed company. These are vegetable seeds and will be grown in the 1+9 gardens. 20 demo plots received each 5 different varieties of vegetables. Result 3: Improved health and environment 2 health campaigns were organized together with local clinics and 839 reached. 240 actions were organized by project leaders once every month in the villages. Farmers were participating in these actions for the improvement of their health and hygiene. 722 tip taps were installed at homesteads, 717 latrines were constructed as well. 880 families have knowledge on 1 or more methods of conserving water as well as purifying with moringa. 517 households have rubbish pits dug at their homesteads and keep the yard clean 6

7 The project organized 4 cooking demonstrations on how to prepare the locally available ingredients that can help to boost the immune system. 816 people participated in all the demonstrations. The farmers were also taught how to prepare different dishes with Moringa products. 536 households have standard gardens of more than 5 varieties of vegetables. 2 school clubs were formed and they received garden tools and 5 varieties of seeds. Production s estimation of 100 farmers either 10%. Varieties Baseline survey results After baseline survey Cassava 1.5tn/Ha 7Tn/H 366% Niebe 0.463T/H 0.915Tn/H 98% Maize 0.45T/H 0.51Tn/H 13% Soja 0.3T/H 0.4Tn/H 33% % Comments The effects of the project implementation The Farmers did very well in producing cassava which is their main crop and this came as a result of following the six techniques The farmers did very well and are happy with their production The farmers are still adapting to the crop since most of them did not grow it: Soya was not grown by many so they are adapting slowly. About 934 farmers are in the project, 876 are active farmers and participating in the project The farmers have knowledge on the global warming and have started to plant trees to replace the forests that were cut down for the preparation of charcoal. 150 farmers are doing agro forestry and have planted acacia and cassava mixed. The farmers are also practicing conservation farming to protect their land and produce more cooperatives were formed and legalized Many households of farmers improved their hygienic conditions and sanitation. The farmers used to go in the bush and now they have latrines even though they are not hygienic but they have something that helps them keep the place safe. They now have tip taps that helps them prevent the diseases by washing their hands. The farmers now have knowledge on how to purify water and conserve it. Through the environmental and health campaigns organized by the project in collaboration with the department of health, many families have learned about how they can be protected against malaria, cholera, typhoid, etc. improving the hygienic conditions. 536 households have standard gardens of more than 5 varieties of vegetables and this helps the farmers to prepare a balanced diet for the family. 7

8 The production records have gone up and farmers have harvested more than before making them to have more food for the family and a surplus to sell 20 committees were formed for commercialization and have started buying and selling in common which helps farmers to save a lot of money than if they were buying each person thus increasing the farmers economy 20 Farmers have increased their wealth for they received a goat each for pass on loan, when it reproduces then they give the offspring to the next person according to their agreement School children who are living at the school now benefit from the vegetables that they grow in their own garden and those that go to their parents will also boost the family nutrition and all they gain knowledge on how to practice farming and help them even if they will not be employed anywhere but will make use of the land. THE PROJECT IN NUMBERS Description Number of employees and volunteers Plan Annual Achieved Annual 6 7 Number of volunteers 2 4 Result 1: 1000 farmers are increasing their production and varieties Number of farmers receiving improved seeds (cassava) from the project Number of farmers receiving the farming tools Number of lessons on the use of compost manure (20 lessons per club per year) Number of gardens established Number of farmers who grow vegetables Number of cooking demonstrations per year (5 per club) Hoes, etc Comments This is the number of staff executing all the project activities together with the farmers Have had 2 development Instructors and 2 local volunteers who helped in with the duties of Farm Instructors Received cutting of cassava to planted it mixed with acacia specifically for agro forestry and these were the farmers that agreed with their land to plant cassava and acacia 1 lesson was conducted in each club followed by 100 done in 1+9 for practical on individual plots The farmers have standard gardens with more than 5 varieties of vegetable All farmers in the area they grow vegetables Each club received 1 demonstration in every 3 months. They have helped a lot in boosting the health of the farmers. 8

9 Number of people reached the cooking demonstration This is the no of people who participated in the cooking demonstrations. There was no budget for this activity for it requires financial support Number of rope pumps 20 0 construct (1 per club) Number of irrigation There was no budget for this activity systems during the rainy 20 0 for it requires financial support season (1 system per club) Number of sales The committees were trained and are in committees established operation Result 2: 1000 farmers in clubs have received lessons and training on new agricultural techniques The number of lessons given to farmers Number of lessons on farm for this year and how to manage their techniques small scale farming and produce surplus Number of farming techniques Number of farmers in lessons Number of training sessions of club committees Result 3: Improved health and environment Number of campaigns organized 2 2 Number of household reached with campaigns Number of lessons on health and hygiene organized number of seedlings distributed (moringa) Number of nurseries established by each club Number of lessons per club about protection of the environment The techniques that improve the soil structure and improve the yields Each week a project leader reaches either 150 farmers or100 farmers. There are four weeks in a month and two weeks is for two lessons and two weeks for three lessons. Each lesson with a goal of 50 farmers. Club committees were trained once in a month These were campaigns organized together with the local clinics This is the no of households reached during the campaign Each club had 4 different lessons on health and hygiene The trees were distributed to individual farmers who planted them in gardens or homesteads Each club established a nursery and several individuals had their own individual nurseries Each club had 3 lessons about the environmental protection Number of household with The smart hand washing technique that 9

10 tippy tap Number of sanitation and hygiene actions Number of household with good water conservation methods at home Number of farmers with hygienic latrines Number of farmers with dug rubbish pits in their concession and in use CONCLUSION you wash your hands without holding the container of water and only clean water. These are actions organized by project leaders once every month by each of them per club The farmers have knowledge and use one or more methods of conserving water for drinking as well as purifying with moringa This is the no of households with latrines built of local material. This is the no of households that have rubbish pits at their homesteads The project started this year with 934 farmers and is organized in 20 clubs. The clubs are in 4 villages and in the process of learning and implementing new farming techniques through using 20 demonstrations fields established for this purpose. Looking at the result accomplished this year 2014 for the conclusion, the project is moving forward with more people joining the agro forestry and some improvement taking place in the life of participating farmers. The project will continue to build on those achievements, so that the living conditions of farmers will be improved. The strategies have been put in place to accomplish the goals Farmers were trained on commercialization and have started buying and selling in common, this helps to boost their produce and also get reduction of price. Several activities have been carried out with the farmers and the community that participates actively in the lessons and the actions organized in their community so that farmers can increase their production for commercialization and family economy. The farmers have also improved their yields compared to the baseline. The final year of the project has started and the handover process is taking place. 10

11 A farmer weighing their harvest of casava Unit Leader harvesting Cow peas with the farmer

12 Project leaders attended a workshop for beekeeping The project has finalized the first group of literacy training.

13 Farmers in a cooking demonstration to learn how to improving nutrition The farmer is explaining about agroforestry to visitors

14 Farmers Clubs Madimba / Jan - Dec 2014 Report Recommendations & Testimonies Object: Recommendations I hereby Mr. Lumbu Félicien, Kibangu Village Chief in Ngeba sector, Province of Bas-Congo testifies by this action and activities of HPP-Congo through its community project Farmers clubs Madimba, a program that helps us improve our living conditions through the application of hygiene and environmental sanitation which is our living environment. Considering all these actions, we recommend HPP- Congo to continue its sanitation activities of our sources of water for the benefit of our village and the surrounding villages. Lumbu Félicien Village Chief 12

15 Farmers Clubs Madimba / Jan - Dec 2014 Report Recommendations & Testimonies Kauwaya Institute Kauwaya, 28/11/14 Madimba Territory Kauwaya Village Since this is an achievement for our future leaders of tomorrow and especially for their lives and the lives of the entire community. Object: Recommendations To HPP-Congo Siege Kisantu Inkisi / Bas-Congo To HPP-Congo, The Kauwaya Institute, through his school field, is considering the continuity of student support activities in the practice of the new agricultural technique for which the school benefit from HPP- Congo. Sincerely in the Lord. The Prefect of studies Mayungasa Kaba 13

16 Farmers Clubs Madimba / Jan - Dec 2014 Report Recommendations & Testimonies Testimony letter I, Mr. Fabien YANGA, would like to express my vis-à-vis gratitude to HPP-Congo for his program he brought us to the village. Especially the awareness campaigns it organizes in order to maintain clean and healthy environment, prevent diseases linked to unhealthy. This could awaken the memory of the peasants to stay always healthy. Done at Madimba, YANGA KIKUFI Fabien 14

17 Farmers Clubs Madimba / Jan - Dec 2014 Report Recommendations & Testimonies Testimony letter I, Mr. Alphonse LUTA, would like to express my gratitude for the literacy program that HPP-Congo brought in our villages, since this program has enabled villagers to read, write and calculate. With great conviction, I ask that we can continue with this momentum. LUTA Alphonse 15