QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT (from 1 April to 30 June 2017)

Transcription

1 Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries of the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste India, Brazil and South Africa Fund Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations Conservation Agriculture, Permaculture and Sustainable Fisheries Management: Enhancing Food and Nutrition Security and Reducing Disaster Risk in Timor- Leste (UNFA/TIM/007/UND) QUARTERLY PROGRESS REPORT (from 1 April to 30 June 2017) July 2017 Dili, Timor-Leste 1/18

2 PROJECT INFORMATION PROJECT TITLE: Conservation Agriculture, Permaculture and Sustainable Fisheries Management: Enhancing Food and Nutrition Security and Reducing Disaster Risk in Timor-Leste PROJECT SYMBOL: UNFA/TIM/007/UND Recipient Country: Timor-Leste Resource Partner: India, Brazil and South Africa Fund Government Counterpart: Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries Starting Date: 14 August 2015 End Date: 13 August 2018 Total Budget USD 1,428,772 2/18

3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PROJECT INFORMATION 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 1. SUMMARY OF PROGRESS 4 2. QUARTERLY PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS 5 ANNEXES Annex I. Photographs (January - March 2017) 13 3/18

4 1. SUMMARY OF PROGRESS FAO Timor-Leste got all clearances from FAO HQ to go ahead with the bidding process to construct the permaculture center in Atauro Island. FAO announced in a local newspaper the bidding process for local construction companies and the closing date will be on 25 July After selecting the company, FAO will issue a contract to the selected company to construct the center. Also under output three, Naterra continued coordinating with local communities in Atauro and implementing the horticulture and agroforestry area of the permaculture center and trained community members on practical permaculture activities. Naterra also established two school gardens in two primary schools including the water system and horticulture area. Under the output four, Conservation International (CI) continued providing training sessions to women and men fisherfolks from coastal communities in the Nino Konis Santana National Park in Lautem Municipality on sustainable fisheries management and conservation of marine protected areas. FAO continued improving the enabling environment for the development of sustainable farming practices by supporting the revision of the Timor-Leste Government s Agriculture Policy and advocating for the inclusion of a more climate-resilient farming approach and technologies. Also, FAO supported the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) to start the discussions on the potential inclusion of Conservation Agriculture (CA) in the MAF s Technical Agriculture Schools. 4/18

5 2. QUARTERLY PROJECT ACHIEVEMENTS Project title: Conservation Agriculture, Permaculture and Sustainable Fisheries Management: Enhancing Food and Nutrition Security and Reducing Disaster Risk in Timor-Leste. Project partners: FAO, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Conservation International, NATERRA Reporting Period: 1 April- 30 June 2017 # EXPECTED PROJECT OUTPUTS AND INDICATORS INCLUDING ANNUAL TARGETS 1 Output 1: Effective and sustainable conservation agriculture technologies and practices are adopted and practiced by resource-poor smallholder men and women farmers through community-based participatory extension approaches. Indicators: - CA techniques tested, validated, replicated and upscaled - Farm labour inputs - Crop productivity - FFSs implemented and monitored - MAF subject matter specialists and extension workers - Project and communitybased FFS Facilitators PLANNED ACTIVITIES -Activity 1.1. Suco Baseline Surveys and Farmer Group Selection -Activity 1.2. FFS Programme Design -Activity 1.3. Training of Trainers and FFS Facilitators -Activity 1.4. Adaptive Research -Activity 1.5. Replication and Upscaling through FFSs -Activity 1.6. Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting of Conservation Agriculture EXPENDITURES (IN US$) 9,000 7,000 23,000 65,000 85,000 10,000 RESULTS OF ACTIVITIES A1.1: Conducted in previous quarters A1.2: FFS programme design was conducted in quarter 4 of A1.3: Trainings to MAF and FAO field staff were conducted in previous quarters. 1.4: Adaptive research was conducted during the last cropping season (explained in last quarter report). The adaptive research on CA will continue in the next season (October 2017-March 2018). 1.5: FAO coordinated with Atauro and Lautem authorities and MAF staff the plans to mobilise 10 new farmers groups to test and adopt CA in their farms in Atauro Island (Dili PROGRESS TOWARDS ACHIEVING OUTPUTS Most of the 648 small-scale farmers from two targeted municipalities (Lautem and Dili) who tested CA technologies during last cropping season observed its benefits. Most of them reported that if soil was covered properly with organic mulch (a key principle in CA) they observed better yields in the CA areas. These successful farmers are encouraging neighbors with their good results to test also CA in their farms. The good working engagement and coordination created between MAF and FAO field staff increased the amount of farmers who received close technical advice on CA. The main constraint to adopt CA in large areas in Lautem is the free grazing of livestock practices that are the norm in most villages in Lautem Municipality. To address this issue, FAO procured tree sticks to be planted during the 5/18

6 Targets at the end of project*: - 1,050 smallholder farmers adopting & practicing two or more of ten CA technologies practices promoted through implementation of 42 FFSs & one experimental site - 25% reduction in farm labour required for maize production within one year - 25% increase in maize yields within three years - 30 SMSs & master trainers able to train FFS Facilitators & technically support FFSs - 20 SEWs and FFS Facilitators able to guide FFSs & demonstrate CA practices Municipality) and Lautem Municipality. After the approval from local authorities, FAO and MAF mobilized two farmers groups in Atauro and the rest of the groups will be mobilized in the next quarter. Also, FAO field staff continued providing technical assistance to the members of all farmers groups mobilized in previous years to enhance their knowledge on CA and plan CA practices for the following coming cropping season. 1.6: FAO staff monitored each farmer group to assess the level of understanding and adoption of CA practices. Information from the monitoring visits was included in the quarterly report. cropping season to create a live fencing which in this quarter has grown and will be ready to protect some of the farms in the next cropping season. 6/18

7 2 Output 2: Improved enabling environment for the development of districtlevel land management strategies, in particularly for the sustainable adoption of conservation agriculture techniques. Indicators: - Benefits of CA to Timor- Leste (i.e. food & nutrition security, CCA, DRR, etc.) - Land management policy makers - Local land management strategies Targets at the end of project*: - Support to the national CA network sustained - Partnerships developed with CA agencies in Brazil, China & India, and sustained - 10 local authority policy makers able to develop sustainable land management strategies - 30 relevant teachers & students aware of CA and capable of up-grading land management curricula - Brochures, leaflets, videos, manuals & other training materials & technical reports prepared, published & disseminated Activity 2.1. National Conservation Agriculture Network Activity 2.2. Linkages with Internationally Recognised Conservation Agriculture Institutes of Brazil, China and India Activity 2.3. Policy Development in Local Land Management Activity 2.4. Awareness Creation at Local Agricultural Schools Activity 2.5. Production of Conservation Agriculture Training and Promotional Materials Activity 2.6. Monitoring and Evaluation 6,000 2,000 5,000 19,000 7,000 10, : FAO continued providing information and guidance to some of the members of the National CA Network that are starting to test CA practices with their own beneficiaries. MAF, ADRA and World Neighbors were the members more active in requesting and sharing information on CA this quarter. 2.2: This activity was not conducted during this quarter. 2.3: FAO supported MAF in reviewing the agriculture policy for Timor-Leste. FAO facilitated the discussions between MAF and development partners to review and upgrade the agriculture policy, which the proposed draft, include a more resilient approach regarding land management and cropping systems. The agriculture policy will be finalized the next quarter. 2.4: FAO provided two-days training session to four teachers and Director from the Agriculture Technical School of Fuiloro (together with other teachers from other schools supported by other projects) FAO contributed to improve the enabling environment for the sustainable adoption of CA through the revision of the agriculture policy and the inclusion of more climate-resilient approaches such as CA/Climate Smart Agriculture technologies (CSA). The awareness campaigns and discussion with development partners and MAF staff during CA network meetings, field visit and conferences, contributed to support the idea that climate-resilient approaches can be implemented through proven CA/CSA technologies in Timor-Leste. 7/18

8 The training sessions included discussion about the potential inclusion of the Agriculture Technical Schools to include CA in their curricula. 2.5: Conducted in Q : The FAO M&E Officer monitored the progress of activities and gathered field data from field staff, extension workers and farmers. 8/18

9 3 Output 3: Effective and sustainable permaculture techniques are adopted and practiced by resource-poor farm families through ESD approaches and participatory action research methodologies Indicators: MAF/SMSs and SEWs - NGO social mobilisers and technicians - Community leaders - School teachers and students - Permaculture demonstration centre - School gardens and waterharvesting and supply facilities - Agro-food processing centre & women s groups Targets at the end of project*: - Permaculture demonstration centre established & functioning (benefiting 500 local farm families, 2,100 students) - 15 school gardens & water-harvesting structures established & functioning (benefiting 960 teachers & students) Activity 3.1. Develop a Permaculture Demonstration Centre for Atauro Island Activity 3.2. Establish School Gardens and Rainwater Harvesting and Water Storage Facilities Activity 3.3. Build the Capacity of a Womenfocused Agro-food Processing Centre on Atauro Island 28,000 20,000 4, : The drawings, technical specification and the bill of quantities for the construction of the permaculture center were technically cleared y FAO HQ. FAO HQ also grated an Adhoc re-delegation of authority to the FAO Timor-Leste office to conduct a bidding process for the construction of the permaculture center. The bidding was announced in the local newspaper and the closing date will be on 25 July. Naterra Designed the agroforestry and animal zone in the permaculture center area and organized the Atacru community to conduct on the job training activities. Raised beds, nurseries, compost area were established and horticulture crops are being produced. 3.2: Naterra set up two school gardens in Atacru and Maker primary schools with roof collection water system and storage in metallic tanks. Students and teachers have participated actively in the preparation of the garden area, setting up the raised beds and the horticulture nurseries. 66 small-scale farmers have been trained on permaculture techniques and are implementing them in the agro-forestry area of the permaculture center. Some families started also implemented some of the permaculture techniques in their own horticulture gardens near their houses. All community members in Atacru and students and teachers of Atacru and Maker primary schools participated actively in permaculture activities and enhanced their knowledge on sustainable food production. 9/18

10 - Agro-food processing centre established & functioning (benefiting 175 women farmers) - 50 MAF & NGO staff & community leaders trained in permaculture techniques 3.3: FAO started the procurement process of the food processing equipment that will be transferred to Naterra to train women groups on agrofood processing techniques. Naterra identified three women groups and is organizing them to start the first training sessions. 10/18

11 4 Output 4: Sustainable increase in the reliability of fish stocks for coastal communities through integrated models for the community-based comanagement of coastal and marine resources Indicators: - Government officials and MAF/SMSs and SEWs - NGO social mobilisers and technicians - Community leaders Activity 4.1. Train Government officials and Community Leaders Activity 4.2. Train Local Fisherfolk Activity 4.3. Monitoring of Marine and Coastal Ecosystems Activity 4.4. Linkages to International Best Practice 18,000 32,000 38,000 3, : This activity has been postponed to the third quarter of : CI postponed this activity to the next quarter as the sea conditions have not been optimal for sea related training. 4.3: A training sessions were carried out at Com with 22 (168 since the beginning of the project) men and women fisherfolk on sustainable fisheries management; conservation and marine protected areas, including the life cycle and reproduction stages of some important reef fish; and reef health monitoring by using Coral watch indicator The training activities and the awareness created with the creation of the protected areas (no-take zones) in previous quarters has contributed to the sustainable increase of the reliability of fish stocks for coastal communities of the Nino Konis Santana National Park in Lautem Municipality. Goverment officials also are more aware of the value of a diversified marine natural resources and the importance to protect specific areas and regulate adequately the fisheries activities. 11/18

12 - Men and women artisan fisherfolk - Sustainable fisheries management strategies Targets at the end of project*: - 50 government officials & community leaders trained in sustainable fisheries management men & women artisan fisherfolk trained in integrated fisheries management technologies and practices - Local co-management strategies for sustainable natural resources are adopted by stakeholders - Partnerships developed with sustainable fisheries agencies in Brazil & South Africa 4.4: CI worked with the Timor- Leste Government Officials who participated in the UN Oceans Conference in New York in June 2017 to develop the voluntary commitments for Timor-Leste. These commitments included two fisheries related commitments of 1. Reviewing the current fishing licensing framework and improving the framework and regulations based on fish stock limits and species (currently licenses are issued per tonnage not by catch limits), and 2. Complete research into the commercial fisheries. Total : *The project design has not annual targets. Report prepared by: Ruben Flamarique Urdín, Project Team Leader, FAO Timor-Leste Cross-checked by: Hang Pham, Senior Resilience Officer, FAO, RAP 12/18

13 Annex I: Photographs (January - March 2017) Atacru school students implementing the Agro-forestry area of the permaculture center Community members pracitcing permaculture techniques school garden in Atauro island CI. Example of the coral training sheet used in CI. CI Field Assistant practicing software use based on Legume cover crops covering the crop land in the training sessions a fish ID chart dry season in Lautem 13/18