2021
MCODE
BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT
Mission for Community Development (MCODE) is a Non-Profit organization that has been in operation since 2008, with the core objective of supporting and improving the livelihoods of vulnerable communities in the rural areas of Uganda. MCODE works for improved development of disadvantaged and disconnected grassroots communities most especially in the areas of orphans, other vulnerable children (OVCs) and women and girls in the rural areas. MCODE supports formal education, health promotion, access to clean energy and water, HIV prevention, care and support, Income Generation, hygiene & sanitation and Organic Agricultural Vocational skills training. This is all done to help these vulnerable communities come out of poverty and attain livelihoods in line with the UN Sustainable development goals.
Mission
MCODE’s mission is to “empower needy community individuals to improve their lives and promote community driven development.” MCODE strives to attain this goal through, life changing agricultural and other vocational skills for youths and rural women, building resilience in access to clean energy and water for resource poor communities, supporting needy children to attain formal education and raising awareness among the community members on health, social and economic issues.
The problem
Many households in the rural areas still experience disease outbreaks resulting from lack of access to safe, clean drinking water. In 2013, there was a high incidence of water bone diseases among the rural households in Buikwe district. By the beginning of 2014, MCODE started a sensitisation campaign among communities in the district to boil water before drinking as a way of killing microbes in the water and curtail the transmission of water borne diseases. By the end of 2015, 70% of the target community in Buikwe were boiling water before drinking, and this had brought down the incidence of water borne diseases among the community by 65%. However, the increasing scarcity of firewood and charcoal needed for boiling water has been highlighted by the community as a big challenge that threatens not only the adoption speed of the practice of boiling water before drinking, but it also threatens the re-emergence of an outbreak of water borne diseases among the women and other low-income households in the areas of Buikwe district where MCODE is implementing community development projects supported by Trolltech.
During focus group discussions carried out with the women in the various groups in 2020 and early 2021, the women highlighted the increasing problem of lack of firewood and charcoal for domestic cooking of food and boiling of water for drinking and other uses, to the extent that some households are using grass, and dried papyrus roots for cooking or boiling of water. The forests where they used to collect firewood from, are all no more, and it was almost becoming impossible for some households to cook food or boil water for drinking, due to lack of charcoal or firewood as fuel.
It was against this background that MCODE submitted a project proposal and received financial support from the Trolltech foundation, for support towards improving access to safe drinking water by introducing biosand water filter technology among women and low-income households in Buikwe district. Through this project, MCODE hoped to introduce clean/sustainable energy solutions to this rural community as a strategy in addressing the current energy pressures/challenges and replace them with more sustainable and clean energy sources.
The main aim of the project was to to address the energy challenge of boiling water for drinking in order to prevent the escalation of water borne diseases in the community through the introduction of the Biosand Water filter technology for purifying water for drinking and all other domestic uses.
The expected results of implementing the project included;
1. 1000 women headed and other low-income households are using the Bio-sand water filter for the purification of water for their domestic needs, and spread their knowledge to other women and community members.
2. 1000 women headed and or low-income households gain knowledge and are able to produce and use Biosand water filters
3. Less women and children get sick from drinking contaminated water and exposure to indoor air pollution from dangerous gases during boiling water with firewood.
IMPLEMENTED ACTIVITIES
1- Sensitisation and mobilisation of 1000 Beneficiaries, in groups of 10, making 100 groups in total.
In the period February to may 2022, MCODE mobilised a total of 1,006 women from the villages of Kikooli, Lweru, Nantwala, Ajiija, Vuluga, Kazansaya, Buleega, and Buikwe in Najja subcounty and Buikwe town council, and recruited them to benefit from the bio sand filter project. The process of mobilisation was carried out in collaboration with local council leaders through area councillors that represent the respective villages at the subcounty and town councils respectively. Priority of selection was based on targeting the most disadvantaged women, and those with higher risk to water bone diseases, especially those far away from safe drinking water, or those with very limited on highly constrained access to firewood for boiling water for drinking and other domestic uses.
The mobilised women were then divided into small groups of 10 women each group, to facilitate skilling them in the construction and use of the Bio sand filters. A total of 101 groups were created from the mobilised beneficiaries
2- Construction and training on use of Biosand water filters. Includes hiring of masonries to construct and train beneficiaries on use of the biosand water filters
MCODE organised and contracted expert facilitators in the construction of Bio sand water filters, the construction process began with the fabrication of moulds, that were in turn used to build the Bio sand filters. The construction phase began in the first week of June and was completed by 15th November 2022. Only final polishing and painting of the 1,010 constructed Bio sand filters was being finalised at the time of compiling this report.
The construction of the Bio sand filters was concurrently carried out with the skilling of the Beneficiaries in the process of making Bio sand filters. The objective was to equip the beneficiaries with skills of constructing bio sand filters, such that at the end of this project, the beneficiaries can continue building their own Bio sand filters from local materials for use, or they could still take it up as an additional commercial activity to diversify household income streams.
A total of 1,006 beneficiaries participated in the training sessions, conducted in groups of 10 beneficiaries during the construction phase, and were equipped with practical skills and insights in the manufacture and use of bio sand filters. 101 groups in total were trained and skilled in bio sand water filter construction.
3- Distribution of the Biosand water filters to the selected 1000 beneficiaries.
The remaining activity of distribution of the constructed Bio sand filters is planned to be implemented in the first three weeks of December 2022, to coincide with the beginning of the festive period. All construction, curing and painting of the biosand filters, has now been completed and distribution will be undertaken from 1st December 2022 and completed before Christmas.
The beneficiaries and excited about this innovation, and the skills they have gained during the entire process of this project. They are all looking forward to receive their completed Bio sand filters and start using them for their domestic needs.
CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of this project supported by Trolltech foundation has brought a lot of excitement and hope to women and vulnerable households in Buikwe district. The increasing energy challenges affecting rural population in Uganda is going up , especially given the fact that most forests where they were getting wood fuel have been destroyed. The Bio sand filter helps the women to disinfect their water for all domestic needs, without the need for energy to boil water, and hence provides a more sustainable solution to the poor households in the rural district of Buikwe.
MCODE is grateful to the Trolltech foundation for this visionary and crucial support that has provided hope and firm background for these rural women, it’s the prayer of MCODE, that Trolltech and other donors help the initiative with additional funding to scale up this useful technology to cover all rural households in Buikwe and other districts in rural Uganda.
Nashulai
1.0 Background of Nashulai Conservancy
Nashulai Maasai Conservancy is located in the Maasai Mara region of Kenya and it means “holistic, traditional land use model”, which has created a mixed-model conservation system. It was officially registered as a not for profit community based organization (CBO) under the Kenyan Government in March 2016. The Conservancy consists of 64 members who came together under the leadership of Nelson Ole Reiyia to lease to the conservancy a total of 5,000 acres of land for a period of 10 years. The combined land parcels forms a critical corridor of wildlife as it, links conservancies in the northern side of Sekenani Centre with the Maasai Mara National Game Reserve (In Narok County – Kenya). The formation of this conservancy has helped stop human encroachment on the Maasai Mara Game Reserve by creating a buffer zone, which discourages subdivision, and fencing off parcels of land, which would have affected parts of the migratory corridor. The conservancy is implementing a people driven process for managed settlement, eradicating fences, grazing, cultural preservation and restoring degraded environment with the help of the community. This plan encourages greater migration of wildlife through the crucial corridor of the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem. The Vision of Nashulai Conservancy remains: To conserve wildlife, preserve culture and reverse poverty.
1.1 Introduction
Nashulai Cultural Training Centre is a brainchild of Nashulai Maasai Conservancy and was originally established as Mara Learning development centre in 2015 with funding from Trolltech Foundation in Norway. Since then it has grown to be a major college in the region that provides courses such as Fundamentals of Wildlife and Conservation, Indigenous Knowledge, Culinary Arts, Front Office Operations and Administration, Housekeeping and Accommodation Services, Tour Guiding and Travel Operations. Other additional programs are: ICT – Computer Studies, Communication Skills and French as a Foreign Language. The main mission of the college is to help young Maasai boys and girls to gain skills in the hospitality industry with the aim of being employed in the many camps and lodges in the Maasai Mara. Coupled with this is the preservation of environment and wildlife and culture. This would eventually create a generation of empowered youth who can change the fortunes of their communities.
2.0 Objectives of the Final Report
1) To give a report of the completed new hostels
2) To give a report of the completed new dining hall
3) To give a report on the cultural centre (Netti Hapa)
4) To give a report on the completed water system
3.0 A report on the completed new hostels
The construction started in March 2021 and was completed by the end February 2022. It is important to note that the cost of constructing the hostels was higher than initially projected. Initially it was estimated that the construction would cost USD 75,000 but ended costing USD 115,000
This was caused by the inflation that increased the cost of materials (largely caused by the effects of COVID 19 on the economy). Transportation costs have more than doubled while essential items like cement; sand, hard core and timber have all gone up. However eventually the hostels were completed and now are occupied by our college students. The hostels are able to accommodate 80 males and 80 female students. Eventually total cost of the hostels was USD 115,000
4.0 A report on the completed dining hall and kitchen
The construction of the hostels and the dining hall will enable Nashulai to admit over 100 students at any one time and this will create income that in future will support the growth of Nashulai Conservancy. Accompanying this will be a fully equipped kitchen. With improved facilities we intend to increase the packages we offer to the community at large such as wedding receptions and seminars. We intend to encourage exchange programs with international students and when possible offer the facilities for budget tourists. The cost of the new dining and kitchen was USD 31,000.
5.0 A report on the Cultural Centre (Netti Hapa)
An environmental impact assessment has been done at the place where the cultural centre is to be constructed. The draft report has been received. We are waiting for the final report and also NEMA certificate so that we the construction can commence (National Environmental Management Authority). The process has taken longer than envisaged. However the identification of the sight has been done and the architect is preparing a building Masterplan. So far the initial stage has caused us USD 120,000
6.0 A report on the completed water system
The original idea was to revamp the water system of original from the Oldarpoi Mara Camp. This had been put with funding from Rotary Club International. But after assessment by the water engineers it was found out that the amounts of water from the springs had reduced hence unable to supply all the villages and the college as earlier envisaged.
This prompted us to construct a huge underground water tank near the new hostels to store the rain water from the hostel roofs. The new underground water system is able to hold which is able hold 350,000 litres when full. We also repaired the piping system and bought pumping and purification equipment to supplement the rainwater whenever drought sets in. The total cost of the whole system was USD 9,500
7.0 Conclusion
In summary the two projects the college and the cultural centre will bring long-term sustainability to the conservancy and help to empower the community in jobs creation, cultural preservation and helping the youth to acquire an education that will give them requisite skills for a better future.
Empowering the community is at the heart of Nashulai’s mission. A special category that has received our attention are the young girls of Nashulai. We have been taking our primary and secondary girls through sexual reproductive health lessons so that they can learn about their rights and the importance of finishing their education despite retrogressive cultural practices.
PALLISA CHILDREN’S CONCERN PROJECT (PCCP)
The project achievements are envisaged to last far beyond the project period, making this a sustainable project. First, the revolving arrangement ensures that the off-springs continue to reach more and more beneficiaries. Already, 76 more women have been included and trained, only waiting to get female goats from the second lot of beneficiaries. The project committee shall continue with the monitoring and support of beneficiaries and households in order to devise appropriate actions where necessary. Our volunteers shall also continue supporting beneficiaries in any way possible to improve their productivity. It’s important to note that the project committee is considering engaging first lot beneficiaries in donating their third off-springs to the 76 beneficiaries who would otherwise have to wait for a longer period to get a goat from the second lot whose goats are still young and growing.
At least five women have received additional training and are leading their peers in addressing breeding challenges. These lead beneficiaries are playing a critical role that eventually replaces the services of the Veterinarian by the end of the project period. In addition, the Project Committee has established a linkage with the regular agriculture extension services provided by the local government system. This arrangement will ensure that a government veterinarian (whose services are not paid for) can be called upon for assistance whenever required.
Project Management Outcomes
We consider this project as very successful. The management of the project was successful as guided by the M&E tool. We were able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the project, which enabled us to adjust appropriately and emphasize more on certain aspects of the project to achieve the set objectives. For example, during home visits and regular assessments we realised that the goat project alone may not yield substantial incomes for the beneficiaries in the short run, yet it will generate better income in the medium and long run. As such, the Project Committee encourages every beneficiary household to do vegetable farming, other food and cash crops like coffee alongside goat breeding in an intensive way of farming as they use goat droppings as fertilizer.
Lessons Learned and Recommendations
Outcome 1: Improved knowledge and skills in modern breeding practices. The main challenges encountered during implementation resulted from the high illiteracy level of some beneficiary women. Since they were unable to read and write some women were unable to record vital information during the training sessions as well as during the home support visits. This resulted in additional support being provided to such beneficiaries, beyond the scheduled home visits. However, generally this challenge was not severe and beneficiaries have all coped well in terms of improved knowledge and skills, especially through peer support of the Lead beneficiaries.
Outcome 2: Improved quality of life for all beneficiary households. Indeed, improving the quality of life is a gradual process and during implementation some beneficiaries could not quickly establish activities that bring income for the household as they needed start-up capital. The initial project design envisaged sale of meat and milk products. However, this was not possible in the short run. As such, the Project Committee embarked on ensuring that every beneficiary household established a vegetable garden from which they started earning some income within the first three months of project implementation.
Lessons learned: The most important lesson learned during this project implementation is the establishment of Lead beneficiaries in the project design. From experience, the Lead beneficiaries have played a very critical role in supporting, training and guiding their peers with ease. During implementation it was a bit challenging for the Project Committee to reach every household who needed support quickly due to restrictions on movement because of emerging strains of Covid 19 and the recent Ebola outbreak in south western Uganda. Lead beneficiaries performed that critical link of bridging the gap.
Recommendation: PCCP considers the issues raised above as administrative. We pray and hope to adjust our project in the coming future whenever funds will be available so that we can expand to a bigger project in future and to even upgrade to cattle rearing in order to produce more milk and meat to meet the current nutritional demand of these poor and malnourished families. Another goal is to introduce a revolving loan project to support small business for the extremely poverty-stricken families in order to reduce their poverty level.
PCCP faces the challenge of seeking larger funding to avail a start-up capital for needy women in our community to implement a revolving fund to inject into their small business in order to see them prosper and ensure sustainability.
2020
Nashulai
The 2 hostels are being constructed at the Nashulai Cultural Training Center and are part of the strategy of the expansion of the college into a knowledge hub to benefit the community and giving new skills for employment and other opportunities to the local youth. The expected completion of the dormitories is September/ October 2021.
Update on Mara Learning.
Due the funds from Trolltech (USD 20,000), Mara learning has been able to weather the COVID 19 storm as the student’s numbers have increased and all our teachers are present. Many of the young students are supported with bursaries, as the parents are too poor to pay for the fee. This gives hope to a young generation of children, which would have gone without education (especially young girls).
The funds helped us repair and improve the classes, buy more desks, and construct new toilets and bathrooms for the teachers and pupils. All our teachers are paid on time as planned.
For the greater part of the year 2020 was a year with lockdowns and a lot of suffering. Tourism collapsed due to closure of the airspace and all camps were closed. This was a terrifying time for the people of Mara and Kenya generally. So many people lost their jobs and livelihoods leading to widespread hunger.
Nashulai rolled out a relief food distribution programme, which was accompanied by the sensitization of the community on the health protocols required to wade off the effects of Covid 19.
Trolltech supported us with funds to distribute relief food to our members. Put together with donations from other friends of Nashulai, we were able to supply 2,800 weekly (approx. 28,000 people per week ) over a period of 12 months. The crisis was so severe that people came as far as 50km to seek for relief food from Nashulai. Apart from the food ratios our youth and women were able to get continuous employment to help package and transport the food. This allowance of about USD 5 per day was used to sustain their families. A proper structure was put in place to distribute the opportunities fairly.
Lease fee for parcels of our land.
Trolltech continues supporting us with the payment of lease fee for land. Our community has immensely benefitted from the lease fee as they are able to pay school fees for their children.
MCODE
IMPLEMENTED ACTIVITIES
1-Further Capacity building, support and skilling of the beneficiary female headed smallholder farmers and their groups to enhance productivity and strengthen resilience against social, economic and environmental shocks
A series of refresher trainings were conducted for the beneficiaries under their group formations. The intention was to consolidate knowledge acquired in the previous phase of the project and equip the farmers with skills in practical farming of the bananas. A total of 30 trainings covering 15 groups out of the 18 groups have been conducted by the end of august 2021, 2 trainings for each of the groups in their own localities, and each training lasting 2 days. 3 out of the 18 groups had their trainings postponed due to the second total lockdown which the country went through up to the end of July 2021, as a result of the escalating COVID 19 deaths. These remaining groups are now scheduled for training in early November 2021. The topics covered during the trainings included, general organic production principles and practices, organic soil fertility management, Organic pest and disease management, quality control and marketing, produce handling, as well as training in leadership, group dynamics and financial management, focussing one the product value chain each group had selected.
A total of 734 participants have been trained so far.
In addition, farmer to farmer visits within and among the respective groups were conducted. 2 visits were conducted within the groups, in which case each farmer visited the garden of a fellow group member and vice versa. This was in the month of April and may 2021. The 3rd visit was conducted between members of the different groups. The purpose of the farmer to farmer visits was to promote share learning, and motivation from fellow farmers, and inspire cross learning since farmers learn better from and are inspired by the developments they witness from fellow farmers. This is a strong approach to build social capital and allow longitudinal flow of knowledge. The farmers were excited about this approach. As one the farmers exclaimed “ I wish we continue visiting each other even after the project, I have learnt a lot from Hajjat Nalweyiso on how she staggers the planting to have full year banana production” Said Nabusoba Zelida, one of the farmers during the visits. The 4th and last farmer to farmer visits is planned for early December 2021.
Furthermore, an exposure visit was organized for representatives of the female farmers from 10 of the 18 groups. The farmers visited a prominent Banana farmer in Buwagga (Kawuulu), whether they learnt the secrets of proper Banana fertilization using organic manure from tobacco dusts, and later visited Kawanda Agricultural Research Institute, where they were able to appreciate the other banana varieties developed by the government research Institute. Although the new varieties at Kawanda were more high yielding, they were less resistant to stress and also less tasty as compared to the traditional varieties. From the conversation the farmers had with the Banana farmer in Buwagga and the Staff from Kawanda research Institute, the famers concluded that they were better off with the local varieties as they are more adapted to their local conditions, and also more marketable due to their taste. They agreed that they could work on the productivity to match the varieties from Kawanda, by applying the new organic fertility management regime they have learnt from the banana farmer from Buwagga. The second visit for the representatives of the remaining 8 groups is planned for end of November 2021.
Provide the target female smallholder farmers with start-up seeds/seedlings and organic fertilisers to help recover production and productivity after the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic
The CoVID 19 pandemic affected production and many smallholder female farmers ended up consuming the seeds meant for planting.
In the first rains (March to May 2021) a total of 6,570 banana seedlings (including a mixture of matooke, apple banana and plantain were distributed to 134 households, representing over 60% of the target households. The remaining 40% of the households are scheduled for the second rains beginning November 2021. A total of 4,380 clean banana seedlings, raised through the micropropagation technique are being raised for distribution to the remaining groups in November 2021. The farmers were also supplied with a package of Fertiplus certified organic fertilisers, on which they were to add their locally developed pesticide/fertilisers for purposes of continuity and sustainability.
In addition, well raised local vegetable seedling (Sukuma and Nakati) were distributed to all the 217 households for purposes of food and nutrition security recovery after the COVID 19 lockdowns which affected domestic food supplies. Over 21,915 vegetable seedlings (11,935 Nakati and 9,980 Sukuma) were distributed among the families in the month of march and April. The members were excited to receive well developed seedlings, and this boosted nutrition and food security among the communities post the first CoVID lockdown.
Emergency food relief to the female headed household families in the project, to reverse the effects and short-term food shortages created by the long COVID 19 pandemic.
The advent of the COVID 19 pandemic resulted into acute food shortages in the majority of the households in the project areas. The lockdowns that followed were abrupt and families had not prepared themselves for this kind of emergences, and more so these being vulnerable female headed households. Through the support from Trolltech, MCODE supplied emergence Food relief to vulnerable household members in the project area affected by the COVID 19 Pandemic, in the month of March 2021. 10 kgs of Maize flour and 10kgs of beans were supplied to each female household in the project area. A total of 4,340 kgs of maize flour and 2170 kgs. of beans were distributed to all target households. In additional 2,170kgs of rice was also distributed to the same affected communities. This was a timely relief to the vulnerable women. You could see the excitement and sense of relief on the women faces. As Nalongo Florence Mawejje, one of the beneficiaries who could not hide her excitement said “This is the gift of the year, long live Trolltech, long live MCODE, you have saved us from the stress and strains, this is real festivity for us and our children,
thank you Trolltech, Thank you MCODE”.
Strengthening the Infrastructure at the Organic Agriculture demonstration farm to serve better the target community
The MCOCE Organic demonstration farm is the central pillar in all skilling and agro empowerment programmes aimed at uplifting the livelihood of female headed households and other vulnerable women and young girls in the target communities. From locally adapted organic farming technologies, seeds multiplication and preservation of local varieties, and post-harvest handling and marketing initiatives that are customized to the realities of the life in the rural areas, the farm is the Centre of learning and reference for the female agro communities in the target area and indeed the entire district of Buikwe. Through the Trolltech support, a number of productive infrastructural upgrading and improvements have been made at the farm to support more practical training and learning services to the female headed smallholder farmers in the project and also to improve the quality of products grown on the farm. The following have been implemented in the reporting period.
A running water system has been installed at the farm, complete with an a deep well, electric pump, and 5000L reservoir, as well as water distribution system to the farm house, greenhouses and banana fields, as well as the Net shade house. The original plan was to install a solar water pumping system, however, by the time the funds were received the solar system price had more than doubled due to shortages related to COVID 19 pandemic. On a positive note the electric pump installed has performed exceptionally well. The installation of the indoor irrigation system for the two greenhouses is already underway and the two reservoir tanks and all necessary accessories have already been purchased and installation is going on.
The installed water system is now providing water for Irrigation and other farm use activities at the demonstration farm.
Construction of the demonstration Farmhouse is now completed. Internal and external plastering, plumbing, including the septic water system, inside and outside toilets, have now been completed. The farm house now accommodates the farm caretaker, a farm office and a store. Although final finishing including painting and fine finishing of the floor requires additional funds, the farm house is now habitable and is being used for farm activities.
In addition, Power Supply connection to the demonstration farm from the national Grid was finalized by the national power supply company, UMEME at the end of June 2021. The farm is now fully powered with electricity, for use in activities on the farm, including lighting, irrigation, Water pumping and running farm office equipment
Building MCODE sustainability,
As part of building the sustainability of the organization, two green houses were purchased from Balton Uganda limited and installed at the demonstration farm, the installation process was completed in mid-July 2021. Preparation are in advanced stages to start planting sweet pepper in the two greenhouses. The irrigation kits, and planting bottles, as well as manure and special soils for greenhouse farming have all been collected already and are on site. The greenhouses will go a long way in helping setting up streams that generate revenue to support organizational overhead costs. The vegetables grown in the greenhouses will be for sale to supermarkets in the capital Kampala, and use this revenue to offset organizational overhead costs. The process of installation of the 2 greenhouses was initially planned to be completed in April 2021, so that production could be underway by July. However, there was delay in the importation of the Greenhouse kits from Israel by the supplier due to transportation challenges related to the COVID 19 pandemic. With the greenhouses now in place finalization is underway to have full production started by end of November 2021.
Challenges
The main challenge which was faced by the project was the second wave of COVID 19 pandemic which engulfed the entire country and was much severe than the previous wave. The second wave resulted into many deaths across the country compared to the 1st wave. The country was put into a total lockdown from late May 2021 to the end of July 2021. This paralyzed many activities, and again many farmers were affected since they had just planted their food crops by then. This further affected the speed of implementation and a number of activities had to be re-scheduled to later dates.
Conclusions
Despite the interruption by the total local downs resulting from the COVID 19 pandemic waves, the project nevertheless has had profound engagement and mobilization of the female headed households for collective action. The farmers are excited and, in the training, /sensitization meetings with the buyer horticultural company, they were fully motivated for the potential income anticipated once the crops start yielding. A few activities such as the operationalization of the Savings and credit scheme, are yet to be completed, and were scheduled for concretization and finalization in early November up to mid-December 2021, as their earlier scheduled implementation had fallen in the period of the total lockdown and restrictions on movement and congregation.
MCODE is grateful to Trolltech for this excellent support, the foundation of the demonstration farm is now consolidated and it will act as a training Centre and practical exposure location for both the famers and local leadership within the entire district of Buikwe.
The final comprehensive report capturing all activities that are yet to be completed will be submitted to Trolltech by the end of December 2021.
2019
Africa Startup
THE FARM
“During the year 2019 the farming system has progressed towards a more permanent organic production system with a smart integration of gardens and poultry birds, agro forestry and beekeeping. A permaculturist was added to the team since the beginning of the year to train the farm staff, short and long term farm trainees and gain more insights himself as well from our many years organic farming experiences. The creation of a “food forest” has inspired not only our own team, but the many visitors to MyFarm as well. The wealth of diversity of plants has been an ideal learning environment for the many schooltrips and special designed activities on plants, their uses, their production cycles, colours, shapes and seeds.
There is work on progress in the development of a second bigger fishpond. The existing fishpond is the favorite place of most kids, a habitat for many insects and birds and a drinking places for the bees. Due to the small size of the pond the productivity of the fish is low. A productive fish farming component is on its way!
Moringa has become the tree crop integrated in every corner of the farm. Most Gambians know the crop, but the way it is cultivated, processed and marketed on MyFarm has been and still is an inspiration to many visitors. Water availability and poor soil conditions are factors which need ongoing attention.
There are not many open places to expand on farming activities. Development of the microgarden and some basic trials with vertical growing have been done. One teacher travelled to Dakar to visit the Microgarden project in the urban area to learn more about the technologies. To implement a hydroponic system with more sophisticated equipment is the next step of development.
In addition, the short-term trainees had a month of intensive farming with students of the School for Agriculture generally lacking the practical skills. Our long-term sponsored student Isaack Mendy left the farm after 4 years attachment to focus on his schoolgarden project initiative, his piggery business and his qualification as an animal husbandry graduate. He is still active as our agricultural trainer during the outings with the MyFarm on wheels, the extension program of MyFarm. Furthermore, a long-term farm hand felt he gained enough skills in order move on to develop his own garden initiative and supervise part of the garden production of a new farm initiative that started their first trials at MyFarm.”
THE BUSINESS
A vital component of the ”From Seed to Business” approach of MyFarm is the actual business itself. The “business“ started from a one shelf honey and beeswax beauty products, mango preservatives, honey and cashew paste in order to train youth in the midst of a realistic model. During 2019 the farm shop was almost daily visited (except for the rainy season), with a broad variety of Moringa oleifera products: from nutritional food supplements to high quality cosmetic products, honey, fruit preservatives and gift baskets. The moringa business is benefiting the larger communities by employing processors and buying raw materials (e.g. seeds) from women and youth. At the same time our moringa farming trials have inspired and educated many people interested in starting a similar initiative as well.
In the second quarter of the year a separate business entity was registered under the name of “Nema Naturals” and business and charity accounts separated in order to comply with the countries’ taxation laws.
From January to May, and from November onwards again we are participating at the Gambia Good Market on a monthly base giving exposure to youth entrepreneurs and lifting up the quality of local made products. At the same time, these markets are a training site in sales and marketing and customer care. Our packaging remains natural and simple, a principle cross cutting in our entire working approach.
During the dry season a couple of trainings were delivered on farm for individuals and a women groups in order to expand their moringa and soap businesses. Most trainings have been delivered while going out with the MyFarm on wheels, attending to the Mothers Clubs and farmer groups in the communities. Those whose interest were sparkled more were given the opportunity to come for follow up training at MyFarm in Nema Kunku itself.
The MyFarm products are sold in three different shops outside the farm shop and regular base customers are bringing sample products abroad to find ways of retailing in their respective home countries (e.g. Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway and Lebanon).
In order to expand impact negotiations are made with another farming initiative in the country to start growing Moringa and training the village women in the processing. Outgrower schemes with a training component at MyFarm are on the way!
Ousman Camara, long term farm trainee: “All the knowledge on agriculture I have I gained here at MyFarm. I am now advising the women in my compound how to prepare garden beds. I never knew that you measure beds and plant distances. I have realized the benefits from mulching and other techniques. My mother is proud on me and I am on myself.”
THE EDUCATION
The education at MyFarm is a journey. The education sector of MyFarm uses the concepts of Leap Learning to foster student education. This Although the majority of learning development that is happening is among students,the labs are also used for training of educators. Individuals who want to gain new experience in the educational field often come to learn new skills and methods that enhance student learning. There have also been a several qualified teachers seeking to further their education or just want to engage themselves in meaningful work when they are not teaching at their posted school. These teachers come to My Farm to assist, but also develop new skills they can use in their everyday classrooms. Although they have undergone some formalized training and have experience working with children, they aren’t accustomed to the system being used at My Farm.
The Leap Learning labs give current educators as well as those with no experience, the ability to be able to promote education in a positive environment, where students can learn at their own pace. The labs are student centred and allow students to realize their potential by letting them ask questions and giving them the opportunity to explore and find the answers they seek. The focus is on basic reading and math skills, but students gain more than that.
Furthermore, in partnership with the Ministry of Basic Education we have been able to train 60 of teachers and ministry staff in the Leap Lab concepts. Through these trainings we have been able to expand and create more educational labs across Gambian Schools in the hopes to increase literacy and basic math skills across the country. It is about 25 labs in The Gambia now, and another 15 is to be set up anytime the schools are reopening again.
MyFarm is now working close with the Ministry of Education and the Ministry will use MyFarm more as a training centre, workshop and meeting place. The World Bank has now committed themself to do an evaluation of the impact of the Learning Labs in The Gambia, starting up as soon as the Corona- situation is stable. We are very confident that it will show good impact, and this means that the concept can scale to the whole country and also beyond The Gambia due to this qualified evaluation by the World Bank.
Photo shows the Minister of Education, PS, World Bank and MRCH Holland that is a major sponsor for The Gambia, meeting at MyFarm.
The Creativity and Science labs have started to find their shapes and are well visited. The labs will still be further developed and hopefully implemented outside MyFarm when schools resume after summer holiday in September 2020. We have seen very good interest for the Creativity and Science labs and the Ministry and other stakeholders have confirmed the need for it.
There is one thing unique about the Learning Labs at MyFarm. At MyFarm the Labs are open year-round. The use of a drop-in system is in place, where students who are not able to attend studies during the year are able to register for educational programs held during their school breaks.
In 2019 a six weeks summer program was held. Approximately 65-70 students enrolled with more than half of those students attending regularly. The ages varied from 7-18. The younger students were engaged in the Reading and Numeracy Labs while the older students were either in the computer class or engaged in other sessions focusing on art, science and leadership. The education that occurs in the learning lab is combined with horticultural activities. Students have outdoor sessions where they learn about the environment, uses of different renewable energy such as solar and much more. Many sessions and activities are held around a micro garden in order to show innovative ways to grow things for a sustainable future.
Getting ready for the programs during school breaks is also a learning opportunity for those working with the students. It requires a bit more preparation. Facilitators must come up with activities and lessons that are engaging meaningful and fun. Facilitators and students have access to tablets, computers, library work, as well as learning through play is encouraged. Facilitators are asked to
think outside the box and to be creative with their activities. This can be challenging but it allows them to find topics they are passionate about teaching. Personal development and growth is not only seen in the students but in the facilitators are well.
The Play to Learn newspaper is also in the making. It took a bit longer time then we had hoped to find a good process around it, but have now succeeded and we plan to have a first edition ready when the schools start again.
THE OUTREACH PROGRAM
The farming, training and education components at MyFarm are all integrated in a compressed format when moving out with the MyFarm on Wheels truck. During the year 2019 the truck left the farm into the communities for 18 different trips. The majority of the trips were visits of community school with participation of Mothers Clubs and/or (women) farmer groups. In this way the leap learning and learning by playing concepts are experienced by the children, the environmental/agricultural demonstrations are exhibited for kids, pupils and teachers and the business component is done by hands-on demonstrations and exhibiting sample products with a trainer explaining the what, how and why. Every outing has been different, but all very successful due to the fact that many people from different ages are reached and truly inspired in a couple of hours community service work by our capable and well trained team. Good environmental/farming practices, products and alternative teaching techniques that have become day-to-day practice for the MyFarm team have been enthusiastically embraced by many teachers and their pupils.
The MyFarm garden and production area
During the year 2019 the farming system has progressed towards a more permanent organic production system with a smart integration of gardens and poultry birds, agro forestry and beekeeping. A permaculturist was added to the team since the beginning of the year to train the farm staff, short and long term farm trainees and gain more insights himself as well from our many years organic farming experiences. The creation of a “food forest” has inspired not only our own team, but the many visitors to MyFarm as well. The wealth of diversity of plants has been an ideal learning.
Entrepreneurship lab
The first pilot of the Entrepreneurship lab based on all MyFarm concept is put up in Dar Es Salaam and was show cased under Innovation Week March 2020 with great feedback and response after that, with several big organisations that wants to pilot the concept. The Entrepreneurship lab will also be put up in Gambia when things are back to normal now.
The way forward MyFarm
We have had a good year for MyFarm and we are seeing an increased interest and awareness of what MyFarm is doing and more and more requests for school trips. The partnership with Ministry of Education is now more in line, and we will have schools that the ministry will identify to come for both school visits and MyFarm on Wheels.
Ministry and Microbit Foundation have visited MyFarm, and wants us to be a part of their Mircobit-project in The Gambia. MyFarm has been, as one of very few in Gambia, that have used Scratch-programming for some years, and we are very suited to take this project on.
MyFarm is getting a few kits to test out, and then the plan is to use MyFarm as a focal point and training centre for this project when starting up when schools resume. Things never go as we planned, and also now with the global corona crisis it is affecting Gambia and also our projects a lot.
As in the writing of this report, all activities for the children are closed for 2 weeks now, and just the crucial staff for the animals and to sustain the garden will remain until we know what the situation will be further. The teachers have got a laptop with them home, to do work and planning from home, so we will be well prepared when the kids will resume again.
Nashulai Maasai Conservancy
The construction of the new kitchen and restaurant at the Luxury Mara Wageni Camp
“The Oldarpoi Wageni Camp is a luxury camp constructed at the gentle slope of the hill above the main Oldarpoi Camp. The area where the new camp is located is within Nashulai Maasai conservancy. The construction of the kitchen will make the camp to be self - sustaining. The Kitchen that has been constructed is to be affiliated to the 45 degrees kitchen, a high-end gourmet restaurant in Nairobi where the chef owner has offered to train Oldarpoi Camp Chefs and to establish world-class hospitality standards necessary to attract high-end business to the camp.
The construction of the Kitchen is complete. The funds that were provided by Trolltech Foundation totaled 49 800 USD. The cost of constructing the kitchen was USD 38,000. The balance of USD 10,800 is being currently used to construct a dining hall for the Wageni Camp guests.”
Fund for Land Lease Fees
“The purpose of this fund is to pay the landowners (Maasai) some amount of money at the end of each month as they have leased the land to the conservancy. In March this year (2019), the landowners renewed their lease for another 7-year period. Hence the landowners were given a reason to keep their land open for conservation. This model aims at protecting villagers from losing their land through land sale, as the lease agreement will secure it for the signed 10-year period. On the other hand it gives legal security for any donor who would want to implement any project in the conservancy as it binds the landowner to the agreement already signed with Nashulai conservancy.
The Trolltech Foundation provided a funding of 49,994 USD for the purpose of paying the landowners for a period of one year (March 2019 to March 2020). The total money utilised for the leasing of land was 47,062 USD. The balance of around 2,000 USD went to local administrative costs and bank charges.”
MCODE
MCODE is working with rural female headed households and other financially vulnerable women groups and young girls in the rural areas to improve their food and income security, through equipping them with skills and linking them to sustainable markets.
In March 2019, MCODE received financial support from the Trolltech foundation, amounting to US$34,870 to help in the implementation of the above-mentioned project for a period of one year.
The Objective of the project was to establish sustainable income streams for at least 210 rural female-headed smallholder farming households in Buikwe District, by ensuring access to knowledge and quality markets.
IMPLEMENTED ACTIVITIES
1. Mobilisation and Organisation of female-headed households into market oriented agri-preneur groups for collective marketing.
Many smallholder farmers in Uganda are practising agriculture that is very close to organic, but they are not aware of how easy it is for them to convert to organic. MCODE, conducted mobilization and awareness meetings about organic in the sub counties of Buikwe Town Council and Najja, in Buikwe district. The meetings targeted female headed households, and those disadvantaged women and girls in those respective sub counties. The objective of the meetings was to create awareness on organic agriculture principles and practices among the women smallholder farmers. During the meetings, the benefits and importance of organic agriculture were emphasized and many smallholder farmers were encouraged to take up organic agriculture and register up in the respective value chains. Following sensitization and mobilization, the women farmers were organised into several groups and subgroups, to facilitate marketing and bulking of produce
A total of 217 women headed households were mobilised in Najja sub county and the outskirts of Buikwe Town council in the reporting period, comprising of 1091 family members. The mobilised farmers were then organised into 18 sub groups, each with 13 – 17 households who stay in the same neighbourhoods, this was aimed at facilitating bulking of produce and creating strong social capital among the women in the same localities.
Focus group discussions were held with the mobilised groups to select the preferred/most suitable product value chains to engage in for purposes of collective marketing. The product chains selected included; Bananas, Vegetables (mixed vegetables; either local varieties or exotic, through either outdoor or small greenhouses). For the bananas, the women preferred the local varieties including Matooke, Gonja, Bogoya (Gros Michel) and Ndizi, because they are sweeter, have better flavour and easily marketed locally and for export. The vegetables selected included; Nakati, pepper, lettuce, Sukuma, egg plants, carrots etc among others.
1. Capacity Building of the groups, in organic agriculture marketing, and Governance
MCODE conducted a total of 36 trainings, 2 trainings for each of the groups in their own localities, and each training lasting 2 days. The topics covered during the trainings included, general organic production principles and practices, organic soil fertility management, Organic pest and disease management, quality control and marketing (Technical training/Practical skills covering harvesting, washing, grading, packing), as well as training in leadership, group dynamics and financial management, focussing one the product value chain each group had selected. The training involved a total of 817 participants including the women household heads and their family members that were around.
In addition, and with the help of an expert facilitator, farmers in each group were introduced to the concept of Farmer-to-Farmer extension visits/meetings. In this arrangement, farmers in each group were trained on how to visit ad advise each other on their production practices. Each group came up with a time table of the entire group visiting every group member’s farm at least once in every 3 months, during which visit they advise her and share experiences about how best to improve her production. They are also able to learn from the superior practices which the member visited has implemented. This arrangement was applauded by the women farmers, as being very useful and builds confidence and social capital among the members in the group.
Furthermore, one exposure visit was organised for each of the women groups. The farmers visited the Sulma Organic centre in Luweero district (about 100km from Buikwe District), where they were able to interact with the team at this old organic training centre. At the Sulma centre, they were able to learn about the various enterprises that are practiced at the centre, including; Apiary (Bee keeping), Pineapple growing, Vegetable growing, Avocado growing, Banana growing and multiplication, and how to produce organic manure/fertilisers on the farm using indigenous microorganisms. The farmers were very excited about the various organic enterprises at the Sulma Centre, they were able to be exposed to various skills which they promised to try out on their own farms and among the groups once returned to their own localities.
2. Establishment of an Organic Agriculture demonstration farm to serve the sub-county.
As part of building a strong foundation for skilling female headed households and other vulnerable girls and community members in organic farming techniques, MCODE established an organic demonstration farm to serve the target communities and the district at large. The farm is situated on 3 acres of land that was purchased at Kikooli village on the outskirts of Buikwe town council on the border with Najja Sub county in Buikwe district.
An organic farming expert was hired, who designed the farm set up and was involved in all the farm planning to identify and design areas where the different enterprises would be placed on the demonstration farm. So far, the farm houses an open organic vegetable garden, a banana plantation that has now reached production, a shade house for hardening seedlings before planting in the open fields, and a greenhouse for indoor vegetable production and for producing ready to plant vegetable seedlings for distribution to the female headed households has also been installed. In future, the green house will also produce clean ready to plant seedlings for sale to the rest of the communities at subsidised rates. This will boost production of organic vegetables in the area and increase the incomes female headed households and the rest of the community get from their organic vegetable farming.
The demonstration farm is being used for imparting organic farming skills to the target groups and the rest of farmers in the district. After the trainings at the demonstration farm, the female headed household members return to their farms and implement the skills gained at the demonstration farm.
A resident caretaker was also hired to maintain the farm and lead the undertaking of the daily activities on the demonstration farm.
3. Establishing market linkages and Support
As part of building sustainable market linkages for the organised smallholder female household farmers, MCODE identified and entered into a memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with Frutrac Limited, a private company that exports and also trades locally in organic fruits and vegetables, as well as other organic products including spices, shea nuts/butter, Chia seeds, sesame seeds etc.
Under the MoU, Frutrac will buy all the organic products grown by the target female headed households, provided they attain organic certification.
Frutrac also agreed to provide the necessary guidance needed when skilling the target group, especially in the areas of market requirements, quality management and packaging requirements for the export and domestic market.
9 meetings were held between the representatives of Frutrac Ltd and the smallholder groups, to sensitize the latter on the basic quality requirements of growing for the Organic export market. The farmers were excited about this new development and pledged to be committed to ensure that this opportunity is not lost as a way of guaranteeing a sustainable market for products grown at their smallholder farms. It was agreed by the representatives of Frutrac and the farmers, together with MCODE, that each of the neighbouring 2 smallholder farmer groups will need to construct a basic produce collecting centre, for purposes of bulking the produce from each of the small holder farmers during marketing. The farmers from each of the two neighbouring groups, will deliver their harvested produce at this collecting centre, where bulking will be undertaken by Frutrac Ltd. Each individual smallholder farmer will be assisted to open up a bank account, or mobile money account, and once produce have been purchased by Frutrac ltd, payments to each of the smallholder women farmers would be made directly to their respective accounts. This will help them and encourage them to develop a savings culture as well as manage their finances better than being given cash on delivery.
SUSTAINABILITY
The sustainability of this initiative beyond the support from Trolltech was seen as critical if the benefits accrued from the project were to be maintained and scaled up. The vision of MCODE was that once these women groups had been mobilised and are already producing, and are linked to markets they needed to start saving some of their incomes, so that they could in future continue paying for some of the critical services such as extension services, and basic administrative costs within the marketing groups. This has not been realized because the groups have just started actual production, as most of the past project year was largely spent on mobilization, organization, capacity building of the group members and skilling them to attain the necessary knowledge and skills required by the potential markets for their products. The saving from incomes will therefore be realized when all the groups have attained full production. Already the first 7 groups to be trained did plant their bananas and the first production is expected by February 2021. Other groups had not yet planted due to the challenge of accessing initial/start up seeds to plant in their gardens as shall be elaborated in the challenges section below. In addition, selling of produce to the already identified market (and therefore saving from these sales) will require establishment of basic post-harvest infrastructure at some of the groups, where initial sorting and grading of produce can be done by the women farmers before being sold to the identified export company, Frutrac limited.
CHALLENGES
A number of challenges were encountered during the course of implementation of the project and will require being addressed in order to attain maximum realization of the intended benefits by the target female headed households.
1. In the first place, it was observed that although farmers were trained and organized into production/ marketing groups to facilitate collective marketing, most of the women did not have the needed initial capital to buy start-up seeds/seedlings in order to kick-start production and utilize the skills and knowledge obtained from the trainings and capacity building activities carried out by MCODE through this project. In essence, this means that this will delay their full engagement into the organized group activities. There is therefore a need to fundraise for a start-up seed fund to as a one off for these women farmers to buy the required seeds/seedlings to start off their production using the skills and knowledge they have attained.
2. Secondly, during the discussion with Frutrac limited, a company that has committed to buy the products grown by the women farmers, it was emphasised by Frutrac that at least every 2 subgroups will require a basic produce collecting Centre/ shade house where farmers within the 2 groups collect and carry out the initial pre-sorting, grading and bulking of their produce before it is paid off and taken by Frutrac. This will require construction of basic packing shade structures for use by all farmers in the nearby groups.
3. Furthermore, it was also noted that a number of farmers who had started production had not fully grasped the all the information, especially related to production practices related o pest and disease management in line with organic market requirements of the Frutrac Importing markets, especially the EU. These it was seen as necessary that as the farmers go along, they needed additional trainings and re-trainings, and supervision and support for at least 2more years before they can be left on their own and leave them to be independent and to govern and plan for their marketing group on their own.
CONCLUSIONS
The implementation of this project supported by Trolltech foundation has brought a lot of excitement and hope to the economically vulnerable rural female-headed households in Buikwe district. A lot of ground has already been gained especially in the mobilization and grouping of the women into the crucial market oriented collective groups for both production and marketing, and the securing of an MoU with Frutrac limited, a company that has committed to buy the produce grown by these organized women famer groups. Full realization of the visioned benefits to these farmers and even exceeding them is now possible and achievable, but this will largely depend on addressing fully the challenges above that might draw backwards the achievements and ground so far gained.
MCODE is grateful to the Trolltech foundation for this visionary and crucial support that has provided hope and firm background for these rural women, it’s the prayer of MCODE, that Trolltech and other donors help the initiative with additional funding to address the identified challenges in order to realize the full anticipated benefit of the project.
2014
Hope Ofiriha
“Progress at Mairo Primary School - Omilling South Sudan.
Work has been going well at Omilling, and the first two classrooms block
are complete. This was a top priority for the community. The builders
learned from the first phase and it will be faster to erect the remaining
buildings. The building teams have been very dedicated, and everyone has
worked hard. Women had to carry water over 1 km on their heads to enable
the construction to progress while waiting for the borehole to be drilled.
The classes are opened for children aged 6, 7, 8 and 9 to use.
We have experienced supplies problems of varying qualities before, and
these problems have been addressed by delivering building materials to the
site in during this dry season. We are now keeping a larger stocks of
materials in one of the ward room. There are 30,000 interlocking soil
blocks ready for use.
This is the preliminary report just to let you know how thing are
progressing with Mairo school construction project. We will write a final
report after phase one is completed including how money is used for. An auditor's report will be sent to you as well. Thank you in advance for helping children in South Sudan get an education otherwise we wouldn't get with your help, and thanks in advance in for helping mothers with micro-loans in Uganda.”
2013
Hope Ofiriha
Thanks for your recent generous donation to Educate Children and Fight Poverty in S/Sudan.
”HopeOfiriha is very pleased to the following partners: Trolltech Foundation, Thanksgiving (UK), GlobalGiving UK/USA donors for their contributions in making this project a dream come true.
Ms Alice with the purchasing team of two persons bought 100 bag (50-kg) cements, 2 wheelbarrows, 4 spades, 4 digging hoe, and 50 meter plastic sheeting. With little rainfall in Omilling now, the village volunteers will be making each day 500 interlocking soil bricks. The target is to produce 15,000 soil blocks before the next rainfall season. These goods are on Fuso truck from Gulu to Omilling. Ms Alice escorts the truck all the way to the project site.
The truck will be moving slowly through the muddy and bad road to Omilling, and the driver knows they will spend many hours on a short distance road.
In a next report we will post a field update so you will get to know the impact of your contribution in Omilling for an education children have been longing.
Two classrooms have been built so children of first and second year of primary school can receive their lessons uninterrupted in a heavy rainfall.”
4Africa
“When your sewing machine is electrically powered and power is off for the entire day, your daily wage is becoming minimal. It was obviously high time to do something about this issue..
The solution was to purchase a generator. First of all we had to mold a foundation. Then a lift crane brought our new hope over the fence and down to its respective place. After completing the installation and doing some required adjustments it was time to introduce the ladies to our new green organization baby. .
Below you can see the whole process from the beginning to the end.
From now on the ladies will always be able to work, even when power is off. We are very pleased! Hopefully the Human Resource Manager and the other office ladies do not have to make themselves busy by joining crochet group and making Christmas cards during working hours again.
We appreciate the Trolltech Foundation for sponsoring the installation of the generator.”