Overall targets
The project aims to increase agricultural production and the transformation of agricultural practices and empower rural farmers socially and financially in three zones in Gatara commune in Kayanza Province in North of Burundi.
Immediate targets
Objective 1: Food Security - Improve food security for 28 villages by increasing of production and processing of agricultural products Objective 2: Financial Sustainability - Provide primary financial education 4,140 households (24,840 persons) Objective 3: Social Accountability - Empower 28 villages through RIPAT Groups using Community Score Card (CSC)
Target groups
Target Group 1 - Rural Farmers/Households The total target group 41.580 persons in Gatara. Farmers in Gatara are rural, small-scale farmers, who make up about 90 per cent of the population in the area. They live from straightforward means and have a mostly healthy daily life and predictable life cycle. Most of their life is spent within walking distance of their house and a small plot of land. Often it is the responsibility of the women to farm the land, while many men work as casual workers. On average, the households have between 5-6 surviving children. Their household income fluctuates with the harvest seasons. Burundi farmers can harvest twice a year, but they have limited opportunities and strategies to store food, save money or invest the income in between. This makes these societies particularly vulnerable to hunger and malnutrition and is one of the reasons these peasant farmers are at the bottom of the Global Hunger Index. Some of the farmers have finished primary school, but most have less education, and many are even illiterate, especially among women. Most children go to primary school, which, in principle, is free. Still, many households must keep their children home for irregular periods, when they lack school materials or cannot pay for the uniforms or exams. Health care is free for children under five, while the rest of the family must pay a small insurance fee, but the coverage is only around 70 per cent, and many lack basic health care coverage. If the project succeeds, the children will be able to attend school without interruptions, they will get health care insurance, and malnutrition and stunting will drop significantly. The project includes both men and women, but only one person from each household to maximise the cost-effectiveness of the project, and women must constitute at least half of the participants. Women are typically responsible for taking care of the land and children, while the man takes most if not all the decisions regarding the family finances. To include at least 50 % women makes sure the learning from the RIPAT Groups and the Group Plot will be applied in their fields. At the same time, the inclusion of men ensures that the project becomes legitimate in the community, and many of these men, of course, also apply the new technologies and techniques on their land. The project will empower the women, primarily through the VSLA groups. Experience from our many previous VSLA interventions shows that when women also contribute with income (cash) to the family's upkeep, they report a positive change in the gender balance in the family and an equal relation with their husband. In this project, we can draw upon UEBB’s experience in addressing gender issues in various projects. Direct target group - neighbour outreach multiplier effect The immediate target group in the project is 1.890 households (10.395 persons. Each HH has an average of 5,5 members). Each of the 54 RIPAT group will have 35 members reaching 1.890 households. Each RIPAT group member must reach out to three neighbours as part of their contribution after the first or second cycle (harvest). They will share knowledge and improved varieties of seeds, which they have received themselves from the project and conduct on-site training. This multiplies the effect without extra cost. The key to success is to draw up the chain of solidarity together with local extension officers from the outset as the participants are selected, so they along with the Group Supervisor will monitor the farmers to ensure the follow-up. In this way, another 5.670 households (31.185 persons) will benefit from RIPAT, making a total of 7.560 households or 41.580 persons. Indirect target group - RIPAT villages As the methodology is integrating extension officers at all steps, and as the local communities are involved through exposure events, where the villagers are invited to visit the group fields and homes of the super farmers, the unreached farmers in the villages with RIPAT groups are an indirect target group. Not all will, of course, take advantage of these opportunities, but in principle the technologies and know-how will be made available to all farmers in the targeted 28 villages in the commune, reaching indirectly a total of around 18. 000 households or about 98.000 persons. Selection of the RIPAT Group members The members of the RIPAT Groups have not yet been selected. This will be initiated in the project start-up phase. The process and criteria for this are already evident and will involve the following steps: ? A community day will be held for each of the nearby villages in the local church, where farmers will be invited to participate and hear about the project - what they can expect to get and what they must contribute in terms of participation and work. ? After the community day, farmers can sign up with the GS if they want to participate in the project. This ensures that farmers who sign up are motivated, and they must be farmers so they can implement what they learn in their plot. In many other agro projects, everyone in a village is invited to participate, even non-farmers. Typically, more sign up than can be accommodated. Some are chosen, and the rest will become part of the solidarity chain. ? A small selection committee with the GS, respected church leaders, the extension officer, and a representative from the village government is formed and agrees on the participants among the qualified. Religion or church denomination will not be a criterion - everyone Christian, Muslim, Non-Christian or any other group will be equally eligible for selection. ? The groups must be a mix of people with most being the average impoverished farmer and a few being the "wealthy" (by very applicable standards). The “wealthier” farmers typically have better entrepreneurial skills and can serve to strengthen and inspire the whole group. ? And as already noted women will be given priority and must be more than half in all groups.
Resume
Projektets implementeres i en skrøbelig situation med det overordnede formål at forbedre fødevaresikkerheden og levevilkårene for fattige familier i Gatara kommuner i Burundi. Målgruppen er 7.560 subsistenslandbrug eller 41.580 personer, der er indstillet på at tage ansvar for egen og lokalsamfundets udvikling gennem projektet. Over tre år organiseres og uddannes målgruppen i bedre og bæredygtige dyrkningsmetoder gennem den veldokumenterede og omkostningseffektive RIPAT-metode. Et integreret element i RIPAT er VSLA, der starter en positiv udviklingsspiral ved at skabe lokale investeringsmuligheder for den øgede kapital som tilføres via højere høstudbytte. RIPAT har en høj spredningseffekt og er mere bæredygtig end klassiske landbrugsprojekter jf. Rockwool Fondens forskningsresultater. Fortalervirksomhed en integreret del af metoden gennem inddragelse og samarbejde med det lokale myndighedsniveau ligesom ministerieniveau inddrages ifm konferencer.