ST has not been exposed to other works of GEF but where a potential partner with GEF exist for collaboration / partnership with ST, this can be exploited.

ST wishes to cover extensively the area of Bontleng. There were only 10 households that hosted the programme. A keen interest has been cultivated from neighboring plots. The impact can be bigger as the 10 households were not representative of the overall interested participants. However due to budgets limitations we could only do 10 households. We wish to expand the programme in Bontleng to a 100 households as the results were positive and this include institutions set in the neighbourhood such as the Kgotla, Clinic, Police offices and a local CBO.

The UCEP is a Biodiversity project under conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity important to agriculture. It specifically addresses sustainable land use management through; 1. Sustainable Agriculture Organic gardening is a practice that encourages agriculture that is environmentally sensitive; this is gardening that does not use any chemical for neither pesticides nor fertilizers. It is therefore a practice that discourages the use of chemicals that may otherwise contain Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The Stockholm Convention calls for public awareness and education on POPs issues, demonstrable projects, which may provide alternatives to the use of chemicals, are therefore necessary. Organic gardening also promotes composting material, which do not only reduce the amount of waste going into the environment but also add humus to soil. 2. Water Conservation Water conservation and efficiency is a sustainable agriculture strategy that is of critical concern to Botswana. Agricultural practice as a traditional livelihood system in a semi arid land is an ever-growing challenge to Botswana?s environment, the economy and its people. Water is very scarce but it is very much needed to support livelihood systems. The proposal intends to promote rainwater harvesting as an adaptation strategy but also promote the use of water efficient methods like the drip irrigation. The project also intends to educate the public on using water efficiently for gardening purposes. The Small Grants Programme supports water conservation initiatives which strengthens viable traditional systems which in this case is rainwater harvesting, a practice that has been in place for years and continues to date especially in rural areas. Overall the proposed project is intended at promoting public participation in environmental management, addressing poverty as a phenomenal challenge to environmental conservation and also empowers households to earn livelihoods.

The UCEP will address capacity building in a very holistic approach. Capacity in this context is viewed as ways and means needed to do what should be done to improve the quality of life in the community. People willing to participate in the project will be identified and then skills, knowledge and abilities, understanding of community history and values will be imparted with them. The project will also help the participants have the ability to identify and access opportunities and also motivate the community to carry out initiatives. It will also build capacity through specific skills development of household project participants in organic gardening, environmental education and basic eterpreneurial training for expansion of skills to commercial organic farming.

The programme has been availed a market at the Eco-park in Gaborone where Somarelang Tikologo (Environment Watch Botswana) has a relatively large community garden. When ST is not selling participants have been encouraged to bring their products for sale.

The project aims at diversifying sources of income and also promoting a practise and culture of self-reliance.

The project will improve access to livelihood strategies and inculcate a sense of responsibility. The project aims at diversifying sources of income and also promoting a practise and culture of self-reliance. It is envisaged that the success of this project will trickle down to many more participants who will not have been chosen to participate in the initial training done by ST. It is projected that beyond the 18 months, participants will have acquired enough skills to run their backyard gardens and be in a position to educate other interested individuals within the neighbourhood.

There are no plans to scale up through non-GEF, but where an opportunity exist, that could be harnessed