Farmers, members of the community and project staff who are direct beneficiaries and key stakeholders will be mobilized and provided with hands training in climate change, its causes and effects and adaptation and mitigation strategies.Demonstration sites will be established.

The aim of Roots & Branches is to address wider problems of chronic hunger in the Pitseng region through bringing this pilot program to two additional sites. Projects in Ha Tefo and Ha Miro will comprise 600 and 400 trees, respectively, in a fenced area. A skilled orchardist shall lead the training of community trainers, who will organize and manage trainee/volunteers in the construction and maintenance of orchards. Phelisanong shall provide: ? Training of local farmers and project staff in the production of fruit tree seedlings ? The establishment & maintenance of orchards ? Long term food security for the orphan feeding programs, HIV patients and the vulnerable ? The adoption of agricultural practices more resilient and adaptive to changes in climate As orchards are long term programs, beneficiaries will continue to enjoy nutritious food for years to come, while root stock for new tree seedlings can be harvested from annual prunings and planted in ? Long term food security for the orphan feeding programs, HIV patients and the vulnerable The adoption of agricultural practices more resilient and adaptive to changes in climate As orchards are long term programs, beneficiaries will continue to enjoy nutritious food for years to come, while root stock for new tree seedlings can be harvested from annual prunings and planted in home gardens and orchards. Pruning wood will also become an important source of firewood. The model of contoured, intercropped food and trees will provide an example for local farmers in best water and soil management practices to withstand changes in the climate and produce year-round food for their families.

The overall objectiveof the project is to install orchards in degraded areas in Pitseng, restoring and improving soil, water retention, and biomass while building local agricultural capacity and building the organizational capacity of community groups to address ecological degradation due to climate change. The project will promote and demonstrate intensive intercropping and mixed farming including the use of green manure cover crops and acacia tree hedgerows to enrich soils with nitrogen and prevent erosion during heavy rains. A skilled orchardist shall lead the training of community trainers, who will organize and manage trainee/volunteers in the construction and maintenance of orchards. The model of contoured, intercropped food and trees will provide an example for local farmers in best water and soil management practices to withstand changes in the climate and produce year-round food for their families. This hands-on training will empower beneficiaries with skills to adopt agricultural practices that are more resilient and adaptive to changes in climate. The village chiefs, along with community councillors and selected Phelisanong M&E trainees shall be trained during an initial M&E workshop so that they will assist in the monitoring and evaluation process on a regular basis.

There is significant buy-in by women at the pilot orchard site, along with each of the two proposed project extension sites. The existing Phelisanong Orphan Feeding Program engages groups of 'baoki' (village nurses) in the villages who receive, prepare, and serve food at community dinners. In each village there are 4 dedicated baoki who, under Phelisanong's "Know Your Child" program, have on average 8 children whom they care for. Because of their prior engagement with village orphans, women have an interest in producing food for village orphans and have already begun building food gardens: the three sites identified in this grant proposal have already identified locations and obtained village chief approval. Most of the village level HIV and orphan care work is conducted by women. Yet, as the female participants in one workshop put it, "We can't do much without the co-operation of the men." Since 2009 Phelisanong has responded to this gender disparity by engaging HIV positive men as outreach workers. They conduct testing, counseling, and workshops at the village level targeted specifically at men and boys. The active involvement of men in HIV/AIDS outreach has led to a training focus on local football teams. Football engages boys, youth and adult men in all of the 14 villages with whom Phelisanong conducts HIV/AIDS outreach work. Quarterly football tournaments, dubbed ?Know Your Status? tournaments, engage teams throughout the region, where HIV counseling and testing is offered for players. Using football as a springboard, Roots & Branches will offer training workshops to football teams in 14 villages and engage them as volunteers in exchange for seedlings, footballs, and equipment.

intervention in line with the national priority of " Promoting sustainable and integrated land management that will reduce land degradation and support increased land use productivity that sustains economic development" and athe SGP objective of Supporting the conservation and enhancement of carbon stocks through sustainable management and climate proofing of land use, land use change and forestry