Project Detail

Sustainable Utilization of Mangroves Using Innovative Fish Smoking Systems

The project will improve the sustainability of the Yawri Bay Marine Protected Area through the sustainable utilisation, thus conservation, of its mangrove ecosystem by introducing an efficient mechanism to reduce over harvesting of the mangrove resources through community-based actions involving less fuel wood consumption stoves for fish smoking. Through the initiative of the introduction of less wood consumption stoves,the project will mainstream the conservation of the Yawri Bay MPA biodiversity and sustainable use into its terrestrial mangrove areas.This will support the conservation of mangrove sites and provision of improved livelihoods.

The general objective of this project is to establish energy-efficient stoves for fish-smoking for the fishing communities along the coast of Ribbi Chiefdom, Moyamba district. The use of energy-efficient Chokor stoves will replace the traditional energy-intensive bandas for fish smoking. The advantages will be a reduction of quantity of firewood and charcoal in fish smoking, thus a reduction of mangrove deforestation caused by firewood and charcoal harvesting; conservation of carbon and less emission of carbon serving as a mitigation strategy for climate change; and finally a reduction of potential health impacts otherwise encountered in the use of the open traditional banda systems for fish smoking

Loading map...

Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Green Future

Country:

Sierra Leone

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

OP5 - Y2 (Jul 12 – Jun 13)

Grant Amount:

US$ 30,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 5,000.00

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 11,627.90

Project Number:

SLE/SGP/OP5/ CORE/BD/13/03/005

Start Date:

4/2013

End Date:

3/2014

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

A micro-lending scheme will be supported with funds mostly generated from user fees for fish smoking system.

Notable Community Participation

Community participation began from the initial stage of project identification. Members of the proposing organization have worked with the Yawri Bay community in a previous project. We are therefore familiar with the community. We held public discussions with them and informed them of the availability of Small Grants from GEF, and that we wanted to work with them to apply for the grant. We resolved to apply for a small grant to establish the Chokor Ovens. These Ovens were built in Kargboro chiefdom along the Yawri Bay during the Coastal Zone Management Project under Wetlands International Africa. The Ribbi Community asked for a replication of the Ovens in their coastal areas, having learned of the benefits of the ovens from the Kargboro community. Green Future is working with the Ribbi Coastal Communities Women?s Organisation, which is a Community-Based Organisation to implement the project. The Women?s Organisation has approached community leaders and asked them to provide the land for the establishment of the ovens. The Community leaders have agreed to provide the land without any fees.The Women?s Organisation will be involved in the selection and contracting of local brick layers to establish the ovens. They will be working with Green Future?s Community Liaison Officers to supervise and monitor the construction of the ovens.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

In addition to a final project implementation report that will be submitted to the National Coordinator of the Small Grants Programme, we will use the last 4 months to further communicate the immediate outputs of the project through extension activities, presentations at workshops and seminars, production of a user's manual and a video cassette for fish smokers, fishery extension agents, students and the larger fishing community. The production of the user?s manual in English and video cassettes with explanation of construction and use of the ovens in Krio, Mende, Temne and Sherbro languages will be an additional strategy not only for communicating the results but equally also for sustaining the technology. The final report, the user manual, and the video cassette will be useful for replication of the construction of the ovens in other areas. They will serve as useful learning materials for the local community, thus enhancing the replication of the concept. In addition to these, we will invite the print and electronic media to report on the project. This will enable our results to be published in national newspapers and to be reported by local and national radio stations.

Gender Focus

The immediate targeted beneficiaries of this project are women within the fishing communities along the coast of Ribbi Chiefdom. Fish preservation and storage along the Yawri Bay and in Sierra Leone in general is dominated by women. This is the rationale behind the collaboration with a women?s community based organization. The Ribbi Coastal Community Women?s Organisation comprises of women from all fishing settlements along the Ribbi Coast of the Yawri Bay. It is therefore truly representative of all women fish mongers and fish processors in that locality. This organization will be incorporated fully in the supervision and monitoring of the construction of the ovens. Its members will be educated on the construction process from start to finish. At the end of the construction, the ovens will be commissioned to be owned by the Women?s Organisation for the benefit of all fish processors along the Ribbi Coast.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The strategy for the sustainability of this project and its impacts are embedded in its design, which is a participatory approach embracing full community involvement and participation from beginning to ending. First of all, the project is designed in consultation with a community-based women organization in the coastal communities, implying that the project is borne out of the desire of its intended beneficiaries; that is, a representative group of women engaged in fish-smoking as a main livelihood activity. It means that the project philosophy is understood by the local community, as they hypothesize benefits from the new technology. They therefore welcome and support the project idea. In addition, a major component of the project will be the training of indigenous people, preferably community-based brick layers and carpenters in the construction of the new ovens. This will be enhanced by the production of user manuals and video cassettes explaining how to construct the improved ovens, so that people can learn how to do it on their own. This strategy will ensure adequate local knowledge in the implementation of the new technology, and thus its sustenance. Another sustainability strategy for this project is enshrined in its ownership and the long lasting benefits associated to this, as it is proposed that the seven communities along the coast of Ribbi Chiefdom will have ownership of the ovens under the supervision of the Community-based women?s organisation. They will charge a reasonable fee per kilogram of fish. The proceeds from this will be accumulated to institute a micro-credit scheme for the community, with the primary objective of enabling poor fishing households to increase income, smoothen consumption, develop other micro-enterprises, manage risks better and enhance earning capacities, thus reducing economic and social vulnerability. Because women constitute a significant proportion of poor fishing households, microfinance should also serve as an effective tool to assist and empower women in fishing communities.

+ View more

Indicators

Biophysical

Number of innovations or new technologies developed/applied 40

Back to search results

Countries

Regions

Project Snapshot

SGP Country office contact

Address