SECTION A: PROJECT RATIONALE AND APPROACH

This section provides the rationale and background of the project, as well as the proposed approach.

1.1 Project Summary

This proposal is being submitted in response to a call for Strategic Projects that was sent out in July by the GEF Small Grants Programme of the UNDP. The proposal presents the summary, rationale and justification, the proposed project logical framework, plan of action and the budget.

(a) The project context
This section presents the context under which the project is being proposed and is likely to operate. The full analysis of the context is presented in Annex 1. The conditions under which this project is being proposed have implications on the design of this project. The project context is characterized by the following:
(i) Environment context: Zimbabwe has very strong Environment legislation and policy framework and strategies that are supported by a Constitution which guarantees rights a clean environment and commits to sustainable management and use of natural resources by all. It is signatory to a number of international conventions that advance the cause of biodiversity such as CBD, UNCCD, RAMSAR, CMS, and has committed to the MDGs among others. Despite this, the rate of deforestation has accelerated from 100,000ha in the 90s to 327,000ha or -1.9% per annum (the highest in southern Africa) between 2000 and 2010 (FAO, 2011). These figures suggest that the rate of deforestation is now three times the estimated average over the period 1985-1992. The estimated average annual household (family of 5) fuel wood consumption in rural areas is about 5.6t although this varies depending on availability of forest and woodland resources. Although the rate of forest area loss in Honde has not been estimated, it is evident that forest cover is declining and major rivers are silting. Environmental awareness is slowly increasing and legislative provisions and stakeholder engagement by the State in reviewing national strategies reveal commitment towards a sustainable environment. In the face of climate change, increasing land pressure, water shortages and fragility and degradation of the sloppy terrain, supply of agro and natural products is continue to be under threat. Reliance on forests for household energy supply is high. 90% of households in the Valley rely on firewood. A recent study on household energy demand in Zimbabwe by SAFIRE, (2013) reveals that on average a person consumes 585kg of fuel wood per year.
(ii) Economic Context: Although the economy is showing signs of improvement since 2008, there is still high unemployment and increasing informal trade. Youths and Women are the most affected by the poor economic situation Many Zimbabweans are making a living in the informal sector, which has played a major role in reducing poverty and unemployment. Informal trade in Honde Valley is evidenced by the network of food and non food product vendors along the road and at Hauna and Murara markets. Rural infrastructure, transport and communication systems are also slowly recovering with most of the improvement being recorded in the ICTs sector. However marketing channels for rural products remain largely limited. Rural producers fail to access markets whilst the few marketing arrangements in place, such as for bananas and tea in Honde Valley, do not yield much to the individual households.
(iii) Food Security situation: Despite the signs of economic recovery, food security situation remains highly unstable due to limited production capacity utilisation and poor or erratic rains. Although Mutasa District is classified by ZIMVAC as a relatively food secure district, figures show that threats from erratic rainfall are high. Traditionally agroecological zone 1-3, in which Honde Valley falls, are considered highly productive. However the situation is slowly changing and emerging climate change signs are impacting negatively on yields and natural ecosystems.
(iv) Consumption pattern: There is a noticeable growing preference for local/indigenous foods among Zimbabwe?s consumers which has stimulated commercialization of traditional foods. The Food and Nutrition Policy recently launched emphasizes on local and indigenous food consumption. This gives impetus on local farmers to increase production and marketing of indigenous foods. Value addition however is not taking place at local level, a situation which needs to be addressed.
(v) Population increase: Land pressure is increasing in communal Areas of Zimbabwe. Growth in population has not been matched by a corresponding increase in the amount of land available for cultivation. The 2012 statistical figures show that the population in the district increased by 2 % whilst the number of households increased by 7% from 2002.

b) Key environmental problem to be addressed,
This project will address the following environmental problems:
(i) Land Degradation: In Honde, the population pressure has forced people to open new areas in mountain slopes for cultivation and the river banks and wetlands areas for gardening. This has sharply increased environmental degradation. Heavy downpours that characterize rainfall patterns in most parts of Zimbabwe including Honde, result in runoff and washing away of soils. There is increased siltation of the main water ways especially the Pungwe, Honde and their tributaries.
(ii) Deforestation: The rate of deforestation in Honde due to fuel wood harvesting is high and has resulted in reduction in forest cover in most areas. There is increasing use of trees commonly found in waterways namely Mukute (Syzygium cordatum) for firewood. The deforested areas are also being invaded by Lantana camara which has become a common occurrence in the Valley. The project will mobilize the participating communities to invest in a wide range of activities to reduce deforestation.
(iii) Depletion of bamboo: Bamboo is a dominant species of the standing forests in Honde. Bamboo provide important livelihoods products (crafts, firewood, fencing, furniture, livestock feeds) and ecological services such as nutrient recycling and binding fragile soils together (improving soil structure) functions which need to be preserved. 75% of the households harvest bamboo for various household uses. 85% of the bamboo harvested in used to make crafts for sale. Bamboo forest areas are being transformed as a result of unsustainable harvesting methods. Research by STEP over the last three years has revealed that young bamboos are being harvested before they mature. The selective harvesting methods leave old unproductive bamboo standing which soon become dormant clusters. Research shows that clusters in the most harvested areas are moribund. Forest areas with moribund bamboo clusters are normally rendered valueless by the locals and hence are not protected. This project will promote sustainable harvesting of the resource and planting on bamboo plots.
(iv) Reduction in local crop diversity: Because most households rely on marketing agro-produce the cropping patterns tend to respond to market dictations. Although Honde can produce a diversity of crops there has been tendency to increase production of the crops with the highest demand such as bananas, and to small extent, yams, at the expense of other local crops. This may, in the long run reduce crop biodiversity which is essential to maintain a diverse gene pool, nutrition and livelihood sources of income and may reduce resilience and limit the community?s capacity to adapt. Through value addition and market development of a wide range of products, the project is expected to stimulate production of a wide range of crops thereby contributing to maintaining high agro-biodiversity.
(v) Increased use of organic fertilizers: Related to (iv) above, the high demand of certain crops motivates use of fertilizers to increase yield. This has been the case with yams and sweet potatoes where farmers have moved from organic fertilizers to inorganic fertilisers to increase yield per unit area. The increased use of fertilizers especially for crops such as yams that are grown in wetlands or very close to waterways has severe impact on water quality and aquatic biodiversity. This project will promote conservation agriculture and organic farming particularly for local indigenous crops.
(vi) Encroachment into the Protected area ecosystem: Increasing land pressure, poverty and the search for food firewood has led to encroachment of the Parks protected areas of Nyanga National Park. Communities bordering Nyanga National Park now increasingly depend on the Park for firewood, water, cropping and other forest products. The ecosystem within the Nyanga National Park provides key ecological functions to the waterways and related biodiversity in the valley. Awareness and partnerships with the Parks Authority will ensure increased responsibility over the protected area network.
(vii) Degradation of important bird areas (IBAs): Honde Valley (along the Pungwe Ecosystem) and the Nyangani Mountains form a major part of the globally important Eastern Zimbabwe Mountains Endemic Bird Area (EBA) which has a number of near endemic species such as Swynnerton?s Robin Swynnertonia swynnertoni, Briar Warbler Oreophilais robertsi and Chirinda Apalis Apalis chirindensis. In recent years the patchy montane forests in Honde Valley have become birding meccas of recent years. Birdlife Zimbabwe has reported increasing threat to these Montane forest patches of the Nyangani eastward facing slopes and Honde Valley and point to an increasing need to protect them.

(c) Proposed approach
This project aims to promote natural resources based livelihoods enhancement initiatives hence biodiversity conservation and wider catchment management activities will form the main activities across all participating wards. Protection of natural ecosystems through using sustainable agriculture techniques, reclaiming degraded areas and enriching the forest biodiversity through indigenous trees planting will ensure a sustainable base for production. Honey and crafts production rely on directly harvesting raw materials from the wild hence it is important to maintain the productive capacity of the natural forests by planting more trees and bamboo and protecting forests against environmental threats such as deforestation, fires and gulley formation. Establishing bamboo plots will ensure a sustainable supply of bamboo for craft weaving. Soil conservation will be achieved through the use of conservation farming techniques particularly for the production of yams that are grown close to waterways. Enriching forest areas with bamboo will be expected to improve soil structure ? bamboo is known to hold soil together and reducing soil erosion. Bamboo roots are shallow and hence enrich top soil and binds soil particles together.

To effectively implement conservation activities, the project beneficiaries will be organised in Natural Resources Management (NRM) groups ? in each village. The village NRM groups will be responsible for developing their own conservation plans and promoting awareness within the wider communities.

Biodiversity conservation and wider environmental management anchors agro biodiversity enterprise development. The project has identified seven (7) existing and potentially viable agro biodiversity enterprises across the valley which will be supported. The seven enterprises are organized around four product lines namely Crafts, Honey, Tubers and Fruit Juices all local products from the Valley (Fig 1). The product clusters will mobilize other primary producing households to increase scale of supply. The core group will be assisted to create and manage a network of primary producers who, by virtue of the benefits being increased through the project, are expected to be the main protectors of the environment and resources therein. The project will then support product development to produce a range of quality products that will be referred to ?Honde Biodiversity Conservation Enterprises? similar to the Swazi Secrets concept. The project proposes to establish a Community Processing Center at Hauna Business growth point which will accommodate the processing units of the 4 products.

This is a benefit driven biodiversity conservation project in which market interventions are expected to increase income from agro and natural biodiversity enterprises and hence motivate entrepreneurs to invest in conservation initiatives as well as the production of a diversity of crop. This project is grounded on the principles of participatory planning and implementation of natural forest areas management and related conservation, ownership, creating inclusive value chains and focusing on women and the youth. The specific business approaches include clustering producers, creating one brand of a family of products, centralised processing and capacity development and organising conservation roles and responsibilities at village level. The business structure is presented in Fig 1 below for emphasis on the business approach.

d) Rationale/justification for the project.
The following factors provide justification to this project.
(i) The current small agro and natural resource based informal enterprises have potential to sustain livelihoods and motivate active protection of the environment. In an effort to sustain their livelihoods under increasingly difficult economic environment, several communities in Honde Valley have come together to establish small natural and agro biodiversity enterprises derived from local indigenous crops and natural resources. Some were established out of their own initiatives whilst few were supported by humanitarian agencies. All, except two enterprises have grown beyond their initial stage. This is despite their innovativeness and their potential to deliver real income to the households and to meet the needs of a growing indigenous products consumers market. A number of factors currently prevent the development of such activities. Many of these factors are production-related, especially with respect to environmental threats affecting production, size of operation and lack of key resources. They also face marketing problems due to seasonality of production, poor access to markets, and lack of marketing resources. Without systematic investment into natural resources based management, sustainable production, value addition, they remain underdeveloped. Increasing the availability through their increased production and accessibility of these products to the market through processing and marketing will generate income for the producers and processors, diversifying the livelihood base and improving the food security of the households. There is evidence that value addition and markets development support towards smallholder producers of natural resource based products, drawing from experiences of two community project so far, directly impacts positively on households and motivates protection of the environment ? the resource base. Viability of conservation enterprises and sustainable natural resource base management and biodiversity protection are mutually reinforcing.
(ii) There is growing interest among consumers in traditional products that are true to their roots and are derived from conservation success stories: Globally, there is a rapidly increasing market for original products from local plants produced by indigenous and local communities in an environmentally friendly manner. In food and crafts industry the demand for new and different products from previously unknown plants continues to expand creating opportunities for investment by local communities. Although accurate figures are hard to obtain, the global market for natural plant products is in excess of $100 billion according to Agribusiness in Sustainable Natural Africa Plant Products (ASNAPP) (2006) Despite the successes of some of the indigenous products within Zimbabwe coming through brands like Tulimara, Utsanzi and others, investment within local communities is still very minimum and endowed communities like Honde community, are yet to make any systematic attempt to commercialise any of its indigenous crops and other natural biodiversity resources for optimum benefit.

Honde valley with its yams, bananas, sugarcane, bamboo crafts and a range of indigenous fruits and ginger has a wide range of traditional foods and crafts business opportunities to choose from. Few cottage industries are developing within Harare, operated by middlemen who traverse the country in search of raw Zimbabwean indigenous produce to process into high value traditional products. Innovative market based interventions, value addition and beneficiation at local level are highly essential to increase income. As the sector develops it is important to make the value chains of local products more inclusive of local producers by adding value to the products at local level. After all, the local communities have the local knowledge in production and processing skills that need to be tapped to bring value to them. This project will pursue the opportunities that are presented by this consumption pattern as Honde already produces a range of traditional products.

(iii) Wide agro and natural biodiversity is important to sustain diverse livelihoods options. Production of a range of natural and traditional agro products therefore needs to be sustained. Honde rural households depend on a diverse portfolio of activities and income sources. Yet this diversity in options is under threat from increased land pressure, climate change, environmental degradation and poor market performance of certain crops as already discussed above. There is need to invest in production and marketing that sustains this diversity in options in order to achieve sustainable livelihoods. In particular there is need to make production and marketing of several natural products more meaningful to producer communities so that they continue to invest in these and the ecosystems that support their production. Maintaining production of a wide range of plant biodiversity produced under close to natural systems ensures retention of a rich pool of unmodified genetic resources. The project seeks to contribute to this.

(iv) The need to continuously support initiatives for climate mitigation is increasing: The environment is under threat and there is need to mitigate against the loss of ecosystems that provide communities with capacity to mitigate climate change.. Mitigation measures include practicing sustainable agriculture, increasing production per unit area, harvesting wild resources sustainably and restoration of degraded areas. This project will implement mitigation mechanisms to climate change in many ways including the construction of fuel saving stoves and farming of bees that reduce tree cutting and aforestation,.

(v) The project guarantees benefits to women: Processing of traditional foods is predominantly a female activity, practiced on a daily basis by the majority of women. Commercialising such activities responds to local needs, builds on local knowledge and skills and in most cases uses local resources. Women in Honde already participate in the local value chains from production to selling in informal markets. Barriers to entry into the business will therefore be low for women, youth and other poor local producers.

(e) Project location and profile of the project sites
Location of Project Sites
The project is located in Mutasa District, in Honde Valley (Fig 2). The Valley?s 10 wards cover the most northern part of the district. According to Zimstat (2012) Mutasa District has a population 169,657 from 42,479 households of which 53% are women. At a population of 64,507, Honde Valley accommodates 38% of the total district population. Honde Valley area falls predominantly in Agro-Ecological Region III. Major rivers that flow through the Honde Valley into Mozambique are Pungwe and Honde River and have a number of perennial streams that drain into them.



Fig 2: Map of Zimbabwe Showing Mutasa District, and the targeted Wards.

(f) The target community
The project is targeting local communities from Honde Valley drawn from six wards namely 1,3,4,5,6, and 7 and 17 villages. A total of 639 households, estimated 2800 beneficiaries, drawn from 20 villages across the six wards will participate. This constitutes 4% of the total population in Honde. From these wards nine enterprise groups and their producer communities will be supported. The table below summarizes the targeted community. These seven projects are Partners to this proposal and form the Honde Cluster.

Table 1: The targeted community

Enterprise Name Ward Villages # of HHs Males Females Youth Products
Produced
Nyahari 3 Timaremoyo, Dzira, Ndorowa, Mapota 98 40 44 14 Honey
Kubatira Pamwe 6 Pangeti
Mareya 156 34 120 - Honey
Towe 3 Panana, Dzira, Samutete, Timaremoyo 40 15 17 13 Honey
Japimukondwe Development Project 3 Gondo 57 23 24 10 Honey and Juice
Dowera Development Association 1 Sadondo, Sagambe, Mupereti
Makwenzi 42 18 24 12 Juices and Tubers
Zindi Women?s Group 3 Chiteme 25 - Juices and Ginger
Women of Pfumai Arise 3 Pfumai 50 33 11 6 Bananas and Ginger
Tazvipira Group 3 Samutete, Panana
Mureka 46 35 55 5 Tubers and Fish
Honde Weavers Association 3,4,5,1 Various villages 150 98 52 23 Bamboo crafts
Total 6 At least 17 639 296 372 83 4 categories
2800 Beneficiaries

The groups were selected using the following criteria: (i) have commercial orientation, (ii) are community based initiatives and have been established through community initiative and received minimal or no external support. (iii) are based on indigenous natural products, and (iv) women are actively involved.

(d) Relevance of the project to the GEF/SGP Country Programme Strategy
The primary focal area for the project is Conservation of Biodiversity. Climate change is a secondary focal area under this programme. The project falls under the Capacity Development category of projects and seeks to develop the capacity of the targeted groups to managed viable biodiversity enterprises. Cluster approach to project implementation is one of the GEF/SGP?s implementation strategies which allows communities from a wide geographic area facing similar challenges can focus on specific issues for wider impact. This project will target communities across the valley drawing from groups that are currently involved in agro and natural biodiversity enterprises and conservation initiatives. Biodiversity business development is also an important strategy. The project is being implemented in Honde which forms the Pungwe upper catchment. Pungwe is an international river which is shared by Zimbabwe and Mozambique. Protecting the biodiversity of international water courses or of major river basins closely relates to one of GEF?s priority areas of focus.

1.2 Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the project

Nature of the proposing organization:
STEP is a registered Trust (Reg # 000685/2011, Deed Protocol # 1/2009) that was established in 2009. It has a national office in Harare and supports a wide range of rural community institutions located in areas with high tourism potential. Honde is one such area. STEP is an outcome of an organic development of individual experiences in the field of environment, rural development and tourism. A consortium of 6 specialists decided to put in place the STEP initiative. The specialists form the Board and are responsible for designing the programmes and providing strategic leadership.

Purpose and core activities of the proposing organization/group:
STEP?s calling is transform the living conditions of local marginalised communities and enterprises through supporting sustainable tourism initiatives and related natural resources based enterprises and facilitating ecological, physical and policy environment conducive for their sustainability. STEP facilitates (i) the establishment of viable community managed natural resources based enterprises through business skills development and market linkages, (ii) the management of catchments that support community based natural resources based and tourism services, products and activities and (iii) the conservation, rehabilitation and preservation of cultural and heritage assets including local knowledge and skills.

STEPs target groups:
STEP targets Rural and urban communities residing in unique terrains and ecological landscapes with potential tourism value including those bordering protected areas; Community Ecotourism Initiatives; Community enterprise groups producing for the tourism value chain; Women, Youth, and Policy makers.
Organizational approach for project implementation:
STEP?s approach to implementation is community led visioning, planning and implementation of interventions. In enterprise development, STEP will adopt market led value chain development which is centred on inclusive business approach and supported by organising, training and exposure visits. It is expected that benefits derived from natural resource based enterprises will motivate and sustain environmental management in the targeted areas. The project intends to deliver the project through setting up a formal self managing but closely supported Honde Valley agro and biodiversity Enterprise Group/Cluster drawn from current small projects. The executive of the group will be responsible for mobilizing and coordinating producer group activities. Each product will be championed by a group under a Business unit ( Crafts, Honey, Juices and Tubers) which will oversee the plans for developing the enterprise. STEP will oversee the coordination of the project and provide technical support in the areas of project planning, budget administration, business development and marketing support.

Length of existence and project management experience if any:
STEP has been operating for the past 4 years and has development projects management experience in areas that it is operating.

Organizational structure, governance and administrative framework:
A 6 member board of Trustees, governed by a registered Constitution, oversees the organization through the Executive Director. The Executive Director is responsible for the day to day operations guided by a 5 year strategic plan. The Board meets quarterly to deliberate on strategic issues. The Board has a Finance and Administration Committee responsible for guiding the executive on all Financial and Administrative matters. Currently STEP employs five full time employees, the Executive Director, Programmes Officer, Program Assistant, Field Assistant, Administration Officer and Care taker. The Executive Director, Mrs Anne Madzara is an Ecologist, Rural Development specialist and PRA trainer and facilitator with over 20 years practical experience in environment and development work. The Programme Officer, Ms Julia Rewayi is a marketing specialist with experience in entrepreneurial skills development and marketing. It also employs a field assistant, Luke Chingoza, who facilitates local level natural resources management planning and implementation and an administrative assistant, Ms Mukwati, responsible for finance and administration. Mrs Hazel Nyamunda, Accounting officer is a part time employee. The skills with STEP include Ecology, Participatory Planning and Implementation, Marketing, Business Development Tourism, and Financial Management.

STEPs competencies for relevant to the project:
STEP has been involved in a number of programmes that address issues relevant to the proposed project. In implementing these activities STEP?s staff members have gained vast experience in implementing programmes of a similar nature to the proposed project. STEP is concluding a three year project that was supported by the GEF/SGP. Implemented in Honde Valley, the programme supported the development of a new enterprise idea of commercialising the bamboo traditional craft products. The project also involved land degradation/sustainable forest management and addressed problems of biodiversity loss through reforestation, land rehabilitation works and awareness programmes. Related to business development, STEP has been involved in developing new products and markets including establishing business partnerships. STEP staff have been involved in various natural resources based rural livelihoods projects in almost all provinces in Zimbabwe including conducting studies on wood energy, women economic empowerment and conservation agriculture all of which will be informative for this project. STEP actively participates in the National CBNRM Forum under the Enterprises Working Group. It is against this background of experience that STEP draws its confidence in its ability to implement the proposed project.

Purpose and core activities of the proposing organization/group:
STEP?s purpose is to transform the lives of local disadvantaged communities through facilitating their involvement in community based enterprises and environmental management initiatives that enhance livelihoods and tourism value chain. The core activities include landscapes management, environmental awareness; small communal gardening support; business training and enterprise development; and development/refinement of community tourism products and marketing.

Membership and affiliation to associations:
STEP is a member of the CBNRM Forum of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Forest Working Group, Biodiversity Working Group and the Climate Change Working Group.

Collaboration with Communities, NGOs and Agencies
The targeted communities provide a wealth of experience in indigenous forest management and small scale processing techniques. Nyahari, Japimukondwe, Towe and Kubatira Pamwe groups are currently involved in bee keeping and to a limited extent, processing. Naturally, the bee farming forest clusters are closely protected against fires. Pfumai and Zindi women groups are have traditionally grown bananas and ginger and a familiar with local markets. Conservation farming techniques are applied to a limited extent although a few households practice it for maize production. 75% of the households in the targeted wards are involved in bamboo weaving, a traditional livelihood support activity that has been practiced for years. Across all the 18 villages, a few households have actively participated in reforestation although most people know how to identify local trees and to nurture indigenous tree seedlings under nursery or insitu conditions.

The project will work with other agencies namely NGOs and Government Departments as shown in the table below:

Table 2: Other stakeholders in the project and their roles
Name of Organisation Role in the project
AGRITEX Training and monitoring conservation farming techniques
Forestry Commission Tree Planting and Wood Serving Stoves promotion
EMA Natural Resources Management
Harare Institute of Technology Training in food processing and packaging
Standards Association of Zimbabwe Quality Standards
RDC Planning Monitoring and Reporting
International Rescue Committee Honey processing training
National Indian Bamboo Institute Training of Bamboo Weavers
British Council Eunic Project Training of Bamboo Weavers and facilitating Exhibition


1.3 Project Objectives and Expected Results

Problem Statement

The project intends to address the following problems:

(i) Environmental Degradation and Biodiversity Loss: The past two decades have seen unprecedented levels of environmental degradation characterized by loss of forest cover, siltation of rivers, increase in invasive Lantana camara, fires and gully formation. Degradation is associated with:
? Increase in land pressure (number of households in Honde increased by 7% in the last 10 years) leading to increase in land under cultivation and competition for grazing area;
? Encroachment into waterways (Pungwe and its tributaries have been most affected) for the cultivation of bananas, yams, sugarcane and other horticulture gardening due to increasing periods of low rainfall as a result of climate change;
? Deforestation resulting from increasing reliance of forest resources for firewood and livelihoods - 75% of households harvest bamboo for craft and other uses whilst an estimated 90% rely on fire wood for domestic use;
? Unsustainable wild resources harvesting methods leading to moribund bamboo clusters that reduce economic or social value of forests. Forests provide accessories for craft making i.e. tree bark and wild seed for dyes and climbers and creeping plants used as wafts during craft making. These are unsustainably harvested.
? Loss of bird habitats: Honde Valley and the Nyangani Mountains form a major part of the globally important Eastern Zimbabwe Mountains Endemic Bird Area (EBA) which has a number of near endemic species. Birdlife Zimbabwe has reported increasing threat to the Montane forest patches of the Nyangani eastward facing slopes and Honde Valley along the Pungwe and point to an increasing need to protect them.
? Increased use of inorganic fertilizers: Marketing certain agro-produce such as yams, sweet potatoes and bananas has stimulated use of organic fertilisers to increase yield per unit area. The use of organic fertilizers to grow traditional crops is slowly declining. Because these crops are grown very close to waterways, there are high chances of pollution from inorganic fertilizers.

(ii) Limited opportunities for value addition and access to markets for traditional agro and forest products: Honde Valley small holder farmers produce a wide range of traditional agro and forest products. The traditional agro products are produced in surplus and find their way into the local road side markets and large city markets in Mutare and Mbare. Income from sale of traditional agro-produce is low averaging US$40per household per month. Some of the key challenges that the farmers face include:
? Market access - limited opportunities for formal market access: transporting their harvested crops for sale to markets is a major problem. Roads are often inaccessible during the rainy season, forcing many farmers to short-sell their produce to middlemen. A lot of products go to waste during transportation or poor storage facilities at roadside markets resulting in high post harvest loss. A few contract farming arrangements have come up in Honde Valley mainly for bananas. However support is limited to a few communities who operate clustered production units. There rests of the producers still face market access problems.
? Oversupply of raw traditional products: Due to poor transportation and the low barriers to entry for production, the market systems suffer from an oversupply of traditional crop products.
? Limited opportunities for value addition: A number of community groups have explored opportunities for value addition of honey, tubers, ginger, wild fruits, yams, sweet potatoes, litchi fruit and mangoes with mixed results. Only one group has managed to graduate to formal small scale commercial enterprise. The rest have remained stagnant albeit they present great potential to meeting the needs of a growing natural foods market. The main problems these initiatives face include:
o Limited capacity to invest in value addition particularly to invest in equipment
o Poor production conditions, limited or no access to strategic business location for processing and storage and visibility
o Remote locations ? too far to attract good commercial partners
o Limited scale of production of quality products for meaningful returns,
o Majority of producers have little negotiating capacity
o Poor cohesion within producer groups and poor organisation of the producers,
o Lack of appreciation of standards particularly of the food sector and market requirements

To address these problems, the project proposes investing in value addition, establishing a central processing unit and storage space, providing incubation services, demonstrating potential of under marketed local crops, sustainable organic production, conservation farming and conservation of catchment initiatives.