The women of Belle Vue in the northern hills of Vieux Fort came together to establish the Belle Vue Women?s Kitchen Group, dedicated to establishing and managing a small three (3) acre organic farm in their community. By developing partnerships with the Ministry of Agriculture (Engineering Department), the Ministry of Equity, the community schools, family members, JICO and GEF SGP UNDP, they were able to raise a grant with all the requisite cash and in-kind co-funding. The project results were as follows:

Environment:
? 3 acre organic farm operational and producing vegetables and crops for use by group members
and for sale;
? > 20,000 gallons of storage for rain water harvesting established and available for the farm;
? Nursery established for seed germination; and
? Group members trained in organic principles and GAP methods.

Capacity Development:

? Women trained in soil conservation skills;
? Women acquired skills to produce compost and eliminate the use of toxic fertilizers and
pesticides;
? Women learned to interact with men in a work environment as leaders;
? One woman trained in composting and sustainable agricultural methods in Japan (scholarship)
and now shares her skills with other members of the community.

Economic:

? Short term employment was created for 13 members and their family (8 men and 5 women);
? Permanent employment was created for 2 women; and
? Revenue increased by US$1592 by the end of the project.

Gender:

? The women were the leaders in project design and development and the men joined them
during project implementation. The women were also the leaders in project monitoring and
evaluation, and report preparation.

Community Awareness & Education

? In addition to using face to face communications, the grantee introduced a Miss Organic
Princess Pageant, which helped to communicate the connection between organic foods and
health.

Challenges: (i) Some of the women who the group depended on for labour left the project, but remained part of the group when they realised how much labour power was required; (ii) Despite the water storage capacity created, it was not sufficient during the dry period; and (iii) The ?lack of support? from their Member of Parliament who was the Minster of Agriculture, prevented the project from having a wider impact.

Lessons Learned: Included the following:

(i) A more detailed risk assessment should have been done to help the group to anticipate the challenges they would face and plan accordingly;

(ii) More extensive training in farm management and control of weeds would help to anticipate and implement organic weed control methods earlier in farm management; and

(iii) More emphasis should have been placed on the business side of the project and in so doing, maintain the numbers dedicated to the project.