Project Detail

Urban Regeneration and Sustainability: Port Loyola Urban Gardening

The proposed initiative investigates the correlation of environmental health, poverty and community well-being, and suggests the social and environmental values of reconnecting people with nature in the promotion of local action on global environmental issues. The introduction of Urban Green and productive spaces provides area inhabitants with opportunities for learning and growth as it instills a sense of responsibility and provides routes into education and/or employment. It investigates community gardens/ community productive landscapes as a form of rehabilitation of community environments as well as its people. Community garden systems create heterogeneous environments that integrate environmental restoration, community activism, social interactions, cultural expression, and food security. Within this context they serve as a unique vehicle for city rejuvenation as they provide a platform for learning within depressed areas of our cities addressing societal goals pertaining with the improvement of the quality of lives of participating communities, the promotion of environmental stewardship and promote community participation in civic life.

Hidden issues of food and nutritional insecurity becomes a driver and becomes a purpose for community involvement. By addressing directly the prevailing issue of inadequate access to healthy foods in the Jane Usher Boulevard Neighborhood (JUBN) the project opens avenues for community engagement and empowerment with the focusses of the project being an integrated community approach to city/ community rehabilitation. Urban green and productive spaces provide for basic investments towards local sustainable food sources as well as provide a central theme for community interaction, engagement and education.

The goal of the project is to develop productive small-scale green spaces that improve the local urban environment and improve food security for area residents.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Belize Enterprise for Sustainable Technology

Country:

Belize

Area Of Work:

CapDev
CapDev
CapDev

Operational Phase:

OP6 - Y2 (Jul 16-Jun 17)

Grant Amount:

US$ 50,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 87,217.50

Project Number:

BZE/SGP/OP6/Y2/CORE/CD/2016/10

Start Date:

10/2016

End Date:

8/2020

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

Development of knowledge products - Knowledge tools including a case study and website posts will focus on documenting the process and results of the project.

Project sustainability

Given that the YMCA has possession of Covered Structure, there is interest in furthering the relationships between and among the JUBN, the YMCA and other community organizations including the primary schools in the area. This, when it materializes, will augur well for the long term transfer of the benefits of this project to the wider Port Loyola residents. The YMCA intends to broaden its collaboration with other organizations, including the GEF - Small Grant?s Programme in this endeavor.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

Periodic knowledge events with media and academia ? Four events will be held to report on the project?s advances and to create awareness on the benefits of urban gardening. A launch of the project will be organized in the community.

Replication of project activities

The project merits further study and replication. It is more than likely that urban gardening is not presently occurring in the JUBN as a community initiative. However, the YMCA is successfully using the greenhouse for a similar type community gardening activity on a smaller scale within the neighborhood where the greenhouse is located. This shows that there is the potential for replication.

Capacity - Building Component

The project planning process has been keen and has taken all of the above into consideration: participants have expressed high interest in the project and commitment, the project development has been participatory, and community and leadership capacity development have been considered.

Notable Community Participation

The project will encourage the participation of young men in several actions including their involvement in seedling nursery management. Project capacity building activities will be crafted in such a way that they can contribute to skill building which are transferable to access to gainful employment and income. BEST fulfills this goal by engaging in the promotion of enterprise development and application of efficient business management training, the provision of credit, sustainable natural resource management and the participation of women and youth in the economic development of Belize.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The proposed initiative is expected to utilize urban agriculture as a vehicle for community transformation looking at the ?beyond food? benefits of community programming. It draws from global lessons and best practices in which urban productive spaces is positions as a central theme for consolidated community action and the fostering of community empowerment; advancing issues of equitable access to nutrition and good health, economic instability, and environmental degradation within communities.

Gender Focus

Women will be targeted by the project implementation and identified based on need of households. As women normally dictate dietary choices, the project will ensure consultation with female participants as decisions are made regarding garden varieties for planting.

Project Results

Structural flaws and implementation delays hindered the project-related activities. Support that had been anticipated from some of the organizations that pledged to assist with specific activities and materials did not come about in the time-frames that had been planned. Part of this structural flaw included insufficient funding to hire a full/part time Project Manager to adequately implement and monitor this initiative. With a project manager there would have been an organized and accessible documentation of events and project activities. In addition. a project manager would have clearly documented roles and responsibilities of the officers involved in the project. This would have prevented conflict and dissent among members.
From the outset there was a lack of proper and continuous sensitization of the community as to the project benefits that would be realized in a phased manner by all in the JUBN. Participants were to be made aware that the allocations to the project were not cash grants to members of JUBN and that there would be no instant financial returns for their efforts.
Socio-economic conditions were the major issues surrounding the proper execution and delivery of project components. The project was initiated in an extreme and the most deprived economic environment in Belize City where the day to day financial survival of residents prevented the prioritization of attending training sessions. Moreover, some members were of the mistaken opinion that the proceeds of the project would have accrued to them in direct cash rather than in the assets for the project.

Due to the dire economic situation in the JUBN material motivation and/or financial incentives offered to participants would have more likely resulted in broader participation and interest.

Another significant hindrance was a spate of crime and violence in the community, Activities had to be suspended at times for extended periods because the participants were afraid to venture out. Additionally, there were issues pertaining to neighborhood rivalry and conflict between some of the participants. This further delayed the already slow moving project. The situation was so dire that some leaders moved away from the community for their own security.
The location of the greenhouse within another neighborhood presented issues related to the social dynamics of moving between the two neighborhood. Even though the siting was largely for security reasons, having the structure in a different neighborhood could have contributed to some project ownership and buy-in issues for some members of the JUBN.
Furthermore. the low level of internal capacities, coupled with the level of literacy and competency of project participants, added to the lack of effectiveness of project activities.
This project could have been tried as a pilot study in another part of the city with a less extreme and more moderate environment. The lessons learned could then be transferred to and adaptions made to suit the more challenging environment of the JUBN.
This report was assembled using progress, interim progress and narrative reports along with email submissions from Dr. Carlos Itza, Mrs. Jane Bennet, Dr. Clara Cuellar and Mrs. Cynthia Ellis-Topsey. This report also included some observations, insights and suggestions of the author in the capacity of an independent, outside observer.
Thoroughness of this report was impacted by the elapsed time between project closure and the compilation of the report. This delay resulted in the loss of contact with some community leaders and added to lapses in memory pertaining to some details of events as supplied by contributors. Due to COVID19 and the National State of Emergency restrictions a limited scope for the end of project evaluation was conducted to comply with health and safety requirements.

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