Project Summary
69% of the Bhutanese populations totally rely on land for farming. In contrast, the policies and financial support to combat land degradation are at minimum due to limited resources and diverse priorities. Due to land degradation, resettling communities from severely degraded or from marginal land, which are prone/susceptible to land degradation, to a new place was the major focus program entailing huge government funds. There has been conflicts over drying water sources between communities and sometimes violent incidents leading communities to court for. There has been over-emphasis on promoting and introducing new hybrid seeds and seedlings rather than focusing on the improving and understanding the capability and suitability of land or soil for different land use types and improving soil fertility status through use of inputs such as fertilizers both (chemical and organic). There is also lack of resources in the areas of sustainable land management. The National Soil Service Center (NSSC) is required to bring from 4% to 15% of vulnerable dryland under ?sustainable land management practices? under the RNR 11th FYP, but resource allocation is not specific. A large proportion of the agriculture sector budget is allocated for development of infrastructures such as construction of farm roads and irrigation channels. Being a mountainous country with steep agriculture lands, fertile top soils are eroded during monsoons leading to nutrient impoverishment.

According to the National Soil Service center, 29 t ac-1 of top soils are washed away annually from dry land with slope ranging from 15 to 40 degree. In order to combat such land degradation phenomena, NSSC had come up with user friendly technologies which are easy to replicate by the rural communities. For instance, the bunding of dryland with grass hedgerows planted at fixed interval depending on slope helps in reducing the top soil loss by 45%. Similarly, protection of water sources with plantation and fencing drastically improves the drinking and irrigation water sources by quality and quantity. Establishment of stone bunds along contour line in dry land not only protects the soil from erosion but also eases the workability of the farming field. The plantation and protection with bio-engineering techniques in vulnerable site not only reduces the gullies and landslides catastrophe but reinstates the bio diversity and natural vegetation.

Under the BTFEC funded project implemented by NSSC, Up-scaling Sustainable Land Management to Combat Land Degradation and Climate Change Mitigation, certain gewogs in Mongar were not adequately covered due to lack of resources. Considering the SLM issue and ground validation, it was found appropriate and timely to implement SLP project Thangrong Gewog as a value-addition to the greater project. The project will cover two Chiwogs of Thangrong Gewog namely Atola and Lingkhar Gewog in Mongar District where farmers depend on subsistence farmers cultivating on steep-slope dry-lands. It will directly benefit 60 households of Atola and 67 households of Lingkhar chiwogs. The project Through the SLM interventions, 180 acres of land will be managed through hedgerow establishment, 150 acres contour stone bund, landslide stabilization and check dam construction in gullies. About 127 households will be trained on bio- engineering.
The project?s overall objective is to promote and implement sustainable land management practices and agro-forestry principles to improving ecosystem functions, natural resource-based livelihoods of rural communities and land productivity through capacity enhancement in SLM technologies amongst communities and key players.

Project site: The proposed project site in Atola and Lingkhar Chowgs in Thangrong Gewog in Monger Dzongkhag. In Thangrong Gewog, there are five Chiwogs with a total household of 353. As of 2013, the total population of the Gewog was 2,673 persons. Dry land agriculture is the dominant land use covering around 1,000 acres. Maize is the main cereal crop while potato is the main cash crop. Tseri cultivation is officially banned for environmental reasons, as a result farmer are now facing problem in managing and cultivating the dry land because of household labour shortage and other resource constraints. To address this issue, SLM would offer the best options of other land use types such as establishment of agro-forestry and terraced dryland. The topography of the village ranges from high mountain terrain with gentle to steep slope undulated with deep gorges.

1.3. Project Objectives and Expected Results

Objective: Combating land degradation for securing rural livelihood in Lingkhar and Atola Communities

Specific Objectives:
1. To promote and implement sustainable land management practices and agro-forestry principles that will contribute towards enhancing the income of rural communities.
2. To build the communities and institutional capacities in sustainable land management

Expected results
1. Sustainable Land Management experience scaled-up in Atola and Lingkhar Chiwogs under Thangrong Gewog of Monger District
2. Sustainable Land Management mainstreamed in Chiwog and gewog plans.
3. Communities and institutional (LG and government offices) capacity enhanced in sustainable land management.
4. Tools and approaches developed for land-use planning and decision making at Gewog level

1.4. Description of Project Activities
Under the expected out put 1, Sustainable Land Management experience scaled-up in Atola and Lingkhar Chiwogs under Thangrong Gewog of Monger District, the following are the activities.
Activity
1.4.1. Preliminary visits and workshops in the two selected Chiwogs
The project team will have inception meetings and workshops with the communities of Atola and Lingkhar Chiwogs with the support from the NSSC and the Gewog and Dzongkhag administration. Communities will be mobilized by the local government leaders and focal persons in the area. The objective of the meeting will be to sensitize people on the project, project resources and timeline, role of communities and stakeholders. The meetings will also chart ways to synergise other SLM related activities in the communities if it is already planned through other agencies. The extensions officers (livestock, forest, agriculture) will form part and parcel of the project.

1.4.2. Awareness program
Regular awareness creation on SLM to different chiwogs covering at least 150 households. The awareness will be centered in in four large villages. The awareness program will include lectures, video presentations, practical sessions and cases from other areas in Bhutan. The awareness program will be led by NSSC and extension officers with selected farmers from within and outside the project area but within the Gewog. The awareness program will be open to community members including men, women, lay monk, early school leavers, youth and senior citizens. Gender and social inclusion will be part of this project as it intends to cover all people for maximum project impact.

Though farmers are well aware of the SLM techniques, they are not aware of the accurate ways to do it and lack the knowledge on its long-term benefits, how to reduce costs. Such activities will also enhance the social cohesion in the communities.

1.4.3. Planning exercise for action plan development at Chiwog level.
Led by the extension officers and NSSC, Chiwog level action plan on SLM will be developed. The sole idea is to systematically prioritize the SLM activities in the Chiwogs for the project period and beyond. It will also enable to see the gaps and challenges for future planning. The exercise will allow communities to understand the planning process and motivate them in participating is local decision making such as land management which is core to their livelihood.

1.4.4. Procurement, transportation and distribution of materials
For the SLM activities field equipment and seedlings has to be procured, transported on time and distributed to communities for timely plantation. It involves simple procurement but strategic logistics management. As per the professional guidance from the NSSC, equipment and seedlings will be purchased as per the4 Gewog procurement system and as per the guidance of SGP/UNDP. As much as possible procurement will ensure quality over and above expenses. Transportation of seedlings and other materials will be conducted through hire of vehicles locally. The distribution of procured goods and services will be equally distributed to farmers/SLM adopters without leaving anyone.

Equipment List (tentative):
? Spade
? Pick-axe,
? Lever
? Shovel
? Gloves
? Ropes
? Nails
Seedlings
? Napier seedlings
? Fodder plants seedlings
? Bamboos
Others
? Chart papers
? Threads
? Measuring tapes
? Flip-charts

1.4.5. Training and Sustainable land management technologies and practices
Hands-on training on low-cost and area context sustainable land management technologies and practices will be introduced in the project sites based on NSSC?s experiences from within the country for effectiveness. SLM technologies includes as counter terracing, hedge row plantation, fodder trees/grass (Napier) plantation, check dams and bunds (for gully erosion prevention), education and training, usage of simple A-frames for contour drawing, soil and land management knowledge amongst others. This activity will be a major activity engaging farmers and stakeholders.

International day to Combat desertification will be also celebrated as part of this project activity.

1.4.6. Farmers incentivization
Providing incentives and support to encourage farmers to adopt SLM will go a long way in land management. A small incentive is necessary because farmers are small subsistence farmers for whom short term gains are more important than to wait to reap benefits from SLM technologies and approaches which takes 3 to 5 years to give the true benefits. The incentivisation process recommended by NSSC (Ministry of Agriculture and Forests) will be duly followed for transparency and accountability. The incentives are to compensate farmers securing their land under SLM technologies such as hedgerows, contour bund, check-dams (bamboo, log and stone), drainage, contour terracing etc.

1.4.7. Review meetings
Mid-term and annual review meetings will be held among farmers, stakeholders and project managers including technical officials and donors to review the progress, challenges and success of project activities as per the plan. It is an opportunity to assess the work progress and continue with the good practise. It is also an opportune time to resolve issues and discuss challenges so that the objectives and targets are meaningfully met. Mid-term review will be held during the mod of the project time-period and the other towards the end of the project before the closure of the meeting. The information from this activity will feed into the SGP?s Annual review and Planning meeting and towards the periodic report and final report that the project will deliver to SGP/Dzongkhag.

1.4.8. Monitoring and evaluation
The monitoring of project activities will be conducted on by-annually as per the work plan. The monitoring will be conducted in the 2nd , 4th, 6th, and 8th. The monitoring will be conducted by extension officers and gewog administration officer with a check-list of activities and deliverables. The report will be accordingly used to inform partners and donor of the progress. The monitoring will also include resource-use assessment and reporting.

On the evaluation part, the field information, data and pictures will be archived and fed to SGP for record and for evaluation purpose. The M&E will be done as per the logical framework in Annexure 1.


1.4.9. Reporting and closure of project.

The project reports will be prepared jointly with inputs from communities and stakeholders as per the template and required time frame. Photographs will be periodically taken for archive and institutional memory that will form part of the project report.