1.1. Project Summary:
This project seeks to contribute to one focus area of the GEF/SGP Country Programme Strategy for (OP) 6 namely; climate smart innovative agro-ecology.

1.1.1 Climate smart innovative agro-ecology
About five years ago, the government of Botswana invested heavily in backyard gardens as a means of reducing poverty in villages and settlements. Upon introduction of the gardens, the beneficiaries` water bills shot up leading to the abandonment of the otherwise good project.

To address the above problem and also to adapt to climate change, we intend to set up 28 New Earth Gardens for poor households, in 4 settlements namely; Mahetlwe and Ditshukudu, Lesilankokong and Kotolaname. The New Earth Garden, is a CIPA registered utility model which uses a bottom up watering and fertilization technology that is environmentally friendly and comes with almost zero labour. The garden comes with three liquid organic fertilizers and one organic pest repellent. We are in the process of registering trademarks for these four garden inputs and also upgrading the garden model from a utility model to a patent.

Whereas in the first year we intend to focus on Mahetlwe and Ditsukudu, we intend to shift to Kotolaname and Lesilankokong in the second year.

This project will promote a sustainable method of horticulture which is less laborious (30 minutes of light work per week) and saves water by over 90% while increasing crop yield by 300%; benchmarking on drip irrigation, which is currently considered to be the most economic watering method in Botswana. The garden model is suitable for year round production of indigenous vegetables such as rotlwe, morogo wa dinawa, thepe e.t.c. Studies have shown that indigenous vegetables are less prone to diseases and pest attacks than exotic vegetables. Besides, there is no need for seed as we use the propagation method to domesticate the plants that ordinarily grow wild once a year in the fields. What that implies is that, our beneficiaries will have a mix of indigenous and exotic vegetables at any given time. Last but not least, this garden is mobile hence one can easily move with it from one location to another. This project will complement a gender equality project that is ongoing in the 4 settlements. Incidentally, the Office of the President, Poverty Eradication Department, has rolled out a similar project with us in some other parts of Kweneng. Furthermore, the Kweneng District Council has also approached Debswana for funding so they can use the same technology to implement their temporary destitute project.

In our selection of beneficiaries, we intend to work with existing district poverty eradication committees in targeting the poorest households first, followed by households for People Living with Disabilities (PLWD) and finally, poor female headed households as studies have shown that most households in Botswana are female headed and that women are poorer than their male counterparts.

A garden unit comprising 5 capillary trays (vegetable beds) has a capacity to hold no less than 100 exotic plants per tray and double or more with indigenous vegetables/herbs. Each exotic plant gives a yield of plus or minus ten vegetable leaves at any given time. What that means is that the beneficiaries will produce enough for their daily needs and dry or sell excess to cater for other basic needs like bread and milk. Watering is done once a week. Each 2m2 capillary tray would require only 20 litres of water per week. A similar size of a conventional vegetable bed with a maximum capacity of 30 plants would require 840litres of water per week assuming that one is using drip irrigation. What that implies is that 5000 litres of water harvested from the roof top, would be sufficient to sustain a five tray New Earth Garden for the whole year. The gardens use liquid organic fertilizer which serves two purposes namely, manure and weed killer. The fertilizer softens the soil as opposed to chemical fertilizers which harden the soil causing soil erosion. Both the capillary trays and fertilizer are manufactured by us through our income generating subsidiary organization called New Earth Promotions.

We intend to use a consultative approach for buy-in and down- up participatory approach for sustainability. To that end, we shall engage the community in target setting, participatory monitoring and evaluation.