Project Detail

Hlapalimane water harvesting, Beekeeping and horticultural project

Ha Hlapalimane, like most of the areas of Lesotho has a number of unique environmental, biodiversity and water resources challenges which negatively affect food security and livelihoods of community members. Poor agricultural practices, and poor management of water resources has exacerbated land degradation. The project will address food insecurity and livelihoods by improving horticultural production, water harvesting, and beekeeping. The project will target resource-poor and vulnerable households of Hlapalimane within the Qacha?s Nek Urban Council, and directly benefit Ha e Hate Ka Maro Hlapalimane Association. The Association has a membership of 13 members, all of whom are women.

Hlapalimane Water Harvesting, Beekeeping and Horticultural Project is one of the nine projects approved by the GEF-SGP National Steering Committee as having potential to yield global environmental benefits while at the same time resulting in improvement of the livelihoods of the Ha Hlapalimane

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community. The project will also improve the protection of important biodiversity and water resources critical for improved horticultural and honey production. The project will address sustainable agriculture, and food security in three areas: production of high value vegetables and fruits; water harvesting; and beekeeping. The Project will be implemented over a period of 24 months.

While awaiting full funding from GEF-SGP, Association members continue to propagate fruit trees in their homesteads with the aim to generate income. In the past years, they were selling their fruit trees to the Ministry of Forestry, Range and Conservation, but due to budgetary constraints, the Ministry has not able to buy fruit seedlings from Association members during 2021, hence the need to diversify market outlets. Association members also continue to grow vegetables in their gardens for home consumption and sale. At their project site, they have dug some holes with the aim to plant potatoes to kick start their project and generate income that will also contribute toward the budget of the GEF funded project.

Primary objective: To improve food security and water resources management for sustained livelihoods of Hlapalimane community by 2023.

Specific objectives: 1 - To equip Association members with knowledge and skills in sustainable vegetable and fruit tree production.
2 - To train Association members on beekeeping and protection of important biodiversity and natural resources management.

Rationale: The baseline survey undertaken during the design of the project identified land degradation, loss of biodiversity, and food insecurity as the key challenges in Hlapalimane. This challenge was further raised during consensus workshop/ meeting with stakeholder in the design of this project. The project meets the needs of the community to combat the threat of land degradation, water resource management, food security and livelihoods.

This project is in line with the ?Sustainable agriculture and fisheries, and food security? GEF focal area and also addresses the capacity development category. Poor soil management practices and soil infertility has led to a downward cycle of reduced land productivity and increased vulnerability of Ha Hlapalimane community. Ha Hlapalimane households rely on vegetable production and fruit tree propagation for their livelihoods as there is little or no alternative employment. Association members lack advanced knowledge and experience to put into effect improved horticultural production. If the situation is left unattended, nutrition and health standards at Ha Hlapalimane will continue to decline.

The project also aligns with the national strategies: the National Strategic Development Plan 2018/19 ? 2022/23 (Outcome 1.1, Strategic Objectives 6 and 7 - Improve Production of High Value Crops and Livestock Products; and Build Capacity of Farmers, Agricultural Institutions and Associations); the National Environment Policy 1998; and National Environment Act 2008. The protection of important biodiversity and water resources are also considered critical for improved horticultural and honey production for the Association, while at the same time improving livelihoods of the Ha Hlapalimane community. While awaiting full funding, the Association continues to produce vegetables and fruit trees in home gardens. At the project site they have dug some hole in preparation of potato planting, and income generated from the sale of potatoes will form part of Association?s contribution to the project.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Ha e Hate ka Maro Hlapalimane Association

Country:

Lesotho

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

OP7 - Y1 (Jul 20-Jun 21)

Grant Amount:

US$ 30,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 35,000.00

Project Number:

LSO/SGP/OP7/Y1/CORE/BD/2021/05

Start Date:

5/2021

End Date:

4/2023

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

- Water harvesting for irrigated vegetable production and protected farming - Beekeeping -Tree seedlings production for sale and own use, fruit production and preservation - construction of livestock drinking point outside the project side to deter herd boys from their livestock into project side for water - Brush control in adjacent rangeland and construction of fire belt around project site.

Capacity - Building Component

: The baseline survey undertaken during the design of the project identified land degradation, loss of biodiversity, and food insecurity as the key challenges in Hlapalimane. This challenge was further raised during consensus workshop/ meeting with stakeholder in the design of this project. The project meets the needs of the community to combat the threat of land degradation, water resource management, food security and livelihoods. . Poor soil management practices and soil infertility has led to a downward cycle of reduced land productivity and increased vulnerability of Ha Hlapalimane community. Ha Hlapalimane households rely on vegetable production and fruit tree propagation for their livelihoods as there is little or no alternative employment. Association members lack advanced knowledge and experience to put into effect improved horticultural production. If the situation is left unattended, nutrition and health standards at Ha Hlapalimane will continue to decline. To ensure that the Association have capacity and confidence to implement the project, the following trainings will be conducted for them: Governance and conflict resolution Project management Record keeping soil and water conservation and horticulture and marketing Tree seedlings production and propagation techniques: Fruit, indigenous, forest Beekeeping

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

A series of meetings and consensus building workshops were held during the planning phase of the project; and all were conducted in the local language, Sesotho, which is also one of the official languages of Lesotho. However, there are no indigenous peoples in Lesotho. Closest to the accepted definition of indigenous people, are herders and herd boys, who spend extended periods out in the cattle posts under very harsh conditions in search of good forage for livestock.

Notable Community Participation

Membership Ha e Hate ka Maro Hlapalimane Association is 100% women. Questions were raised during the Baseline Assessment Focus Group Discussion to establish reasons the female only representation. Reasons put forward include men focusing on activities with quick income turn around not long-term projects like the pone proposed. Another reason was men in the community viewing proposed activities as women?s work. During the Baseline Assessment and consensus workshop recommendations were put forward to entice men to join, especially during the upcoming project start-up phase where their labour is required. Members were also advised to start enticing men and boys within their families to join through persuasive but convincing ideas of potential benefits of the project.

Policy Impact

The project aligns with the national strategies: the National Strategic Development Plan 2018/19 ? 2022/23 (Outcome 1.1, Strategic Objectives 6 and 7 - Improve Production of High Value Crops and Livestock Products; and Build Capacity of Farmers, Agricultural Institutions and Associations); the National Environment Policy 1998; and National Environment Act 2008. The protection of important biodiversity and water resources are also considered critical for improved horticultural and honey production for the Association, while at the same time improving livelihoods of the Ha Hlapalimane community.

Gender Focus

The project has taken into considerations gender mainstreaming in its design in line with GEF SGP OP7 project indicators in Annex1. Membership Ha e Hate ka Maro Hlapalimane Association is 100% women. Questions were raised during the Baseline Assessment Focus Group Discussion to establish reasons the female only representation. Reasons put forward include men focusing on activities with quick income turn around not long-term projects like the pone proposed. Another reason was men in the community viewing proposed activities as women?s work. During the Baseline Assessment and consensus workshop recommendations were put forward to entice men to join, especially during the upcoming project start-up phase where their labour is required. Members were also advised to start enticing men and boys within their families to join through persuasive but convincing ideas of potential benefits of the project. Apart from gender issues and social inclusion, it was observed during the Baseline Assessment and consensus workshop that another challenge for this Association was lack of youth membership, and this also raised issues of project sustainability when current members age up. The Consultant recommended that members consider their project as part of heredity of their children, and proposed to share a form he developed in one of the NGOs where children are nominated as beneficiaries and that they have to show interest in project activities. The form will be shared with the Association through the District Coordination Office.

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

Through monthly monitoring and reporting, project activities and lessons learnt will be documented and be available for sharing. Documentation will be done by both beneficiary Association members and District Coordination Office. During the implementation phase, different follow-up and monitoring activities will be undertaken to monitor project activities so as to establish how Association members are adopting new skills and knowledge acquired following trainings. The District Coordination Office will share information and knowledge from this project to promote good practice, and scale up of innovations. Also, lessons learnt from this project will be publicized through the press. Field days will also be arranged, and site visits encouraged among Associations doing similar work for cross learning. Overall, the District Coordination Office will share project information with GEF to feed into the country program.

Project Results

- As one of the grantees for whom a planning grant was awarded, members of the Association were involved in every step of the project proposal development process, with the result that they have full ownership of the project and had the confidence to implement the project to completion.

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