1. Project Summary
The project consists of the setting up of a biogas plant and pig houses and initial pigs in Nyamakate village in Ward 7, Hurungwe District. This project plan is meant to offer alternative and renewable energy that can be used for household use and reduces, if not removes, the daily task of fuelwood gathering, which can, in areas of scarcity, be the single most time consuming task of especially a young woman's day - taking more than three hours in some instances. Freeing up energy and time for women in such circumstances often allows for other activities, some of which may be income generating, and moreso the use of firewood has caused mass deforestation that is harmful to the natural environment. The project also encompasses the setting up of a pigsty as a way of promoting young women and girls empowerment in Nyamakate community as well as the training them on climate change, sustainable development, women?s rights and the use of biogas as a means of energy in addressing climate change related challenges.

2. Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the project
Tag a Life International Trust (TaLI) is a girls and young women's rights Non-Governmental Organisation working to advance the rights and empowerment of girls and young women in Zimbabwe. TaLI?s mission is to create a safe place for girls and young women through building their agency and voice, so that they may create Movements, as well as engaging boys, men, communities and leaders to address gender norms/harmful cultural practices while advancing their rights. Recognizing that major challenges faced by women and girls emanate from them being economically vulnerable and dependant on others, TaLI supports economic empowerment and leadership participation of young women and girls through Economic Strengthening projects. TaLI envisions a ?Safe World? where girls and young women are free to dream, empowered to become whatever they want to be, a world where girls can make social and economic choices freely without negative influences from others but rather with community support. We envision a world where girls and boys are treated equally in every aspect of life, a world where children or young people will be allowed to be themselves enjoying their equal rights. The main purpose for the organization is to work at local and national levels to sensitize communities on girl?s and young women?s rights, to implement initiatives aimed at empowering girls and young women as direct beneficiaries and to advocate for a change in policies and laws that promote and affect girls and young women.

Tag a Life International (TaLI) intends to engage all relevant stakeholders throughout the project cycle. Having girls and young women as direct beneficiaries, we intend to make them take the lead in all activities so as to allow community ownership and sustainability of the project beyond its funding cycle. TaLI has been in existence since 2010. It is during this lengthy period that the organisation has improved on project management. Its experience is grounded on proper planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation which is results based. TaLI ensures that for all its projects there are clear goals and SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timebound) objectives so as to contribute to the anticipated project impact. The organization has systems in place to ensure proper and consistency management of projects. Responsible staff comply with set Standard Operating Procedures within the Programs and Projects Unit. Tag a Life International, is registered as a trust organisation MA000941/2010. Generally, TaLI works with girls and young women as primary/direct beneficiaries. For this specific project, the main beneficiaries will be young women ages 16 to 30, however women of reproductive age living in a rural community will be the target population in various other progrogrammes built in to this project. So as to have community support and gender and social inclusion, men and community leaders will be secondary beneficiaries as they will further benefit from the community project while participating in other capacity building workshops on various topics such as Gender Based Violence.

For the past three years, TALI has been implementing a project called the Leadership Economic and Mentorship Hubs (LEMHs) Programme which is a girls and young women?s leadership programme that aims to build their Voices, give them Agency, and provide Life Skills so that they may create movements within communities to represent their issues. One major theme has been on Climate Change and the Environment where the participants would go through this one year leadership programme, learn about all rounding women's rights including on climate and environment, and some choosing to be Champions and Advocates in climate change mitigation, awareness against land degradation and promotion of recycling of waste so as to sustain the environment. The programme is in 3 stages which are training, Youth Engaging Local Leaders (YELL) and Youth Engaging in Hubs (YEIH). It is within the YELL stage that our girls and young women have been creating community movements implementing projects on environmental management and community health. It is within this grant proposal that we intend to scale up on the small initiatives we have been doing and venture into bio/clean technology. TaLI has not been involved in any GEF SGP funded projects before.


3. Project Objectives and Expected Results


1.3a. Problem Statement
Deforestation has grown into a grave environmental threat in Hurungwe District, with the rate of deforestation increasing annually by about 15%. This increase in the cutting down of trees is a result of increased demand for firewood for domestic use as 85% of people in Hurungwe use firewood for cooking. Environmental problems caused by people are a direct result of an increasingly intensive and specialized agriculture. This is due to dependence on its natural resources which is a major feature of its environmental problem. There is excessive deforestation due to population pressure and agricultural expansion. Many tree species in Hurungwe are at risk as they can be cut down. This requires special attention to protect not a single tree species but rather the ecosystem as a whole. Deforestation is one of the severe environmental problems in areas where tobacco production is practised worldwide. Women and girls participate either as both victims and violators of the environment. They carry the burden of providing energy for the family which is largely fire wood, while also perpetrating deforestation against the environment due to lack of knowledge and alternatives.

Desertification and soil erosion are some of the effects of deforestation that are visibly noticeable in Hurungwe District. There has been measures by different stakeholders such as, NGOs, Government departments and local authorities to promote reforestation activities but however, the number of trees planted or woodlots established is unable to meet the ever-increasing demand for firewood. The project therefore seeks to provide alternative, renewable and sustainable source of energy for house hold use so as to reduce deforestation activities in Hurungwe District. Many engagement opportunities that come up exclude young women and girls yet they are as highlighted either the key victims of upaid domestic work and violators of the environment.

1.3b. Project Rationale
The project design is of great importance as it provides alternative source of energy for cooking. Instead of using firewood, women will use biogas for cooking and the gas will be made from excretion of domestic animals such as cattle, goats, donkeys, pigs as well as crop residues. This project design will reduce the cutting down of trees for firewood by almost 60% because women in Nyamakate community will no longer require firewood for cooking. This bio-innovation is the first of its kind in Zimbabwe but has been functional and effective in Kenya, India, Brazil, and quite a number of countries in Latin America. A good example would be in India South Konkan region of Maharashtra were biogas is produced and utilized as a cooking fuel by the villagers. In these respective countries, biogas technology has been rated as a vehicle to reduce rural poverty, and as a tool in part of a wider drive for rural development.

1.3d Overall Goal
The overall goal of this project is to provide sustainable and renewable source of energy to reduce deforestation, and increase community?s capacity to mitigate climate change.

1.3e Project Objectives
a. To provide alternative source of energy for cooking through the establishment of 80 m3 biogas digester in Nyamakate village, Hurungwe District by July 2022
b. To economical empower young women through the piggery production.
c. To raise community awareness on renewable energy, environmental management and sustainable development through training workshops.

1.4. Description of Project Activities
a. Project Inception Meeting
The project will start with an inception meeting at the District Level and at this meeting, TaLI will introduce the meeting to the stakeholder who will participate in the project. The purpose of this meeting is to enhance buy-in and support from the local stakeholders for the project to be a success. The stakeholders who will participate in this project include;
i. District Administrator (DA)
ii. Hurungwe Rural District Council (HRDC)
iii. Environmental Management Agency (EMA)
iv. Zimbabwe Energy Regulation Authority (ZERA)
v. Forestry Commission (FC)
vi. Ministry of Woman Affairs
vii. Ministry of Youth
viii. NGOs and Organisation dealing with women
ix. Community members especially women representatives from Nyakate village.
b. Project Initiation Workshop
The workshop will be conducted at the ward level and it involves introducing the project design to the potential beneficiaries, highlighting the key activities that will be involved and the challenges that will be addressed by this project. The workshop also explains what will be donated to them and what they are expected to contribute to the project. The workshop also covers issues to do with women empowerment, governance, project administration and also helping the beneficiaries establish strong management structures for the project. The workshop will be attended by the District Administrator, officials from EMA, HRDC, ZERA and Women Affairs. Ward Councilor, village heads, Headman and Chief will also be invited to the workshop. Nyamakate community members mostly women and girls, who are the project?s direct beneficiaries will also attend the workshop.
c. Baseline study
A baseline study is very important for the success of the project as it highlights the real situation in ward 7. It is through the baseline survey that the actual beneficiaries of the project will be identified. This will be done in form of survey and interviews. For monitoring the project, the baseline study is of core importance hence we are conducting before and project activities begin. Project evaluation will be based on the baseline study and its quality will determine the outcomes of the evaluation process as well. Thus it is very important to take care in deciding upon the indicators and which kind of data we will include and collect.
d. Construction of a Pigsty
This activity involves the construction of a pigsty with 4 compartments. This also include the purchase of gilt pigs, food and vaccines. Waste from pigs will be channeled to the biogas digester to provide dung to the biogas plant.
e. Construction of biogas plant
This activity involves the construction of a biogas plant for household use. This will also include the establishment of a gas scrubbing system, gas filling system on which gas filling processes will take place. Safety system, security fence and site office will be established. Gasification plant operators will also be trained on how to operate the system
Biogas Sustenance
i. Beneficiaries will receive adequate training on how the system operates as well as its maintenance. After the training, the best 9 who excelled more than others will then be selected to be the system operators to restrict many people from operating and/or tampering with the system
ii. Direct Project beneficiaries will buy biogas at a discounted price whilst non beneficiaries will buy at a normal price to ensure that there is a funding for the maintenance and/or repairs to keep the biogas system continuously functioning.
iii. The biogas system will be fed with waste from the piggery. People in Hurungwe domesticate animals such as cattle, donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs and chickens which provide waste that can be used for biogases. Thus, the beneficiaries will be collecting animal waste from the kraals, pig sties, fowl runs, paddocks etc. shepherds and young children will also be collecting animal waste from the gracing fields to supply for the biogas system.
iv. Plant residue from the fields after harvesting and in the gardens will also be used in for biogas making hence beneficiaries will be collecting the plant residues from fields and gardens to feed the biogas system.
v. The beneficiaries will also be collecting wild animal waste and dead plant residues in the nearby bushes inorder to sufficiently feed the Biogas system
vi. Pfundundu river, which rarely runs dry will ensure that there is adequate water supply for the biogas system to keep running
The project will be implemented in Nyamakate village and this village has a total of 33 households. With regards to this, all the 33 female heads/ members of households of this village are the direct beneficiaries of the project. These direct beneficiaries will participate in the construction of this plant and these shall be the administers of this system on behalf of the Nyamakate community.
Nyamakate village was collectively identified among other surrounding villages by the district stakeholders because it is the village with a high consumption of firewood for cooking, hence the one heavily involved in massive deforestation for house use.
f. Capacity building
Workshop on women empowerment and economic development will be central to ensuring the success of the project. There will be a workshop on;
i. Project Initiation Workshop ? beneficiaries will be trained on basic project management and administration skills, governance and leadership coaching.
ii. Training Workshop on Renewable energy, environmental management as well as sustainable development.
iii. Training workshop on Biogas system operation, maintenance and servicing ? the beneficiaries will be equipped with knowledge on how to operate, service and maintain the system functional. The best 9 beneficiaries who excel in understanding the system will be selected to operate the system with the approval and recommendation of the community and the stakeholders
iv. Training workshop on pig production beneficiaries will be trained on how to take care of pigs, how to set up as well as the management of pig production

These training workshops will improve the beneficiaries? capacity to sustain, expand and/or replicate the project components. These capacity building initiatives will be led by the VET, EMA, Forestry Commission, Ministry of Energy and independent consultants with support from BTZ and other supporting stakeholders.

i Monitoring and evaluation
The project will also access the project through Monitoring and Evaluation. Monitoring and Evaluation will be used to assess the performance of the project. Monitoring of the project is a continues process based on early detailed information on the progress or delay of the ongoing assessed activities. Evaluation is an examination concerning the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency and impact of activities in the light of specified objectives.
























Table 1: Objectives, activities and outputs
Objective Activities Indicators for each activity Outputs Outcomes
State Objective 1
To provide alternative source of energy for cooking through the establishment of 80 m3 biogas digester in Nyamakate, Hurungwe District by 2021 Activity 1.1
? Construction of a biogas digester (80m3)
? Construction of gas holders
? To provide 3 kg gas cylinders (33) Baseline:
? 60 % firewood used for household cooking
? Severe deforestation activities

Target:
? 1 biogas digester in ward 7.
? 9 women trained on system operation, maintenance and servicing Established biogas digester in Ward 7 community ? Sustainable renewable source of energy for cooking
? Improved time and quality of food cooked because of the efficient cooking system.
? 100%Reduction in greenhouse gas emissions
? 100% Reduction in deforestation for cooking purposes in Ward 7
Activity 1.2
? Installation and testing of gasifiers
? Training of gasification plant operators
? Purchase of 33 Gas cylinders Baseline:
? 66 % firewood used for tobacco drying
? Severe deforestation activities
Target:

? 30% of project women educated as gasification plant operators
? 25 women reporting on improved time and quality of food cooked using biogas

State Objective 2
To economically empower women through the establishment of a piggery. Activity 2.1
? Construction of a pigsty
? Sourcing of gilt for pig production
? Purchasing of food and vaccines Baseline:
? Currently there is no pig production in Ward 7
? Less than 10% economically empowered women

Target:
? 4 gilt for pig production
? One pigsty established in ward 7
? 33 womens attending piggery management and production sessions. ? One pigsty established in ward 7
? Economically empowered women in the community ? Increased knowledge on pig production in Ward 7
? Increased Awareness on women empowerment


State Objective 3
To conduct community awareness workshops on renewable energy, piggery, women empowerment and project management, biogas system operation, sustainable development and GBV.in ward 7
Activity 3.1
? Training workshop on Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development
? Training Workshop on Climate change and sustainable environmental management Baseline:
? 30% of population aware of the current developmental and environmental challenges

Target:

? 2 training workshops
? 33 household capacitated on renewable energy Well-trained community ? Behavior change towards environmental utilization and management
? Increased knowledge by women on the covered concepts
? Spreading of the knowledge to other wards and districts by the trained women
Activity 3.2
? Training workshop on project managent and women empowerment Baseline:
? 30% of population aware of the current developmental and environmental challenges

Target:
? 2 training workshops
? 33 household capacitated on renewable energy