The proposed project builds on and consolidates the achievements made so far by the Youth-Led Environmental Conservation of the Kangari Forest Reserve project and to replicate the existing IFAD/MAF funded Agriculture Value Chain Development Project (AVDP) implemented by the Organization to help rural farmers in five (5) communities in Kunike Barina Chiefdom, Tonkolili District to develop and rehabilitate 50 hectares of Inland Valley Swamps (IVS) for the adoption and upscaling of Systems of Rice Intensification (SRI) on group farms. The project understands that it will not be possible to demonstrate widespread adoption and impact of the GEF SGP R3 activities within the length of the project (12 months), as this will probably only cover at most one agricultural
season (April to October 2023). The focus of this project is therefore to introduce the concept of
community management of natural resources through innovative technology to both the youths resident in the targeted communities and other actors, to sustainably manage the area referred to as buffer zone linked to the Kangari Forest Reserve in Tonkolili District through piloting a community led natural resource management approach that could be scaled up to other protected areas in the country and by addressing the threat of climate change through the adoption of a Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) approach. The project also intends to expose communities to a range of options for sustainable use of natural resources. It is hoped that the outcome of this project will be both learning on community management of natural resources in the socio-economic context of Tonkolili, and a basket of farming approaches and natural resource management tools that had earlier been tested by either International Non-Governmental Organizations/Research Institutions or Government Agencies and approved by the communities. The project intends to solve the problems of low agricultural productivity due to lack of the introduction of technology and innovations in the agriculture value chains in the targeted district hence impacting negatively on food security and livelihoods of vulnerable households scaling up aquaculture initiatives to increase fish based protein production, diversify income of fish farmers and improve youth employment prospects. The goal of the project is to contribute towards poverty reduction linked to the environmental management of natural resources in Tonkolili District; the objective of the initiative is to generate employment within the youth sector as a mechanism for safeguarding the Kangari Forest Reserve and also helps alleviate rural poverty, through the provision of training in small business and enterprise development, grant and mentorship support to women and youth groups. It is envisioned that this can only be achieved if the project supports and works with youths, women, farmer groups and officials of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, the Ministry of the Environment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Tonkolili District Council (TDC), Chiefs and other local stakeholders to introduce appropriate innovative technology to help improve productivity, sustainability and resilience in the aquaculture and agriculture sectors. By introducing technology along the agricultural value chain, the food and
agriculture sector is expected to provide healthy, safe and nutritious food for the growing population, while at the same time preserving available land, water, and biodiversity resources, and responding to climate change challenges. To meet these challenges and respond to opportunities, the two sectors will need to embrace innovative approaches to improve productivity and incomes in a sustainable way.
The specific changes this project seeks to achieve are the following:
? Improved quality and quantity of food production to improve food security.
? Increased incomes to meet on-going household food and non-food needs.
By the end of this project we expect that 100 poor and vulnerable households? agricultural production and income will have been boosted and their future livelihoods safeguarded.