Project Detail

Practical Action on behalf of Gudyanga - Enhancing community based natural resources management through rehabilitation and protection of degraded areas to reverse land degradation in Gudyanga village - Changazi ward.

Gudyanga project lies in Changazi ward 20 of Chimanimani District in Manicaland Province. The area falls under Natural Region 4 which is a semi-arid area and is in the catchment of Save International River. The project is located in an area where food security is being threatened by erratic rainfall and soils depleted of their productivity due to over-use of inorganic fertilizers and poor land management patterns and systems. This has also disturbed the soil structure resulting in high erosion rates and loss of soil nutrients due to leaching. In Gudyanga community, evidence of soil degradation is seen through the sprouting of gullies ( with a reported case of a pupil from Gudyanga Primary School who drowned to death in a gully adjacent to the school). On the whole, high levels of environmental degradation have been as a result of unplanned farming practices leading to proliferation of gullies in the ward.

PROJECT GOAL
To reduce land degradation through sustainable soil, water and

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

PRACTICAL ACTION ON BEHALF OF GUDYANGA COMMUNITY

Country:

Zimbabwe

Area Of Work:

Land Degradation
Land Degradation

Operational Phase:

OP3 - Y1 (Mar 05 - Feb 06)

Grant Amount:

US$ 43,987.92

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 54,840.00

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 69,451.92

Project Number:

ZIM/SGP/OP3/Y1/CORE/2005/07

Start Date:

11/2005

End Date:

12/2007

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

All community based grantees take on a new responsibility in using and managing funds, that is opening and running a bank account, accounting for funds used, monitoring use and accounting to all members checking prices and obtaining quotations to use for purchursing etc. This is accompanied by an obligatory signature from a well informed person on accounting who trains the group on Funds use and management.,

Linkages gef projects

N/A

Policy Influence

N/A

Notable Community Participation

Practical Action will only facilitate project implementation while the community will be driiving the whole process with the necessary technical support from the local service providers.

Planning non gef grant

The Gudyanga community with support from practical action has received a grant from the EC to scale up the environmental protection initiative.

Replication of project activities

The project employed a participatory approach, conceived from the community itself and this arrangement makes it easier to be replicated by other communities. Through demonstrations done at Gudyanga primary school households have replicated some of the activities onto their homesteads. More than 150 homesteads have planted jatropha plants around their homesteads to control soil erosion and also as an alternative livelihood strategy.

Project sustainability

The project has strengthened the use of locally available resources such as stones and plants for environmental protection. The project members have been fund raising to scale up the environmental protection initiative to through non GEF funds.

Planning gef grant

There are plans to integrate other communities and support organisations within the save river basin into a medium scale GEF project.

Gender Focus

both women and men are actively involved in the implementation of the project.

Capacity - Building Component

discussions and training sessions will be conducted for local leadership and leaders of the cluster and groups so as to streamline and cement the various roles and responsibilities as demanded by the project.by the end of the project each ward will at least have 10 community based resource persons in soil and water conservation, organic and herbal gardening, nursery production and management of jatropha and sisal.the project will strenghthen the self organisational capacities of the communities so that they are able to collectively articulate their environmental and livelihood challenges.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

the local people are the forerunners in the project implementation.All local people are the indigenous Shona who live here.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

the poject seeks to raise awareness on the environment through an awareness raising and consesus building workshop which will focus on streamlining local institutional roles , responsibilities and traditional allocation , access and management of natural resources.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

the project indirectly influences improved livelihoods through gardening activities.

Policy Impact

this project builds on the national policies which provide for environmental education, awareness and the sharing of knowledge and experiences to increase the capacity of communities to address environmtal issues and engender values, attitudes , skills and behaivour consistent with sustainable environmental management, and that of the protection of International waters.

Project Results

15 gabion structures laid across the gullies have protected a 1.5 ha land area around the school. The look and learn tours conducted have demonstrated the usefulness of knowledge sharing among project members. The community review workshops were used as vehicles for increasing awareness on the project objectives and sharing project experiences between the Gudyanga community ad the two groups from Nyanyadzi. The community has established a 250m2 Moringa garden with support from environment Africa during the 1st quarter of the project. 200 Moringa seedlings were planted in the garden. More than 150 households have planted jatropha plants around their homesteads to control soil erosion.

The project has been building the capacity of the local leadership so that they are able to spearhead environmental protection and development initiatives with little external support. The project has also helped improve self organization and networking skills at the community level such that community leaders are now able to demand services that they require from local support providers such as AREX.

The project managed to mainstream livelihoods into the environmental protection intervention through the rehabilitation of the gullies around the primary school, which were threatening the school infrastructure as well as the security of the 862 pupils enrolled at the school. This project has therefore lead to a notable improved livelihood security.

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Indicators

Empowerment

Number of CBOs / NGOs participated / involved in SGP project 80

Biophysical

Hectares of globally significant international water body or marine and coastal protected area sustainably managed or protected by SGP project 150

Biophysical

Hectares of land sustainably managed by project 150

Biophysical

Number of national policies informed in land degradation focal area 1

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