BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT

To allocate funds directly into the rural communities and their CBO has been a great challenge to the GEF/Small Grants Programme in Ghana. This is because most community groups lack of solid managerial competence to formulate their projects and the governance and financial structures to maintain them. Poor management of logistics and the inability to sustain projects after funding has ceased has also characterized most of the projects. The success of a project executed by a community depends on technical competence and commitment of the local people to their objectives.

Although it is a real challenge to allocate funds directly to communities, yet it is the only safe way that the communities would obtain a true project empowerment. Further, it helps the people to develop new abilities that would raise their self-esteem, which will make them key people in the collective investment and in the horizontal development of relations with the programme. However the most important part of all this is that the community receives the funds and manage them, establish internal controls and assume technical and management control over the project resources in order to achieve the desired goal and objectives.

The SGP is making a lot difference in the life of rural people who are gaining self-esteem, self-confidence, respect and being motivated. The main goal is not to give money to people so that they can buy or build things, but to help them develop their own skills in order to become pillars of development in their communities.

Whenever, communities have engaged consultants to prepare project for them it was not possible for the people to choose what they wanted because the consultants do not fully understand the community needs and aspiration. Working within time the consultants will always set their agenda and submit final reports without the communities knowing fully the contents. In such situations, the project becomes unsuccessful and unsustainable. Asset-based community development (ABCD) has become an innovative strategy for community-driven development in rural communities. It is a response to dramatic changes in the social, political and economic landscape. However, such strategies are not being applied when formulating rural projects

2.2 DEFINITION OF PROBLEM

Most pro-poor communities are unable to access GEF/SGP funds because they are unable to meet the conditions. In situations when project are approved, their execution capacity are poor during the project life-time and become unsustainable when funding ceases.

The reasons for poor execution of projects are

? Inefficiency in project implementation strategy and inadequacy of requisite skills in project management.
? Unrealistic expectation and demands on the part of beneficiary- communities, local and public organizations, and other relevant stakeholders.
? Low level (or total lack in some cases) of collaboration between GEF-SGP assisted or partner organizations and other relevant stakeholders (public, traditional authorities and government).
? Overdependence on GEF-SGP funds for project implementation and running of the projects.
? Lack (inadequate) of community entry and grassroots participation skills.
? Ineffective networking among local organizations and line agencies.

The effects of such situations has been

? Over-reliance in external experts and consultants at the expense of project personnel.
? Apathy on the part of very strategic stakeholders.
? Non-realization of project goals coupled with a worse post-project situations compared to the pre-project era. Mobilization therefore becomes more difficult than before whilst the ?bad? situation persists waiting for ?solution? nobody is capable of providing.
? Unsustainable projects as they implemented half-way. Uncompleted projects very soon become white elephants no one wants to identify with.
? Suspicion of project and all its associates (GEF-SGP inclusive). Apathy, or even hostility sets in and all financial and material resources and man-hours invested go down the drain as no one really cares about the project. At best, the project is hijacked by the group?s leader or a set of individuals.
? Experiences of other organizations and communities are not tapped for the benefit of the implementing groups and target communities.


2.3 Project Objective

The objective of the project is to train and empower local organizations in assets-based community project formulation, participatory project management monitoring, and evaluation in the GEF/SGP focal areas, and network environmental CBOs and NGO at district levels.

2.4 Project Rationale

Under the Third Operational Programme of the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme, Ghana intends to promote community-based initiatives that simultaneously conserve the environment and promote sustainable development through the implementation of local, community-based projects. This project aims developing the capacity of community-based organization to support the strategic initiatives by GEF/SGP and the GPRS by:
? Improving community forest and wildlife resources management capability through equitable sharing of management responsibilities and benefit flows to local stakeholders, especially the rural poor.
? Improving governance in the public sector such as participation, transparency and accountability.
? Mainstreaming collaborative resource management (CRM), by promoting the rights of farmers other marginalized groups building capacities and strengthening local organizations and institutions and
? Improving the community voice through the creation of a forestry fora network across the country to provide a space for interaction and give communities a voice; multi-stakeholder involvement in management planning; and the establishment of customer service centres in all the districts to improve service delivery.

2.4.1 Global Environment Benefits

The proposed project would develop local capacity in multiple global, national, and local environment benefits, within the context of sustainable development. These benefits would include: (a) community involvement in the conservation and sustainable use of terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity; (b) prevention and/or control of pollution of major river systems from illegal activities and domestic waste; (c) prevention and/or control of degradation of watersheds through unsustainable land use practices; (d) minimization of carbon emission from shifting agriculture and the use of inefficient wood stoves; (e) improvement in carbon sequestration through improvement of vegetation cover; (f) provision of alternative economic livelihoods for communities in the traditional area; (f) rise in community awareness levels in environmental management and conservation

2.5 PROJECT OUTPUTS/RESULTS

The expected outputs of the projects are

1. Local organizations trained in assets-based community project formulation, participatory project management monitoring and evaluation in the GEF/SGP focal areas

2. Capacity of CBO/NGO strengthened to support community-level activities in the GEF/SGP focal areas through targeted assistance and training, and expanded community access to public and private sector sources of technical support

3. Communications and outreach strategic for SGP experiences and demonstration of global benefits elaborated and implemented

4. Capacity for country level programme enhanced
3.0 DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES

Output 1.1 Local organizations trained in assets-based community project formulation, participatory project management monitoring, and evaluation in the GEF/SGP focal areas

Planned Activities

1.1.1 Identify NGOs/CBOs and service providers within the priority focal areas and put them into clusters for training purposes
1.1.2 Conduct human resource capacity needs assessment of the identified CBOs
1.1.3 Develop capacity building training manuals
1.1.4 Organize capacity building training workshops including Asset-Based Community project planning, participatory monitoring and evaluation.
1.1.5 Provide technical backstopping and follow-up to ensure that CBO apply the concepts in project proposal writing

Output 2.1 Capacity of CBO/NGO strengthened to support community-level activities in the GEF focal areas through targeted assistance and training, and expanded community access to public and private sector sources of technical support .

Activities

2.1.1 Organize regional and district capacity building and thematic workshops for NGOs and CBOs in priority geographic areas across the country.
2.1.2 Conduct special thematic workshops on Persistent Organic Pollutant (Dirty Dozens), EREMA establishment and management, land management, organic apiculture, and ecotourism and biodiversity conservation.
2.1.3 Strengthen the capacities of NGO/CBO platforms and develop a network of service providers to assist SGP Grantees in project management sustainability of benefits.
2.1.4 Develop a participatory monitoring and evaluation system that incorporates beneficiaries, service providers and the NGO/CBO platforms monitoring at all levels of implementation.
2.1.5 Develop networks and collaboration between different types of NGOs with the capacity to provide various levels of training and technical expertise.
2.1.6 Build district level linkages of NGOs/CBOs towards the implementation of strategic projects based on targeted landscapes.


OUTPUT 3.1 Communications and outreach strategic for SGP experiences and demonstration of global benefits elaborated and implemented.

Activities

3.1.1 Develop and implement a new country communications and outreach strategy for SGP.
3.1.2 Update, maintain, and popularize SGP website.
3.1.3 Develop and disseminate case-studies, periodic reports and monitoring and evaluation reports on SGP operations.
3.1.4 Share experiences through site visits, workshops, photo and video documentation and other means.
3.1.5 Bring programme and projects to attention of the media.

Output 4.1: Capacity for country programme level management enhanced

Planned Activities
4.1 Strengthen the capacity of NSC to effectively participate in the SGP activities in country and in the sub-region.
4.2 Provide training for Volunteers, National Service Personnel and internship schemes to enhance the activities of SGP in the field.
4.3 Develop linkages with other environment funded programme in-country to synergize
4.4 Organize field visits with media practitioners, donors etc to understand the field activities of the SGP.

4. PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION ARRANGEMENTS

4.1 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION

The Grassroots Organization for Sustainable Development (GOSD) will implement the project. In collaboration with NGO platforms at national and regional levels, GOSD will identify local organizations to be trained. These lists will be submitted to National Steering Committee for vetting before proceeding to conduct the training. GOSD will liaise with relevant provide technical inputs for the implementation of the proposed activities.

4.2 Project Management

A multi-stakeholder Project Steering Committee (PSC) will be established at regional levels made up staffs from the Environmental Protection Agency, Forestry Commission, District Assembly and NGO platform to provide policy direction and oversight responsibility for project implementation, and will ensure that funds are used solely for the purposes for which they were earmarked. The Committee shall meet every quarter to review project implementation. GOSD will dedicate two of its field officers to be responsible for reaching out to the trained CBOs to assist them in project formulation and participatory monitoring. The will also assist to develop the project management.

4.3 PROJECT FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ARRANGEMENT

A project account to be managed by the GOSD will be opened. Quarterly financial reports would be send to SGP.

4.4 PROJECT MONITORING AND EVALUATION

At the inception of the project, detailed monitoring indicators and a performance measurement framework (PMF) would be developed to guide project implementation based on the GEF/SGP guidelines. The monitoring system would be put in place right at the outset of project implementation to measure the performance of the CBOs and NGOs

The Project management team will submit detailed project performance reports every quarter and submit end of disbursement project report to the GEF/SGP. A mid term review will be organized at the end of the second disbursement and an end o project evaluation in the last month of the project.

The local organizations would be trained in participatory monitoring processes to enable them measure their own performance as well as the performance of all other collaborating agencies. Training programmes will include evaluation sessions using questionnaires, group evaluation forms and open discussions.

4.5 REPORTING SYSTEM:

The following reports resulting from monitoring and evaluation activities would be provided as indicated:

1. Project inception Implementation Plan (once)
2. Baseline report on the capacity of CBOs in the priority areas
3. Project Monitoring and Evaluation Indicators based on GEF/SGP global impact indicators
4. Project Performance Measuring Framework
5. Annual work plans indicating training programmes
6. Schedule and detailed budget for key activities.
7. Quarterly financial summary reports (financial monitoring)
8. End of disbursement and annual progress reports (implementation monitoring)
9. Annual and quarterly financial reports