Objectives

QIFD recently received funding from the Inter American Foundation for a project in Savanette. This project is part of QIFD’s long-term engagement with both the local government and the civil society of Savanette and is intended to strengthen the agricultural sector and create economic opportunities through programs in:

1) agricultural development

2) natural resource management

3) micro-credit, and

4) training.

Among the organizations that will partner with us are Komite Developman Lokal (KDL), an umbrella group of community-based organizations (CBOs) whose mission is to create the conditions for reducing poverty and creating local growth in Savanette, and Sere Pou Lè W Bezwen (SPLB) a small community savings and credit institution founded in 1978 which now also runs a community store. The project will directly benefit approximately 300 residents of Savanette and will indirectly benefit the 35,000 inhabitants of the entire municipality.

In the long term, we aim to strengthen the capacity of KDL, SPLB, the local government, and other participating organizations to continue managing the project after two years. To achieve this, we will form the Savanette Project Management Committee (SPMC) made up of QIFD’s project manager, two KDL representatives, and one representative each from SPLB, a women’s organization, a youth group and the local government. The SPMC will coordinate the implementation of all activities with project staff, partner organizations and technical specialists. KDL will direct the SPMC and QIFD will provide technical support and oversight.

Implementation

In each of the four program areas, QIFD will carry out the following specific activities:

1) Agricultural Development. QIFD will help to establish an agricultural center to serve as the project headquarters and central location where farmers can receive training in agricultural practices and animal husbandry techniques, access materials and resources, and store seeds and grains.

To accomplish this, we will a) build the center on land owned by KDL and to which it holds the title; b) equip the center with computers, office supplies and a generator; c) set up a documentation center; d) create a demonstration plot for showcasing planting and soil conservation techniques; and, e) construct six silos. The center will also house the SPMC office. The center will be available to all community members and the SPMC will oversee its access and use. KDL will retain ownership of the center infrastructure after the Grant Period ends.

The agricultural center will house a shop where farmers can borrow or purchase agricultural inputs, such as seeds, tools and fertilizers. SPLB will relocate its agricultural shop to the agricultural center and will expand its inventory and services. QIFD will purchase tools, seeds, fertilizers, insecticide and veterinary medicines to stock the shop and SPLB will provide its current inventory of tools as in-kind counterpart. Specifically, the shop will create a seed bank to lend seeds (black beans, red beans, Congo beans and corn) to CBOs and their members to be repaid in kind. After approximately two years of project activities, the shop expects to advance 50 percent of seeds in kind and 50 percent will have to be purchased per loan. Loans for seeds will average approximately US$150 per farmer, not to exceed $US250. The grantee will establish a system to maintain the quality of the seed stock. In addition, the shop will lend tools to participating CBOs for collective use. The value of tools loaned to CBOs will not exceed US$500.  The shop will also sell tools, seeds, fertilizer and insecticide, and veterinary medicines to individuals in the community at large. All profits will be reinvested in the shop to maintain the stock, cover inflation and guarantee the availability of goods.

Additionally, the project seeks to revitalize the agricultural sector by establishing a number of agricultural sites on community-owned land to be managed by participating CBOs. These include: a) about 15 nurseries to produce quality seedlings, such as peppers, carrots, cabbage, onions, leeks, citrus, avocado, coconut and banana; b) approximately six community gardens to generate capital from sale of produce that CBOs may invest in small community projects, such as infrastructure, reforestation, health or education; c) approximately six demonstration plots for showcasing agricultural techniques and providing training to beneficiary farmers on topics such as soil preparation, composting and grafting; and d) approximately six goat micro-farms. CBOs will manage the farms and will breed goats for sale as well as for donation to vulnerable families: approximately 50 percent of donated goats for female headed-households with children and about 50 percent for elderly households without a steady source of income. The gardens and goat farms will lay the groundwork for two cooperatives: a corn and bean cooperative and a goat-breeding cooperative.

2) Natural Resource Management. QIFD will promote environmental conservation by a) providing training in conservation and reforestation techniques to members of participating CBOs; b) replanting three types of seedlings: trees for income generation (fruit trees), trees for soil conservation (hardwoods) and trees for charcoal production; and c) coordinating with farmer CBOs and the local government to develop and disseminate a community-based campaign on environmental protection and community mobilization for natural resource management.

3) Micro-credit. QIFD will strengthen the capacity of SPLB to provide financial services to the community. QIFD will accomplish this by a) providing training and technical support to SPLB and participating CBOs in topics related to credit, agribusiness and enterprise development; b) providing technical support to SPLB in updating its credit regulations and developing new terms and conditions for its loan funds; c) disbursing funds to SPLB to capitalize an existing loan fund provided by SPLB as counterpart; and d) monitoring SPLB’s management of the credit fund, which will benefit participating farmers as well as small business people and market women, with maximum loan amounts of $1,000 for economic development activities, such as agriculture, commerce and small business development.

4) Training and Capacity Building. QIFD will support all project activities with training and capacity building. The project will provide roughly 200 days of capacity-building activities to a total of approximately 300 beneficiaries through training courses, seminars, conferences and thematic forums. KDL and the SPMC will participate in all training sessions with the objective of reproducing the training sessions with affiliated CBOs and other local organizations. Training topics will include: project and organizational management, governance, public/private partnerships, credit, participatory research, information technology, animal husbandry, agriculture and soil conservation, women’s leadership and conflict resolution, among others. Training participants will come from beneficiary organizations and will be chosen according to the relevance of the topic to the person and/or organization.  

In addition to the four components outlined above, the QIFD will also help to conduct a participatory assessment of land use in Savanette. The study will explore policies and incentives that may slow the pace of land fragmentation in Savanette. QIFD will also establish a task force on economic alternatives, which will explore alternative income-generation opportunities, such as agro-processing.