SECTION A: PROJECT RATIONALE AND APPROACH
1.1 Project Summary
The Flora Movement Trust is proposing to embark on a project to build the capacity of local communities to address challenges arising from biodiversity loss and land degradation in six villages namely Makumbe, Munemo, Zhanda and Chirimuuta 1, Chonyera and Murungweni villages of Mawanga Ward in Goromonzi District. This is part of efforts to improve community responses to biodiversity loss and land degradation. Mawanga Ward is one of the several wards identified by Flora Movement through a rapid assessment as having challenges in biodiversity conservation and land use management. Two main gullies in Makumbe are going to be reclaimed and a wetland in Munemo area is also going to be conserved. Land use management and biodiversity conservation are the two most crucial components to community sustainable livelihoods. Like most rural and peri-urban communities in Zimbabwe, the six villages located in Mawanga ward are faced with an increase in the proportion of households living in poverty conditions arising from inefficient land use practices and biodiversity loss.

Through an earlier on cooperation with ZERO in the adjacent Munyawiri ward of the same district, Flora Movement would want to replicate some of these initiatives in Mawanga ward. The action to be replicated in the four villages was proposed by the communities as they have seen the benefits in Munyawiri ward. Flora proposes interventions such as afforestation and reforestation, conservation of woodlands and fauna species, gully reclamation, organic farming, drilling and protection of deep wells, preservation of wetlands and establishment of orchards on their properties. The communities were very much willing and have helped us to identify the major problem that they are facing and pointed out the problems that need immediate attention by this project.

Flora will start working in six villages in Mawanga ward with a vision to scale up to cover the whole ward comprising 46 villages on the background of anticipated successes. These communities were identified as the worst affected by deforestation and affected by soil erosion to the extent of developing gullies in the ward. The project seeks to address the problems associated with the negative impacts of biodiversity loss, community livelihoods and sustainable development in the six villages. The impacts vary from droughts, habitat loss, floods, loss of biodiversity and disturbing traditional systems. Community traditional knowledge systems on environmental management will be enhanced through continuous capacity building.

The project goal is to improve and maintain biodiversity status and efficient land use management for the benefit of communities. This will be achieved through awareness raising and funding of stated activities on the ground. Flora Movement has extensive experience on community capacity building gained through attending workshops and community outreach programmes. Flora has been participating in ZERO?s field trips where it has gained vast experience in effective community engagement processes. Flora also works with various networks where it acts as an associate and at times partner in community projects. Through Flora?s involvement with established partners and associates such as ZERO Regional Environment Organization, Development Reality Institute and City of Harare who work with various rural communities, the organization has developed the much needed and critical community engagement techniques. As a strategic way of building the capacity of staff members to be well abreast with the dynamics of community work, Flora Movement has been sending them for attachment to established organizations working with rural communities.

The proposed activities are aimed at building onto the country?s efforts to cope with biodiversity loss and combat the threats posed by unsustainable environmental practices by the communities. For this grassroots action to be effective there has to be sufficient awareness on the impacts of biodiversity loss and inefficient land use practices. Practical interventions such as the holding of workshops to raise awareness and engaging communities on forest and woodland restoration, preservation of wetlands, gulley reclamation, establishment of orchards at household level and sinking of deep wells. The table below shows the activities to be implemented, where they are to be implemented and also the number of beneficiaries both men and women.

50 orchards will be established in five villages namely Zhanda, Murungweni, Makumbe, Chonyera and Chirimuuta. Orchards will be established at the household level with each orchard having 20 exotic fruit trees like oranges, lemon, mango, pear, apple etc. The households who will get the orchards will be responsible maintenance of the orchards through watering, weeding, fencing and spraying. The households who will benefit from the orchards will be selected from the five villages. The selection criteria of the beneficiaries will be prioritising widows, women and child headed families, the elderly and those who are disabled. This will build their capacity and raise their living standards.

The total cost of the project is US$ 85532.75 and Flora is requesting US$ 30755.83 from GEF Small Grants Programme. The requested funds will go a long way in implementing the project activities that aim to place the local communities in a better position to address the environmental challenges. The communities involved will contribute to the project in the form of labour and time as well as community resources. Flora will contribute administration and transport costs and personnel in form of staff time. The organization will seek additional funding from potential donors for the project in order to expand the project activities and coverage.

1.2 Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the project
The Flora Movement was legally registered as trust under Deed of Trust No.MA1009/2010. The organization is driven by the need to create a society of people who consciously work for continued improvement and management of their environment. This will be achieved through mobilizing community consciousness for self-determination, improved livelihoods and environmental conservation through tree planting. Currently, the organization has two operative programmes namely: Regreening the Cities, Awareness campaigns on climate change issues and working on the logistics of working on a massive nursery project at Stoneridge farm in partnership with Development reality Institute (DRI).

Since issues of gender equity and HIV and AIDS are central to building the success of the project and ownership, they will be mainstreamed to ensure that they are covered. The organization is also working towards helping those affected with HIV and AIDS in its projects for instance the proceeds from orchard in Stoneridge will also cater for those infected and affected. Flora has a staff compliment of 6 employees including the Director, Projects Officer, Admin/Finance Officer, Driver/Messenger and two interns as indicated by the organogram attached.

The organization is governed by a board of trustees which has reputable and experienced men and women. The annual budget for 2012 is $150 000. Flora has the capability and experience to undertake the project on Environmental conservation, Community Development and Capacity Building. The organization will very soon embark on a massive project to produce tree seedlings in Stoneridge farm with the intention of setting up a community orchard at the end of the year whose proceeds will be used to help the disadvantaged in that community like orphans, widows and the HIV and AIDS victims.

Flora is working with Development Reality Institute and City councils in implementing its projects of re-greening the cities and will also work with other associates who have extensive and practical grassroots experience in promoting community livelihoods through sustainable management of natural resources. Flora Movement will actively engage other organizations and institutions working in and around Mawanga Ward to ensure success of the project. Institutions such as AGRITEX, Environmental Management Agency (EMA) and the local Meteorological services department will play a crucial role in promoting the initiatives since they are part of their domains and portfolio of programmes. Besides working with these stakeholders, the communities in the four villages are eager to see the success of these interventions as they have drawn lessons from the work other communities are doing in the adjacent Munyawiri ward.

Some of the six villages Flora is going to work with have been badly affected by biodiversity loss; hence they now have limited livelihood options. The agricultural practices that the communities have been relying on such as the use of fertilizers are no longer sustainable as villagers testify that their average crop yield per hectare has been on a downward trend despite the application of various chemical fertilizers. Thus conservation agriculture training will be given much attention in all the six villages. The water sector is also one such critical area which has been negatively impacted by climate change.

Makumbe village has one old borehole which serves about 125 households and Makumbe hospital is also serviced from this borehole because their water reticulation stopped functioning in 2009. This borehole is no longer reliable since it is overused and it breaks down constantly and people end up fetching water from a nearby well which is not protected thereby exposing them to waterborne diseases. Some of the villages like Chonyera and Murungweni have no wells at all. In this regard, deep wells will be sunk and installed with the rope and washer system. These communities are capable of implementing the project because they can identify with the biodiversity loss and land degradation problem in their area and would be very keen to participate in projects that seek to address this problem. The community will help in conducting its own vulnerability assessment, which will be integrated with the baseline survey since communities are better placed to tell their own story and identify key priorities.

In earlier capacity building programmes in Munyawiri where Flora Movement and ZERO partnered with the Agritex and Meteorology Office, Some communities from the mentioned villages attended the programmes and participated with high levels of enthusiasm because they had realized tangible results from the project that ZERO implemented in the Munyawiri ward.
There has been also experience sharing visits for some of the villagers to Munyawiri that has given them an insight to the value of such projects in their areas. From this experience, Flora has adopted an engagement strategy to engage these communities who are already willing to take part in this project.
1.3 Project Objectives and Expected Results

Definition of the problem and contextualization

Biodiversity loss and land degradation are some of the greatest environmental challenges facing mankind today. These demand urgent attention as they pose a threat to the livelihoods of millions of people across the globe. Biodiversity loss diminishes agricultural productivity and promotes new strains of diseases.

There has been significant debate through conventions on biodiversity and land degradation. Ironically Africa is the most affected due to prevalent poverty that has forced people to overexploit the environment for livelihood sustenance. As a peri-urban community, Mawanga ward continues to see a rise in the population density which has naturally put the environment under pressure as people explore more livelihood options. Makumbe village is the largest in the ward that has given birth to four more villages since 1990, which is an evidence of the ever increasing population in the ward. The major influx in population has been caused partly by the high rental costs in the nearby city of Harare. In recent years, Flash floods have been experienced in the ward due to lack of enough vegetative cover and the apparent loosening of soils.

Problem Statement

Mawanga ward is in Goromonzi district which is found in longitude 17 degrees south and latitude 31 degrees east in Mashonaland East province, to the north-eastern part of Harare. There are pockets in Domboshava that have been noted to be hot spots (FEWSNET) in terms of livelihoods security. Its climate is characteristic of agro-ecological region 2b which receives good rains averaging between 650-800mm, but is subject to frequent droughts, dry summer spells and short rainy seasons (Agritex). Most of the rains are normally received between October and March. However some of the areas in this district have been noted as being relatively dry as compared to the rest of the region.

The soils are pit sand with a few patches of red clay soils (Lister 1987). Domboshawa has traditionally been a supplier of horticultural products to the country?s capital city - Harare. Any fall in production in Domboshava is likely to impact negatively on Harare?s horticultural price regimes and consequently adversely affect the rural and urban poor livelihoods which depend on them. The Mawanga ward has approximately a population of 2200 females and about 1860 who live in the ward.

The communities in Mawanga Ward are faced with multifaceted challenges arising from losses in biodiversity, land degradation and diminishing livelihood options. This array of challenges result in reduced agriculture production and food insecurity which are further exacerbated by high levels of poverty, HIV and AIDS as well as a cycle of droughts which has significantly reduced their capacity to adapt or cope with the rate of biodiversity loss and land degradation. The above mentioned challenges cascade down to the household level which is the nucleus of community development initiatives. Agriculture which is the mainstay of the community is adversely affected by all the above mentioned challenges. Vegetation acts as carbon sinks of greenhouse gases, hence the need to maintain a balanced ecosystem in the area.

There has been inadequate community oriented efforts in curbing biodiversity loss and land degradation despite the irrevocable existing evidence of such loss. Current financial resource constraints within the central government has limited effective enforcement of environmental policies aimed at safeguarding biodiversity

In some instances, the sustainability of interventions has been low because of lack of proper understanding of needs, priorities, and vulnerability of the contexts of the targeted communities. A rapid assessment carried out by Flora movement on biodiversity and land degradation work in Mawanga ward clearly shows glaring gaps that demand urgent attention especially on building capacity for the communities to reclaim gullies and conserving biodiversity. The main causes of biodiversity loss and land degradation in ward are overgrazing, deforestation and influx of people from Harare who are looking for cheap accommodation. These people exacerbate pressure on the natural resources and cause land degradation and biodiversity loss.

PROJECT RATIONALE AND LINKAGES TO NATIONAL PRIORITIES

This project addresses the GEFSGP focal area on biodiversity and land degradation. The project is rooted in the belief that effective responses to biodiversity loss and land degradation should be grounded in awareness raising and understanding of the problem. Communities are likely to continue being exposed to the impacts of biodiversity loss and land degradation if there is no effective education on the two focal areas. As a result of the education, the communities will engage in activities to rehabilitate and conserve the environment in this project. This project is therefore justified by the need to conserve the environment and build capacity of the local communities to address their challenges the rationale of this project is also based on the fact that people should be aware of the activities that promote biodiversity management as well as efforts aimed at preventing land degradation. The upholding of environmental legislation will go a long way in helping the local communities and authorities in maintaining good ecosystems in the area.
The project links to the Millennium Development Goals (especially number 1) which seek to eradicate extreme poverty by 2015. Millennium Development Goal number 7 aims to ensure environmental sustainability which seeks to integrate sustainable development principles into national policies. It also supports Goal Number 6 which aims at combating diseases.

PROJECT GOAL, OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES AND INTENDED RESULTS IN TERMS OF OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES.

OVERAL PROJECT GOAL

To Improve and maintain biodiversity status and efficient land use management for the benefit of Makumbe, Munemo, Chonyera, Zhanda, Chirimuuta 1 and Murungweni villages of Mawanga Ward in Goromonzi District

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

1. To establish and profile the extent of biodiversity loss and land degradation impacts on people?s livelihoods
2. To raise awareness on biodiversity and land use management in Mawanga ward 2.
3. To improve community response to the impacts of biodiversity loss and land degradation through awareness raising and capacity building.

1.4 DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT ACTIVITIES
TABLE 1: OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES
OBJECTIVE: 1 To establish and profile the biodiversity loss on livelihoods and land degradation.
Activities relating to objective 1
? To conduct baseline survey to ascertain the knowledge levels of Mawanga community as regards biodiversity loss and land degradation and also establish the biodiversity resources available, the extent of damage and the causes
? Carry out research on indigenous knowledge towards environmental governance, institutional arrangements and any existing resource conflicts.

Outputs(0-6 months completed activity)
1.1Knowledge levels of biodiversityand land degradation in Mawanga village.
Indicator:- Survey report and an inventory of the biodiversity resources available, the extent of damage, the causes
1.2. Knowledge about the indigenous people?s level of knowledge of environmental governance.
Indicator: Report on the findings.

Outcome (2 years after completed activity)
1.1Improved intervention strategies and photos of affected places.
1.2 Knowledge of the existing gap of knowledge by indigenous people regarding environmental governance and institutional arrangement.

OBJECTIVE 2: To raise awareness on biodiversity and land use management in Mawanga ward 2.
Activities related to objective 2
2.1Develop training and promotional materials on biodiversity and land degradation (250t-shirts, 500 brochures, 100 posters, 1 banner)
2.2 Hold three participatory workshops for all the villages on biodiversity and land use management.

Outputs (0-6 months completed activity)
2.1 Training and promotional material on biodiversity and land use management
Indicator:-Replicable training manuals
2.2 Three participatory training workshops.
Indicator:- Workshop reports

Outcome(2 Years after completed activity)
1.Improved knowledge transfer on biodiversity
2.2.Improved community awareness on biodiversity loss and land degradation

OBJECTIVE 3: To improve community response to the impacts of biodiversity loss and land degradation.
Activities related to objective 3
3.1 Establishment of community nurseries and woodlot and 50 orchards at household level (Mango, orange, lemon, avocado, guava, Muzhanje and Acacia)
3.2 Training on organic farming
3.3 Sinking 2 deep wells in Chonyera and Murungweni villages and protecting 2 deep wells in the in Chirimuuta 1 and Makumbe villages
3.5 Reclamation of five gullies in five villages except Chirimuuta 1 village
3.6 Bee keeping

Outputs(0-6 months completed activity)
3.1Two nurseries in Munemo and Chonyera
1 woodlot in Zhanda
50 orchards established
Indicator:- 2 nurseries with acacia, mango, guava, avocado, banana, lemon, muzhanje, mutufu, muonde, nhengeni, muwanga seedlings established
1000 trees planted in the orchards
1 woodlot (100x30)m2 set up in Zhanda
10 households in each of the 5 villages besides Chirimuuta 1 will have orchards
3.2 Two organic farming demonstrations gardens established in Munemo (544m2) and Chirimuuta 1 (600m2)
?Two rope and washer wells sunk in Chonyera and Murungweni and 2 rehabilitated wells in Makumbe and Chirimuuta1 villages.
Indicator:- Rope and washer wells
3.4 One wetland preserved
Indicator: - Preserved wetland which is 150m x 80m
3.5 Reclaimed land
Indicator:- Reclaimed gullies
Indicator: Two groups of 20 people (25 women and 10 men) and each trained in bee keeping

Outcome (2 Years after completed activity)
3.1 Improved vegetation cover
1000 orchards established
? Improved farming methods that bring about high yields.
? Improved clean water supply and used in the gardens and orchards
. 1 woodlot and two nurseries
? Preserved wetland in Munemo village
? More land for agriculture
? 2 groups trained in bee keeping and 20 bee hives