Capacity building through training will involve: oThere has already been training on leadership ? this will continue; oThere has been training on catchment management ? this will also continue; o Training farmers who are members of the irrigation scheme ? how to manage water as well as conservation farming and how to start and manage herbal gardens; o Training of Trainers, i.e. 5 women from each village how to use Jatropha oil as a bio-fuel. o Encouraging and training community members how to propagate Jatropha o More awareness raising on the value of Jatropha

Fombe, like Avila Ward and Nyandoro Village, falls within the country Zone I of Jatropha production. To date very little has been done by government and local authorities to help communities here to grow and benefit from Jatropha. The project will help to persuade government to invest resources in communal lands where more Jatropha can be produced at relatively low cost. Second, the successful implementation of the irrigation scheme will provide a model for a low cost approach for pumping water using solar power which is clean energy. Third, local processing and use of bio-fuel from Jatropha will reduce reliance on paraffin. This should curtail current retrogressive policies and practices where companies affiliated to the National Biodiesel Project are using paraffin to pay community members for their Jatropha seed. The proposed project will demonstrate the ?best? incentive for encouraging Jatropha production by communities in the country.

Not much has been done on policy influence, the project is going to engaged the local leadership (Chief, headmen, Rural District Council, Village Heads) in order to influence the formulation of policies and by-laws promoting sustainable management and conservation of the environment and natural resources.

Some the key project benefits relate to helping households to earn income and increase food availability for the household through: oProducing food crops for household consumption and marketing; oSelling Jatropha seed ? this is already happening. Seed is being sold to get money for school fees and for payment for grinding cereals; oSelling the oil for use as bio-fuel; oUsing Jatropha oil for household cooking and lighting; and oUsing Jatropha to fence gardens and fields.

The project is already community-driven. The Ward-level Project Committee controls the project. They are the signatories of the project account. The sub-project committees for Marowo, Kachenje and Nyatusango projects control all project activities and project members there enjoy the benefits directly. Local artisans will make contributions during construction work. The above will encourage and strengthen participation and ownership by the community.

The project is highly suitable for replication and it has already been replicated in other surrounding communities that are along the Kairezi river. The project can be scaled up through increasing more water tanks especially considering the members of community that are now keen to participate in the project.

This will be done through project awareness meetings on environmental issues.

This will be done through project awareness meetings on environmental issues. Gender training was offered as part of main streaming during Phase I of the project. Committees are being advised to encourage all adult household members to participate in project work so that not only women are overloaded work hard work. This will continue. Committee membership is as follows: ? Chimusasa Committee Members: Male = 4, Female = 7 ? Marowo Committee Members : Male = 5, Female = 5 ? Kachenje Committee Members: Male = 4, Female = 4

other projects or country programs use this experience to promote sustainability? Sustainability has been significantly enhanced through components of capacity building, communication, involvement, participation and transparency in all project activities. The community has been equipped with knowledge which is significantly important for the project sustainability because it increases the community?s appreciation of the environment and the project at large. Community members have also displayed significant recognition of their community as the sole owner of the project and hence are dedicated and committed to ensure that it continues progressively without collapsing. The sense of ownership has also been concretized by the co-financing input that the community has added to the funding they have received. To promote sustainability, other projects or programs can utilize this experience through promoting capacity building in their projects. They should also ensure and sense of responsibility and ownership among their project members so that the members can commit and dedicate their efforts effectively to the success of the project. Other projects can also learn from this project that it is important to use reputable and dependable banks which do not liquidate easily.