Survival Skills Organic Farming Community Association (SSOFA) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) located in Goromonzi District, Mashonaland Est Province that is active in promoting sustainable livelihoods, community development and environmental management. SSOFA has been practicing organic farming since 2007 as a community of farmers. However, through interactions at community levels and regular meetings coupled with several workshops facilitated by organizations such as Fambidzanayi Permaculture Centre (FPC), and Organic Network Forum (ONF) the ?community of farmers? organized itself to become a vibrant community organic farming organization.

The association currently has 120 members that are active in implementing various activities that include; 1) organic market gardening, 2) indigenous chicken production, 3) mushroom production 4) beekeeping and 5) nurseries establishment, tree planting and woodlot management. The core objective of the organization is to successfully reduce the use of dangerous chemicals such as tamaron, rogor, dimethoate 40EC, Methyl Dibromide and DDT in agriculture and substitute these with local pesticidal plants remedies such as preparations from chillies, marigolds, tephrosia among others. In addition, the farmers seek to reduce the use of inorganic fertilizers and substitute with organic fertilizers. This is aimed at promoting climate smart agro-ecology technique at community level.

Farmers within the association are now aware of sustainable environmental conservation and nutrition security and optimum dietary diversity and the importance of eliminating persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and benefits such as improved soil fertility, reduced soil erosion, improved nutrition through eating chemical free products are being realized. Famers have been trained in Internal Control Systems (ICS) of organic farming by FPC and have been able to monitor each other, hence qualified for the organic certification processes. Several horticultural products such as garlic, onions, leaf vegetables, beans, sweet potato, grafted mango and oranges are being produced. Lately, farmers are now producing organic crops such as groundnuts for peanut butter, honey, mushroom and indigenous chickens for sale although at a very small scale.

Survival Skills Organic Farmers Association (SSOFA) received USD50,000.00 grant from the Global Environmental Facility Small Grant Programme (GEFSGP) for the implementation of the ?Reducing POPs in agriculture for sustainable environment management and livelihood options enhancement through accessing markets for organic products? project and the milestone achievements include:
1) Borehole drilling and establishment of 3 solar water pumping systems for supporting 3 organic irrigation plots covering about 2 hectares in total. However, the solar systems are not functioning efficiently hence there is need for the assessment of the boreholes and the solar system to identify the problem as well as coming up with the correct solution.
2) Establishment of 3 tree nurseries 1 for each irrigation plot.
3) Installation of 3x5000litres water storage tanks 1 for each irrigation plot
4) Fencing of 3 organic irrigation plots and production of organic vegetable. Table 1 indicates that for the period between 2014 and 2017; USD137,322.70 was realized from the sale of organic products that include butternuts, onions, peas, sugar bean, tomatoes, and mushroom. The products were sold to different market among them St Johns Chikwaka High School, Selby Pvt Ltd for the export market and Pick-n-Pay in Harare. Farmers have also diversified into dryland organic farming to augment the organic market gardening activities.
5) Installation of 3 x5000 litres water tanks and irrigation pipes.
6) Protection of 5 woodlots through fencing.
7) Establishment of 4 indigenous chicken production groups with an average of 40 chickens currently in stock. This needs to be upscaled though increasing the current stock per group as well as increasing the number of groups.
8) Establishment of 4 beekeeping group with 63 beehives in total.

Table 1: Crop production and income raised for the period December 2014 to June 2017
Type of crops Quantity produced Quantity sold Income Market
Butternuts 5589kg 111.7x50kg@$15.00 $1,676.70 Local
Onions 2045 bundles 2045x$1.00 $2,045.00 Local
Peas 5020kg 5020x$1.00Per kg $5,020.00 Chikwaka High & Selby Enterprise
Sugar beans 2000kg 100x20kg @$30.00 per 20kgs $3,000.00 Chikwaka High School
Tomatoes 8966 boxes 8966@$14 per box $125,524.00 Chikwaka High School & Mbare Fresh produce market
Mushroom 57kg 57kg@$1 per kg $57.00 Local
Total $137,322.70

A number of capacity building training workshops were conducted by various organizations that include Fambidzanayi Permaculture (FP), Forestry Commission (FC), Organic Network Forum (ONF) and Organic Africa (OA) and these include mushroom and indigenous chicken production, organic Agriculture, basics of organic certification and ZIM Organic standards, organic food processing techniques, organic dry land cropping and international organic inspector training done by Organic Africa. The organization also conducted an exchange visit to one of the successful organic farming association namely Makoni organic Farmers Association (MOFA) and 2 members of the association had an opportunity to represent the organization at the International Conference on Pesticidal plants 2017 held in Victoria Falls.

Survival Skills Organic Farmers Association is requesting USD25,000.00 grant to address the gaps that remained after exhausting the first grant received from GEFSGP and these include:
1) Deepening of borehole or construction of borehole at new site for Sungate garden which currently has a low yield. There is need for assessment of the borehole capacity to determine the yield as well as installation of a new solar water pumping system if necessary. Currently farmers are fetching water from wells dug in the garden but they dry up during the dry season. As a result, the farmers will not be able to produce all year round.
2) Upgrading the solar systems for Simbaivhu and Nherera gardens so that they function efficiently to meet the demand of water through increasing sizes of the systems including in-field works.
3) Increasing the water distribution points including installation of distribution pipes and taps. The taps were installed in all the gardens at an average of 3 per each garden due to limited funds. However, given the size of gardens there is need to increase the number of taps so that the entire garden is fully covered. Some sections that do not have taps have a challenge in terms of watering these sections.
4) Conducting a study on water use because no measurements have been carried out in terms of how much water is used per day for irrigation in each garden. This information will help to determine the amount of water used by each farmer and enable farmers to come up with a roster on watering. In addition, farmers need to be trained on managing their water efficiently together with the maintenance of their infrastructure.
5) Up-scaling organic production in the garden to address supply-side bottleneck that the project has been experiencing. Thus, the project has not been able to meet the quantities of products required by reliable customer such as Selby Export Company which requires 287kgs of peas per week.
6) Up-scaling indigenous chickens from the current average stock 179 chickens (Simbaivhu 84, Sungate 15 and Shungu 80) to at least 1000 per group. This involves the construction of proper indigenous chicken productions systems ? fowl runs, increasing the number of group from 3 to 10 as well as creating market linkages for indigenous chickens.
7) Marketing of organic products remains a challenge that needs to be addressed. The markets in the rural areas are sporadic and irregular such that it is difficult for the farmers to make significant income gains. Hence there is need for coming up with the effective marketing strategies targeting supermarkets in Harare and further afield.
8) Organic certification of the farmers and registration of Survival Skill Organic Farmers Association as a legal entity organization or CBO is very critical as this will enable farmers to sale their products at a premium price. The problem is that the organic products are being sold at the same price with non-organic products.
9) Up-scaling beekeeping activities including increasing the number of hive from 63 to at least 163 including facilitating honey production.

2.1 ORGANIZATIONAL BACKGROUND AND CAPACITY TO IMPLEMENT THE PROJECT

About SSOFCA

Aim: To be a self-sustainable community working in harmony with the available resources for livelihood enhancement.

Vision: To be a self-sustainable community with improved standards of living through sustainable environmental management.

Survival Skills Organic Farmers Association (SSOFA) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) that is based Juru area (Ward 12) of Goromonzi District, Mashonaland East Province. The organization is active in promoting sustainable livelihoods, community development and environmental management. It was founded in 2007 through working with organizations such as Organic Network Form (ONF) and Fambidzanayi Permaculture Centre (FPC)and later got funding of USD50,000 from UNDP-Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (GEFSGP) in 2013.

SSOFA is led by the 7- member management committee (4 women and 3men) which is made up of farmers representatives from different areas in the ward including the local leadership. The management committee has gained enough experience through working with FPC and ONF of which they were trained on leadership skills, gender mainstreaming and conflict resolution. Fambidzanayi Permaculture Centre has been working with farmers in the area since 2004 in promoting permaculture. Prior to the project implementation, the project members went through a training process with GEFSGP on proposal review, project governance, community participation, introduction of the Results Based Monitoring and Evaluation, procurement and financial procedures, cross cutting issues, action planning and reporting procedures. The training workshop equipped the farmers with knowledge on community project implementation and management including participation for the sustainability of the project.

The association currently has 120 members of which 60% are women, that are active in implementing various activities that include; 1) organic market gardening, 2) indigenous chicken production, 3) mushroom production 4) beekeeping and 5) nurseries establishment, tree planting and woodlot management. The group has remained intact, with minimum loss of project members due to conflicts and poor governance. The affairs of the organization are governed by a Constitution endorsed by local authority and government extension services, making it a legally binding framework that supports good governance within the group. Their group regulations are supportive to their growth strategy, vision and meeting individual members? needs. Through working as one unit, the group members envisage organic certification soon to enable the members to sale their products at a premium price. Despite the challenges afore-mentioned, the group has tried to maintain a significant level of organic products as well as marketing of fresh produce ? mainly peas to Selby Export Company.

Table 2: Current project membership as per project activity.
1. Organic Market Gardening using solar powered open field irrigation system
Irrigation Plot Size of the irrigation plot No of members
Sungate irrigation plot 70x50m (0.35ha) 14
Simbaivhu Irrigation plot 50x70m (0.35ha) 8
Shungu irrigation plot 70x70m (0.35ha) 10
Total 1.05 ha 32
2. nurseries establishment, tree planting and woodlot management
Village name Size of the woodlot No. of members
Simbaivhu 100x100m (1ha) 12
Ndamba 100x120m (1ha) 12
Nherera 200x200m (4ha) 33
Shungu 70x70m (0.49ha) 10
Total 6.49 67
3. Mushroom production
Groups No. of members
Nherera 12
Sungate 7
Shungu 8
Total 27
4. Indigenous chicken production
Group Current stock of chickens No. of members
Simbaivhu 84 8
Sungate 15 12
Shungu 80 7
Total 179 27
5. Beekeeping
Group No. of beehives No. of members
Simbaivhu 16 (4 hives are colonized) 6
Sungate 13 (6 hives are colonized) 8
Shungu 12 (2 hives are colonized) 9
Nherera 21 (16 hives are colonized) 16
Total 62 39

N.B The total number of farmers is 120 as some farmer are involved in 2 or more activities

1.3 PROJECT OBJECTIVES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

? Problem statement or challenge the project intends to address
The challenges which the project seeks to address include the elimination of chemicals in agriculture through promotion of organic farming, mitigate the impacts of climate change through promotion of renewable energy ~ solar energy for irrigation, reduce poverty, food and income insecurity for the participating community members. The exposure of the farmers to chemicals is because of intensive conventional agriculture method that involves the use of chemicals by the communities for controlling vegetable pests. These chemicals some of which are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are linked by a growing body of evidence to reproductive failure, deformities, cancer and immune system disruption. Hence this project seeks to provide sustainable solution through implementing organic agriculture and call for total elimination of these chemicals particularly in horticulture production.

The problems which relate to the project activities include inadequate water supply of agriculture activities caused by inefficient solar systems for the 3 irrigation plots. Currently, farmers are fetching water from the wells dug in plots to irrigate their crops but they dry up during the dry season. As a result, the farmers are unable to produce all year round. Due to low production levels, the farmers have not been able to meet the quantities of products required by reliable customer such as Selby Exporting Company which requires 287kgs of peas per week. In addition, the farmers have limited sources of income hence the project seeks to increase the income generating activities for the households that are participating. Survival Skills Organic Farmers Association is not yet registered as a separate legal entity and the farmers are not yet organically certified. Registration and organic certification will enable the farmers to negotiate for the sale of their products at premium prices.

? Overall project goal/primary objective
To up-scale the elimination of chemicals in agriculture through expanding organic farming activities for sustainable biodiversity conservation and diversification of livelihood activities for improved market linkages and income security.

? Specific objectives
1. To improve access to water for the irrigation and crop production in the 3 community plots through up-grading of solar water pumping systems.
2. To up-scale organic market gardening, indigenous chicken production, mushroom production, beekeeping and nurseries establishment as well tree planting and woodlot management for improved food and income security.
3. To build capacity for 120 farmers to access markets for organic products through certification, registration of the community based organization and creation of sustainable market linkages.

Rationale/justification of the project
Organic agriculture reduces the use of external inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides by controlling pests and diseases naturally. Organic agriculture adheres to globally accepted principles (Principles of Organic Agriculture), for local social, economic and environment sustainability. The project aims to improve the quality of life of farmers in the association, conserving the environmental and generating income through organic agriculture ~ growing crops using low cost inputs but attaining high yields. The techniques involved do not require special materials or equipment, there for they are relatively easy to use. The project is in line with many protocols and conventions which Zimbabwe is a signatory such Stockholm convention which bans the use of POPs.

The project will contribute towards realization of 3 SDGs that is;
? SDG 1, Target 1.2 ?By 2030, reduce at least by half the proportion of men, women and children of all ages living in poverty in all its dimensions according to national definitions? ~ end poverty for the 120 households participating in the project.
? SDG 2 Target 2.1 ?By 2030, end hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round ~ the project intends to ensure food security for 120 households. Target 2.4 ?By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality? ~ the project intend to increase productivity in the irrigation plot covering approximately 2.5 hectares
? SDG7, Target 7.b ?By 2030, expand infrastructure and upgrade technology for supplying modern and sustainable energy services for all in developing countries, in particular least developed countries, small island developing States, and land-locked developing countries, in accordance with their respective programmes of support? ~ the project intends to expand the solar irrigation systems.

The project anticipates double production in the irrigation plots due to availability of reliable water supply, creation of viable market linkages with reliable customers for organic products such as Selby Export Company, improved food and income security for the households that are participating in the project, improved nutrition through production of organic foods and diversified sources of income as project members engage in a wide variety of income generating activities.
Table 1: OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES, OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES

Objective 1: To improve access to water for the irrigation and crop production in the 3 community plots through up-grading of solar systems
Outputs Activities Outcome
Output 1: Improved access to water for irrigation and crop production.
Indicators for planned actions:
? Number of boreholes drilled and are functional
? Number of project members with access to water for irrigation and crop production
? Number of households with access to clean water (gender segregated)
? Number of women and youth participating in the irrigation projects
? Number of solar water pumping systems upgraded and are functional.
? Number of irrigation plots with access to reliable water source
? Number of water tanks constructed
? Quantity of water harvested per day for each irrigation plot.
Baseline:
? 3 Boreholes drilled.
? 3 Solar water pumping systems not functioning efficiently.
? 3 irrigation plots have limited access to water for irrigation.
? 32 households have limited access to water for irrigation.
Target:
? 3 up-graded solar water pumping systems installed
? 32 project members have access to water for irrigation
? About 5000 litres of water harvested per day.
? Water pipes procured and installed for transferring water from the water point into the tanks for irrigation.
? 32 project members trained on water usage and management. 1. Assessment of the existing boreholes and solar water pumping systems.

2. Drilling or deepening of borehole for Sungate Irrigation plot after the assessment.

3. Upgrading of 3 solar water pumping systems ? procurement of 3 solar systems, distribution pipes and installation of at least 6 taps per irrigation plot.

4. Training communities on water usage and management. Community have increased access to safe and adequate sustainable water resources to for irrigation and crop production. .
Objective 2: To up-scale organic market gardening, indigenous chicken production, mushroom production, beekeeping and nurseries establishment as well tree planting and woodlot management for improved food and income security.
Outputs Activities Outcome
Output 2: Income generation activities up-scaled
Indicators:
? Number of income generation activities up-scaled.
? Number of community members participating in beekeeping, organic market gardening, mushroom production and indigenous chicken production. project
? Number of beehives established
? Total income raised from in poultry, piggery, mushroom and market gardening projects.
? Number of seedlings raised per year/month and trees planted per month/year.
? Quantities of honey harvested per season
? Quantities of mushroom harvested per season
? Quantities of crops harvested per season
Baseline:
? No liquid manure tanks were constructed in the irrigation plots.
? 120 farmers involved in involved in indigenous poultry production, mushroom production, market gardening activities and tree planting activities.
? 179 chickens (Simbaivhu 84, Sungate 15 and Shungu 80) currently in stock.
? 150kgs of organic vegetable harvested per cropping season (3 months)
? 80kgs of mushroom produced per season. (3 months)
? 63 hives of which 28 are colonized
? USD137,322.70 was realized from the sale of organic produce between December 2014 and June 2017.
? About 80kgs of raw honey was harvested since the start of the project in 2014.
? 2286 fruit tree seedlings are currently in the nursery.
? Zero indigenous chicken production units constructed.
? 3 mushroom production units constructed.
Target:
? 6 liquid manure constructed per plot.
? 120 farmers up-scale indigenous poultry production, mushroom production, market gardening activities and tree planting activities.
? At least 150 indigenous chicken in stock per group
? 1000kgs of organic produce harvested per season (3 months)
? At least 250 kgs of honey is harvested per season.
? USD5000 is raised from the sale of organic crops.
? 5 women groups participate in poultry, piggery, mushroom and market gardening activities
? 5000 tree seedings raised per annum
? 4 income generation activities (indigenous poultry production, mushroom production, beekeeping and market gardening activities) are expanded.
? An average income of USD180 is raised by an individual farmer per season.
? 5 indigenous chicken production units constructed
? 5 mushroom growing houses constructed 1. Construction of liquid manure tanks ? 6 per garden

2. Construction of 10 indigenous poultry production units for 10 groups

3. Purchase of mushroom spawn for increased mushroom production for 5 groups.

4. Purchase of 100 indigenous chicken breads to up-scale production for 10 groups

5. Upgrading of tree nurseries, seedlings production and tree planting

6. Construction, distribution and siting of 100 beehives for 4 beekeeping groups.
Increased communities? livelihoods options and income generation activities.

Objective 3: To build capacity for 120 farmers to access markets for organic products through certification, registration of the community based organization and creation of sustainable market linkages.
Outputs Activities Outcome
Output 3: Farmers certified as organic farmers and the organization is registered as a community based organization.

Indicators for planned actions:
? Number of farmers certified as organic farmers
? Registration certificate for Survival Skill Organic Farmers Association
? Number of market linkages created.

Baseline:
? No organic farmers are certified
? Market linkages created with Selby Export Company
?

Target:
? Creation of market linkages with reliable markets for organic products.
? Registration of 120 farmers as organic farmers
? Registration of Survival Skills Organic Farmers Association as Community Based organization ? ZELA to facilitate the registration process.

1. Organic Certification of 120 framers by Zimbabwe Organic Producers and Promoters Association (ZOPPA)

2. Registration of Survival Skills Organic Farmers Association as Community Based organization ? ZELA to facilitate the registration process.

3. Creation of market linkages for organic products with reliable markets
Improved income from the sale of organic products to lucrative markets.