An Overview Of Our Solution
This submission nominates 3 NGOs (RUCONET, RGEEPT, ECHO) & 8 villages collaborating to impact highly erosive drought-prone western slopes of Mt. Meru, Arusha, Tanzania with multiple impacts, specifically, reinforcing an agroforestry effort through the promotion of threatened, high value indigenous trees of Tanzania. This benefits the catchment through conservation of soil and water; increase in soil fertility & agricultural production/resilience; increasing local biodiversity through establishing threatened indigenous trees on farms & water sources. The continued collaboration will further sustain the momentum which has begun to arrest the hunger & poverty prevalent in the area. By providing benefits in the form of fodder, medicines & timber, the agroforestry species will contribute positively towards socio-economic welfare and livelihood security in the region
Who is this solution impacting?
Community Type
Rural
Additional Information
- Population Impacted:
- Continent: Africa
General Information
Organization type
Sin fines de lucro/No Gubernamental
Ecosystem (select all that apply)
Grasslands
Population impacted
24,000 in 8 villages in 3 wards
Challenge
Size of agricultural area
50 sq. km (10km x 5km)
Production quantity
Variable, 1 good season in 3 years
People employed
RUCONET: 4 Part-time; RGEEPT: 2 Part-time; ECHO: 8 Full-time
Solution
Describe your solution
The solution was derived as a collaboration of 3 NGOs in a catchment of 8 villages high in the watershed. The holistic approach addressed the challenges of soil erosion, habitat destruction, diminishing agricultural production, threatened loss of important indigenous trees, and conflicts between livestock herders and farmers. The solution was to empower the communities to take action using sustainable agriculture through their voluntary involvement. Community members were involved in describing their situation and finding solutions which they were willing to implement, emphasizing participation and action to arrest the environmental and food security decline. They proposed a number of activities which they agreed to commence. They identified multiple solutions including soil conservation measures and planting of indigenous trees in their fields, land use planning with local bylaws to be monitored and enforced by village environment committees, water source restoration using indigenous trees, and planting of grasses along soil & water conservation measures in farmers’ fields. The capacities of the communities were built with the help of NGOs but the initiative was implemented as a participatory action research in which villagers led the collaboration with the NGOs in a supportive role. They worked closely with the community leaders and early-adapter farmers to further refine the solutions and develop specific activities to address the challenges.
Implementation
Describe your implementation
Facilitating community discussion on natural resources management action;
Facilitating formation of village by-laws in support of land use & natural resource management; two plans have been recognized by the district;
Facilitating measuring of contours & establishing grasses for livestock fodder to conserve water & soil; in one village, gathering water from roads into field contours instead of the opposite;
Planting of threatened indigenous trees for high value timber
The NGOs worked with the communities to find solutions and develop activities which they themselves identified. These discussions created ownership and led them to address other challenges.
The communities have embraced the goal of increasing food security and environmental restoration by building capacity of community members by the two local NGOs. The first farmers engaged have noticed increased production and arresting soil erosion and increased water retention on their farms.
Instead of following methods of previous initiatives which primarily used exotic tree species, used a difficult-to-use technology for measuring contours (line-level) which farmers could not do themselves, and imposed engagement of farmers, this collaboration showed change by example, engaged first lead farmers voluntarily, generated adherence to bylaws first by education, later by coercion, used indigenous trees, and introduced simple tools & technologies.
Historical approaches have left bad memories; forced destocking is illogical to the local agro-pastoralists whose assets are measured in land and livestock numbers. Population pressure has caused cultivation of steep lands which should not be farmed. Households high on the hillsides need to take the lead; those lower down suffer from the effects of the poor practices above them and their efforts are destroyed during heavy rains. The focus has addressed education, starting in the higher altitude farms. Not all obstacles like population have been addressed.
External connections
The NGOs themselves were key in the partnership as each brings a different strength: RUCONET has more experience mobilizing communities for land use planning & generating self-help village savings & loan associations; RGEEPT has an environmental focus through tree planting; & ECHO shares best practices across the East Africa region in sustainable agriculture, biodiversity interest, ecological farming & appropriate technologies. ECHO also is managing a large tree nursery in which the ratio of indigenous/exotic tree seedlings has been steadily increasing, & a resource to the initiative. ECHO’s relationship with M.I.T. university has enabled its trainers in innovation to be more mobile and active in these communities, to extend other unforeseen impacts such as biogas digesters, ventilated pit latrines to combat open defecation, and fuel-efficient stove prototypes for demonstration in rural households.
In addition to this consortium, the NGOs consulted village government & district government leaders to get their input and support. In this way local government enthusiasm for these approaches gave impetus to bringing technicians from other parts of the district to witness the technologies in use and generate interest in scale-up. District attempts have been made in recent decades to reduce the large numbers of livestock plying the roads and fields, but this has not been accepted. The district representatives were encouraged by witnessing the community interest in conservation.
Results
What is the environmental or ecological challenge you are targeting with your solution?
The main challenges this project addresses are the restoration of degrading soil conservation measures of previous decades, drying streams and habitat loss especially of high-value threatened tree species overharvested in the wild. Rapid development and population growth around Mt. Meru are a serious threat to its fragile ecosystem and the communities whose livelihoods depend on it. Land degradation from soil erosion averaging seven tons per acre annually is reducing the natural assets on the foothills of the mountain and creates gullies of roads. Water sources in forests lying above the villages have been stripped of their indigenous tree cover, diminishing seasonal streams, increasing conflicts over water, and longer treks for water and firewood by the women. Climate related hazards (irregular rains and droughts) challenge the resilience of rural communities and natural resources. Sustainable agriculture is a challenging objective needing to be addressed on a continual basis.
Describe the context in which you are operating
The 3 NGOs (RUCONET, RGEEPT, and ECHO) are working in Arumeru district about 12 kilometers west of Arusha, an area lying in the dry rain shadow of Mt. Meru (a volcano 4565 m). ECHO has an outreach of sustainable agricultural practices in the surrounding communities of the mountain since its inception five years ago. Most of the communities belong to the Waarusha people based on the slopes of Mt. Meru. Waarusha are agro-pastoralists (cultivating land and keeping livestock). Despite the hazards that large animal numbers pose to the environment there is a sustained trend of keeping large numbers of livestock which typically graze freely in the area. Various attempts have been made to reduce the numbers but this has not been sustainable due to their importance for milk and manure as well as being an asset base. Hence, continued support is needed to build capacities of the local communities to alleviate the livestock impacts on the environment. Training and support of conservation through practices such as soil-water conservation and the promotion of threatened indigenous trees planted on-farm can help provide opportunities for socio-economic security.
How did you impact natural resource use and greenhouse gas emissions?
• Over 10 km of contours have been established in one of the villages, Lengijave, in a joint mobilization effort of RGEEPT, RUCONET, ECHO & village government. This effort has been given new impetus by this collaboration. Rainwater is now harvested for fodder production and soil is no longer eroding from the conserved fields. Other villages are following suit.
• Threatened high-value, indigenous trees (listed above from among the national list of threatened species) are increasingly becoming part of the agro-forestry system of local farms, and have been used to repopulate previously deforested water sources.
• Fodder trees and grasses have been re-established to enable livestock needs to be accommodated during the long dry season on a few farms.
• The Arumeru District officials have taken notice of this effort, and have supported it by donating hundreds of trees to villagers who have dug contours.
• Recently the District sent four agricultural extension officers to obtain training from the NGOs in use of the water ring, a simpler tool for measuring contours which local farmers have begun to use.
Bylaws have been re-enacted and village leaders are now involved in enforcing them, to reduce livestock encroachment on conserved fields during the dry season.
Language(s)
Swahili, English
Water
The contour trenches have increased water infiltration and retention in the soil. This has positively affected the farm yields. The furrows to claim water from the roads into the fields have shown an example, albeit only in few households, of how to restore roads, while increasing field water retention. Stream/water sources have been rejuvenated with protection from grazing, planting of new indigenous trees, and ultimately increases in water flow anticipated.
Food Security/Nutrition
There have been early, positive benefits on farm yields and availability of fodder. Water retention in the fields has enhanced survivability even of bananas on a few farms. Creation of microclimate change on individual households has positively impacted food security of these families. This example has positively contributed to hope for food and livelihood security in the broader community through scale-up.
Economic/Sustainable Development
It is early to measure the increased performance of livestock through milk, income and manure, or increased restoration of native biodiversity; these will be proven over time. Households of early adopters are convinced of the short-term as well as medium-term improvement of their nutritional status and resilience. As farmers in the area are forced to intensification which is highly dependent upon retaining water, good soils and improved biomass, a demonstration of what is possible exists.
Climate
The success in first steps in the project gives confidence to farmers in the 8 villages to sustain the collaboration with the NGOs. Other climate-smart agricultural technologies can be introduced such as conservation agriculture, home gardens, fruit and perennial vegetable introductions, and post-harvest innovations. The gradual increase in tree canopy cover will provide more shade for livestock. Stream restoration through planting of trees will gradually alleviate summer extreme temperatures
Sustainability
The village initiatives are not grant-fund dependent; all use inputs available to the farmers including sale of trees and planting materials. The transformation is slow despite recognition by the community of need to address the increasing environmental degradation, diminishing human nutrition and growing poverty. Slowly a perception of a turn-around is viewed among the area residents. The 3 NGOs are committed to sustain this collaboration with the 8 villages, which in turn are committed to expanding the number of village farms with conservation measures. This requires continued accompaniment. A long-term view is advantageous to scale up the effort within the villages and to nearby villages.
Return on investment
The 2 local NGOs obtained seed funding (approx. $1,500) from a local church; technical support came through ECHO international. Previously the village governments sensed helplessness to enforce lapsed by-laws created since the 1990s. The small investment has produced significant results due to the volunteerism of the 2 local NGOs and lead-farmers within the 8 communities. It is good in Africa if an agenda has a spiritual level, as well as a technological and physical. An example is the Proverbs 13:22 which states, “A good [person] leaves an inheritance to grandchildren.” What can you leave which will not be taken by your children? Maybe some slow-growing, high value timber species which are now lost in the wild?
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Replication and Scale
How could we successfully replicate this solution elsewhere?
The technologies are simple. The challenge is to change mindsets, to ensure that the community leads the initiative and not to create dependency. Free handouts are minimal, and ownership of the community of the agenda is essential. There are no shortcuts to mobilize communities. Relationships are everything. Money as an incentive for development dirties the waters. It is needful to create a critical mass of farm families committed to adopting a changed farming approach, together with confidence-building of the village leadership to enforce bylaws to safeguard the efforts. The approach needs more emphasis in the same 8 villages in order to reach a tipping point number of farms enacting conservation measures within the same villages. Therefore, primary expansion must start within the same area. However, if selected, prize money from Searching Solutions will be used to sustain the momentum and expand to a few new villages in the wider catchment.