This project is specially designed to address this food shortage, so that poor family will be able to grow vegetables during spring, summer and autumn – and possibly in winter. Gobi Greenhouse will partner with a local agricultural cooperative (women members) to develop an all-weather green-housing facility. This project promotes the demonstration and implementation of 3 innovative approaches: Passive Solar Green House (PSGH), bioclimatic cellar, water management/soil conservation package. The objective of the project is to implement and mainstream innovative, sustainable, affordable and locally owned approaches to improve food security. The specific objective of the project is to enhance the capacity of resource-poor and poverty-stricken farmers and herders at low income brackets to produce a wide variety of vegetables using sustainable and environmentally-friendly technologies with integrated social ownership and management and involvement. The goal of this sample proposal is to increase local availability of safe, quality vegetables to enhance food security as well as achieving nutritional balance through diversification of diets of the poorest segments of the vulnerable populations in target area. Priority in the selection of target groups and project beneficiaries will be given to ethnic communities, female-headed households, newly settled families, resource-poor herders and farmers, and other vulnerable groups without access to secure livelihood.
Project Background
This project is designed to address this food shortage, so that poor families will be able to grow vegetables during spring, summer and autumn – and possibly in winter. Gobi Greenhouse will partner with a local agricultural cooperative formed by women members to develop an all-weather green-housing facility in the town of XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX.
Due to mortality, alcoholism or other social problems, there are many women headed households, taking care of large families. These women, both in rural and peri-urban areas, are seeking for alternative livelihood activities and especially for small scale agriculture that allow self-consumption as well as cash income. Despite their herder’s background, most of them have some experience on gardening and are requesting trainings on agriculture, water and soil management as well as more efficient techniques (especially greenhouses).
Innovative approaches are developed to the constraints of the regions (short length growing period, poor quality of soil, water scarcity) and of the target groups (low capacity of investment, low agricultural knowledge). It specifically addresses climatic constraints in order to decrease the vulnerability of the people while building the capacity of the beneficiaries for improved, sustainable vegetable production. The proposal includes the whole vegetable production chain, from seed management to nutrition/cooking class in order to address the needs of the beneficiaries both for the vegetable production and the nutrition knowledge and know how (awareness, cooking classes). These two aspects are considered as major pillars to improve food security, notably in the National Programme for food Security. Indeed the action will promote innovative approaches to improving food security in Omno-Gobi region, addressing old and new food security challenges through innovative and locally owned sustainable solutions, which could be scaled up and mainstreamed.
Objectives
The objective of the project is to implement and mainstream innovative, sustainable, affordable and locally owned approaches to improve food security amongst 150 of the most vulnerable people in XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.
The specific objective of the project is to enhance the capacity of resource-poor and poverty-stricken farmers and herders at low income brackets to produce a wide variety of vegetables using sustainable and environmentally-friendly technologies with integrated social ownership and management and involvement. The goal is to increase local availability of safe, quality vegetables to enhance food security as well as achieving nutritional balance through diversification of diets of the poorest segments of the vulnerable populations in target area. Priority in selection of target groups and project beneficiaries will be given to ethnic communities, female-headed households, newly settled families, resource-poor herders and farmers, and other vulnerable groups without access to secure livelihood.
Description of the Project
This project promotes the demonstration and implementation of 3 innovative approaches: Passive Solar Green House (PSGH), bioclimatic cellar, water management/soil conservation package. They will be locally owned as they are developed with local stakeholders (Resource Persons and Direct Beneficiaries) who will be trained for the implementation to make available the skills within the communities.
It is designed based on analysis of the food security situation including a literature review, assessment with the local authorities and ministry, and the target groups using participatory approach.
- The action supports small and medium scale (5 ha) agricultural production for self-consumption and sale at local, informal and formal, markets.
- The innovative approaches will increase availability and quality of vegetables as they will extend the length growing period (through PSGH) and the quality of storage. They are low cost (based on local materials and on the local capacity of investment) and low-level technologies (improvement of the existing tools).
- Various training, technical assistance and monitoring/onsite training will be provided to farmers regarding production and post harvest including vegetable growing, green house and cellar run.
- The diversification of the diet of the most vulnerable, although, it is challenging in a “meat dominated context”, is the main component for the improvement of the food security.
- The action is fully coherent with national policies and especially with National Programme for Food Security (NPFS) launched by the government in 2009. The action intends to contribute to its implementation.
- The limited water resources are taken into consideration for the design of the project and have contributed to the selection of the target area. Water supply and water demand are carefully addressed throughout the project that will lead to the proposition of simple technologies to improve the situation
- Special attention is paid to gender as 70% of the direct beneficiaries are women, as well as to environment protection: 500 tonnes of CO2 are yearly saved compared to heated green houses. CO2 emissions are limited to office heating, transportation of materials and embodied energy in materials.
Why is this project/ activity needed?
In Mongolia, Food insecurity is considered most serious in both urban and rural areas where a large and growing proportion of the Mongolian population lives. Given the dynamics between rural and urban areas (i.e. migration), the UNICEF, FAO and UNDP in their joint food assessment (2007) recommended to strengthen the actions to prevent vulnerable groups in rural areas from falling into food insecurity. Therefore, the project chooses to work in rural area of XXXXXXXX province.
The proportion of people living below the national poverty line has remained persistently high over the last 18 years. The first poverty survey in (the Living Standard Measurement Survey) estimates that one-third of population was living in poverty (36.6%). According to the Household Socio-Economic Survey, poverty continues to affect one-third of the population despite a slight reduction 35.2%, (Household Socioeconomic Survey) Poverty was higher in urban areas in 2003, however this trend was re-versed with higher poverty in rural areas persistent
The food basket of an average Mongolian is conspicuous by the dominance of flour and flour products, meat and meat products but a negligible presence of vegetables and fruits. A lack of vegetables contributes to an absence of essential vitamins and minerals that may cause “micronutrient deficiency”, many of which are irreversible. The main micronutrient deficiency problem in Mongolia is vitamin D deficiency among younger than five years children that stands at 41 percent (MOH, UNICEF, NRC, 2004), with a high prevalence in eastern, western, highlands regions and Ulaanbaatar. Among pregnant women vitamin D deficiency is 38 percent. Twenty percent of children are anaemic. According to the Ministry of Health data, anaemia among pregnant women increased to 11.5 percent in 2007 from 10 percent in 2004. Iron deficiency anaemia in children under five years old is also very high (21 percent). Other vitamin shortages such as folic is not well known to people and there is no record about it in Mongolia. A key to addressing the twin challenge of food and nutrition security is to increase safe vegetable production in the country through increasing the resources and capacity of resource-poor farmers. This will not only bolster household food security but will contribute to safer and more nutritionally balanced diets and enable access to supplementary income by selling surplus production.
Reasons for applying for assistance from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and third parties:
As a young organization, we need support (financial and expertise) to start the activities and improve the socio-economic situation of Khankhongor population of Omno-Gobi province.
Expected Output and Results Of The Project/ Activity
- Expected result 1:
- Innovative, sustainable, locally owned and affordable approaches on vegetable production and post-harvest – passive solar greenhouses (PSHG), bioclimatic cellar, and water management/soil conservation package – demonstrated.
- The current technologies do not allow the most vulnerable people to address Mongolia severe environment. A 12 months efficient greenhouse using Passive Solar System (without heating system) will be constructed and vegetables length growing period will be extended significantly to reach 12 months.
- Expected result 2:
- Sustainable increase of vegetable production in the innovative approaches run by the most vulnerable.
- The direct household beneficiaries will be able to produce seedlings in spring, fruit and roots vegetables in summer and leafy vegetable in winter and thus considerably increase and diversify their production throughout the year. So far mostly potato and carrots are produced resulting in a poor food diet. The possibility to diversify diet is also an expected result
- Expected result 3:
- Better Accessibility to local vegetables at the crucial period (quality/ capacity storage)
- Through the improvement or construction of bioclimatic cellars, quality of vegetables will be improved throughout the year and the storage capacity will be extended.
- It will contribute to the improvement of diet especially at crucial period, where the vegetables available at the market are not local and expensive (end of winter, spring). A hygienic storage will also contribute to the reduction of health problems (such as diarrhoeas, intestinal infection). The stored vegetables can also be sold on the market at crucial period and provide additional cash income, at a moment where expenses are higher.
- Expected result 4:
- Nutrition amongst the most vulnerable improved.
- Awareness on balance diet and food value of vegetables combined with higher accessibility to vegetables and more abilities on how to cook them are the necessary combination to improve nutrition and thus health among the most vulnerable and especially:
- Malnutrition of children
- Cardio- vascular related sicknesses
- High blood pressure
- To have one’s own production and being able to store it increase the access during critical seasons and can consequently reduce:
- Anxiety about household food provision and food dietary estimated at 20 to 30%
- Frequency of reduction of portion size and skipping meals estimated at 10 to 15%
- Hunger and complete lack of food at household level estimated at 3 to 5%
- Expected result 5:
- The innovative approaches are mainstreamed in collaboration with the local government.
- Publications are necessary tools to ensure the successful implementation of the project and extend the possibilities for mainstreaming.
- The collaboration with government and local authorities is crucial for mainstreaming as well as the dissemination of results and experiences during national workshop and seminars with the participation of key stakeholders including decision makers.
Involvement of local authorities (if applicable):
Local authorities will be fully involved as they are the main bodies in charge of mainstreaming and disseminating the results to public and reflecting the innovative farming approaches into National Food Security Programmes. The local authorities are:
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- Local Government office of Omno-Gobi province
- Local government office of Khankhongor town
- Food and Agriculture Department of Omno-Goi province as well as Khankhongor townInvolvement of local NGO’s (if applicable):
- Branch of Mercy Corps office
- Branch of World Vision office to enhance cooperation and project results.
Description of Target Population
The target population is the poor, vulnerable population of Omno-Gobi province and ethnic communities, women-headed households, households with disabled people, families with many children, newly settled families, vulnerable groups, ex-herders and resource-poor farmers will get priority in beneficiaries’ selection.Under the project 30 household families (approx. 150 people) will be the direct beneficiaries, while 6,000 will be indirect beneficiaries. These 30 households will be formed into a community Group who will receive full support from the project in accessing required inputs – seed/seedlings, machinery, equipment, passive solar winter green house, tunnels and storages – to cultivate potato and vegetables in 5 ha of irrigated lands with the application of a package of innovative and environmentally-friendly technologies. Beneficiary households will receive potato and vegetable seed and different technical and technological trainings.
How are the applying– and executing organisation related to the target population:
We, the applying organization located in Omno-Gobi province and always worked with the local vulnerable population on food security and desertification projects. We promote planting vegetables and trees in the town.
How is the target population involved in formulating and executing the project / activity?
The project was designed through a participatory process involving key stakeholders, who contributed to and expressed their agreement with the objectives, the proposed project components, and the overall implementation approach. The project will continue to involve key stakeholders in (i) implementing combinations of approaches; (ii) generating, delivering, and testing passive solar greenhouse design; and (iii) assessing current practices, as well as the needs and priorities of disadvantaged communities and families. Activities stimulated by the project will require active participation by communities and beneficiaries. Stakeholders will also take part in project monitoring and evaluation. Local government will be closely involved throughout the project.
What are the benefitsto thetarget population from the proposed project / activity?
The benefits to the target population are:
- Locally owned, affordable, sustainable all-year around operating winter greenhouse
- Extended period of vegetable cultivation which will help supply of own consumption of vegetables
- Supply of vegetables during the critical period with the help of bioclimatic root cellar operation
- Increase in nutrition status and nutrition knowledge
- Increase in children’s health and ability
- Income generating through sell of surplus vegetables at lower cost so the whole community of Khankhongor town will benefit from quality and low-price vegetable
- The winter greenhouse design will be disseminated so the better-off local residents can construct the greenhouse themselves and improve their food security situation
- Agricultural knowledge and skills improved
- Promotion of reducing CO2 emission through passive solar greenhouse
Which Millennium Development Goal (MDG) is / are targeted by the project / activities (one or more):
- MDG # 1: Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty
- MDG # 3: Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
Describe the effects of the project / activity on each MDG that is targeted:
The project is contributing to the realization of MDG # 1: Eradicating extreme hunger and poverty and specially below targets within the Goal:
- Target 1: Halve the proportion of people whose income is below the minimum living standards
- Target 2: Reduce by six times the proportion of people who suffer from malnutrition
- Target 3: Increase employment of population, reduce youth unemployment who are newly entering into labour market
- Target 4: Reduce negative effects of population concentration and migration
- The project is also contributing to the realization of MDG #3: Promote gender equality and empower women.
Effects
Describe the effects of the project / activity on reducing poverty:
The proposed innovative approaches are developed according to the constraints of the regions (short length growing period, poor quality of soil, water scarcity) and of the target groups (low capacity of investment, low agricultural knowledge). It specifically addresses climatic constraints in order to decrease the vulnerability of the people while building the capacity (trainings) of the beneficiaries for sustainable vegetable production. The proposal includes the whole vegetable production chain, from seed management to nutrition/cooking class in order to address the needs of the beneficiaries both for vegetable production, storage and nutrition knowledge and know how (awareness, cooking classes). These two aspects are considered as major pillars to improve food security, notably in the National Programme for Food Security and contribute to the poverty alleviation.
Describe the effects of the project / activity on local culture and customs:
In terms of food supply, the traditional pastoral sector sustains Mongolia as self-sufficient in meat and milk products. At present the country is well-positioned to fully realize the productive potential of its extensive livestock sector by exporting processed products such as meat. In 2005, 7.3 thousand tons of processed meat was exported. Russia is the basic meat export market for Mongolia. Since 2004, canned meat and pet food has been started to export to Korea, Japan and Indonesia. This has resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of pastoral animals (camels, horses, cattle, sheep and goats) up to over 43 million. As a consequence, the pastures are being overgrazed triggering desertification, a process accelerated by the effects of global warming. Inability to maintain the population of herding animals at par with the regenerative capacity of the country’s pasturelands presents a potential risk in the supply of livestock-origin food products when weather conditions deteriorate causing death of animals.
Contribution from applying organisation to project:
- Financial vehicle
- Labour project implementation unit will be on XXXXXXXX budget
- Materials locally available materials such as Reed, gravel, sand, black soil, and felt
- Land 5 Ha area of land (possibility of expanding the land size for tree growing to combat with desertification in Mongolia)
Management
Responsibility for management of funds:
Implementation of the project will build on greater interaction between local government and the project involved in food production, security and nutrition. Letters of Agreement will be made between the project and the collaborating government body and cooperative to carry out specific activities and tasks relevant to each respective component of the project.
There will be a Project Coordinator who will be in charge of overall implementation of the project and smooth running of the activities. He or she will be managing the budget expenditures and reporting directly to the Kingdom of the Netherlands Embassy, Beijing.
Project / activity management:
The Project Coordinator will be managing and supervising the project on daily basis with some input from technical adviser
Monitoring by supervising organisation:
There will be close monitoring by the Project Coordinator and monitoring will follow the rules and procedures defined by the Kingdom of Netherlands Embassy Small Activity Project.
Reporting:
The progress report of activities will be carried out accordingly to the work plan.
Monthly reports will assess the status of the project, and analyse problems encountered with suggestions on how to improve performance and/or modify project implementation. A six-month report will provide an overview of progress in the preceding months, and provide an updated work plan for the following 6 months.
Fieldwork reports will give an idea of how local institutions and entities view on both project activities and the overall issue of effective implementation of the project.
All the reports will be produced by the Project Coordinator
Feasibility
Are all the materials and resources needed for the project / activity easily available, within the limits of the budget?
All the materials and resources needed for the project activities are easily available within the limits of the budget. The passive solar greenhouse is designed to use locally available materials such as reed, stone, gravel, sand, block, cook break, black soil and wood.
The project team is committed in improving the socio-economic situation of vulnerable families of XXXXXXXX province and especially work towards empowering women.
Does the executing organisation have the organisational and financial capacity to execute the project as presented in the project / activity description?
We have organizational capacity to execute the proposed project with our skilled and experienced Project Coordinator and our technical expert in designing winter greenhouse which is affordable, using locally available materials and promote sustainable farming in the local region.
Are all the inputs in the project / activity (including own contribution, contributions from third parties and from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) sufficient to realize the project / activity objectives?
Yes. the passive solar greenhouse is constructed at the cost of 00000 USD (it is a large community greenhouse of size 20×7 as the project proposes to work with the local women cooperative) and large trench greenhouse for seedlings and leafy vegetables constructed at the cost of 0000 USD and bioclimatic cellar. There will be two community greenhouses and three large trench greenhouses with one cellar and one deep water well.
Sustainability
Who will take ownership of material inputs and resources after completion of the project / activity:
The greenhouses, trench greenhouses (hotbed), root cellars, water well, and tools and equipment will be transferred to the local women cooperative at the end of the project. However, the project will be training, monitoring, and guiding the cooperative for the next 5 years to empower them and enable their operation until smooth running stage.
How will running costs be financed after the project/activity is completed:
After the project, the cooperative should be able to keep basic bookkeeping and sell their products. From this income, the future activities will be maintained.
How will equipment purchased under the project/activity be operated:
It will be through systematic trainings and guidance from the project implementation unit.
How will maintenance and repair of material inputs and resources be performed after completion of the project/activity:
From the income generated from the sale of harvest, the cooperative will be able to maintain and repair the inputs and resources even after the project end.
What is the income generating effects of the project/activity?
We will work with local cooperative to identify marketing opportunities for harvest surpluses, especially among groups prone to food insecurity or micronutrient deficiencies. The cooperative will identify food insecure and vulnerable households in order to reinforce the cooperative’s role as a social service support network, as well as a commercial entity. Secondary processing will also create additional opportunities for employment, and products may be provided at a subsidized or free basis to vulnerable households.
What will the follow-up be and how will the activities be continued after completion of the project/activity?
As this project is designed to improve small scale bio-organic agricultural activity, notions of sustainability are intrinsic to this project design. This project was identified through discussion with Cooperative members and other Khankhongor community leaders. Community level interest and commitment to the project is very high. By working through a local functioning civil society organisation Gobi Greenhouse will be contributing to improved civic participation and governance. In the longer term, it is expected that the increased revenue resulting from sales of produce, when combined with other revenue streams, will allow for the maintenance and upkeep of the facility.
Wider expansion of the project activities will be contingent on the degree of improvement experienced as a result of the new all-weather greenhouses. Moreover, by developing the facility using locally available materials and expertise, it is anticipated that this will create a locally held knowledge base which could be used in future for the introduction of additional facilities in other locations. Holding training sessions at this new facility should also stimulate medium term governmental and cooperative interest in developing similar greenhouses in other locations. This proposal is also congruent with government policy for improving horticulture nationwide.
