Agriculture can help reduce poverty, raise incomes and improve food security for 80% of the world’s poor, who live in rural areas and work mainly in farming. If your goal is to promote integrated farming, improve nutrition and reduce poverty.
This sample proposal designed specially for you. This sample proposal comes with the objectives like Understand the existing agriculture practices and analyze the gaps and opportunities to develop site-specific and appropriate integrated farming system plans and to demonstrate and promote vegetables and fruits integrated farming-based technologies/ interventions to enhance the livelihoods and nutrition of households. If you want to develop your own sample proposals or if you are searching proposals for poverty reduction through integrated farming. Take a deep look at this proposal.
Introduction of the Project
Agriculture is the dominant industry in Ghana. In 2013 it employed 53.6% of the labor force, with Cocoa being the principal cash crop and export item. Ghana has multiple climatic zones ranging from hot and dry to dry and humid. The agriculture produce is largely concentrated on Cocoa, Yam, and Plantain where Ghana is the 2nd largest producer in the world.
Since 1998 poverty reduction in Ghana has fallen. The spatial inequality widened, and poverty and vulnerability became more concentrated in the Northern three regions (Northern, Upper East, and Upper West) and the xxx region. This is attributed to the poor suitability of the hot and dry climate of the north region which is not suitable for Cocoa and other cash crop cultivation. Further agriculture is largely rainfed and is hence highly susceptible to global warming-induced change. As per FAO, diversification is a key factor for increasing farm income and reducing poverty in developing regions. Agriculture diversification refers to either a change in cropping pattern or the farmers opting for other non-farming options like poultry farming, animal husbandry, etc. This practice allows farmers to expand their production, which helps generate a higher level of income.
In today’s world, there is a strong belief that the effects of climate change on agriculture will be tackled with an integrated approach that covers the progress in the agricultural sector. The study shows that the farmers who adopted agricultural diversification to mitigate the impact of climate change were benefited on an average of US xxx per annum whereas non-adopted farmers lost their farm income on an average of US xxx per annum if they had practiced agricultural diversification.
Considering that there is a need to improve the livelihoods of the communities and also improve their nutrient uptake, integrating vegetable and fruit cultivation is a suitable intervention for the selected areas in xxxx Region of Ghana.
Project Site
The project will be implemented in Ghana. The xxxx region is one of Ghana’s sixteen administrative regions, with Ho designated as its capital. For the implementation of the project, we will be identifying 5 municipalities after an initial survey and discussion with relevant authorities.
Goal of the Project
The goal of the project is to promote integrated farming to improve nutrition and reduce poverty in the xxxxRegion of Ghana.
Objectives Of the Project
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- Objective 1: Understand the existing agriculture practices and analyze the gaps and opportunities to develop site-specific and appropriate integrated farming system plans suitable for the project site.
- Objective 2: To demonstrate and promote vegetables and fruits integrated farming-based technologies/ interventions to enhance the livelihoods and nutrition of 10,000 households.
Activities Of the Project
The following project activities have been envisaged for the success of the project.
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- Collection of Baseline Data: A baseline study will be carried out to understand the existing state of agriculture in the area. We shall undertake both a combination of primary and secondary literature surveys. The following will be explored in the baseline:
- Existing agriculture constraints and gaps
- Land features
- Market access
- Demography of the project municipalities
- Income of the farmers
- Current agriculture practices
- Diet and health of households
- Based on the data collected our experts will develop a report stating the agriculture-related opportunities and challenges in the project site.
- Agro Meteorological Data: We shall be collecting agro meteorological and climate trends of the project site. Data on rainfall, air temperature, duration of sunshine, humidity, soil temperature (5, 15, 30 cm), wind velocity and direction, evaporation, and dew of the identified project sites will be collected from the Meteorological Department.
- Soil Analysis: Soil analysis will help to understand the various parameters of soil like soil texture, organic matter, pH exchange, etc. The analysis will help to identify the suitability of the land for the cultivation of different vegetables and fruits. Our project team will collect soil samples from different fields and will follow the standard practice of soil sampling and analysis. The following parameters will be analyzed:
- Soil Texture
- Soil pH
- Organic Matter
- Electrical Conductivity
- Phosphorus
- Potassium
- Nitrogen
- Awareness Generation: We will be conducting awareness sessions in the project districts. During these sessions, we will discuss with the target beneficiaries about integrated farming and its importance in improving livelihoods and also family nutrition. We will using various ICT tools to make the sessions interesting and interactive.
- Establishing Nurseries and other infrastructure: We will be developing vegetable nurseries in the identified municipalities to provide good quality vegetable seedlings to the project beneficiaries. While selecting the land for the nursery the following points will be considered:
- Well-drained area
- Proper exposure to sunlight
- Adequate water supply for irrigation
- Well protected from wild animals and pests
- Along with the vegetable nursery, we shall also develop greenhouses, compost units, and storage units.
- Training and Capacity building: The selected beneficiaries will be trained on various aspects of vegetable cultivation. Our experts will be conducting a series of training on aspects of integrated farming. The following aspects will be covered:
- Significance of vegetable cultivation & scope
- General management practices in vegetable cultivation
- Foundation of Successful vegetable production system
- Integrated disease management
- Integrated pest management
- Horticulture practices
- Harvesting methods
- Storage
- Field Demonstrations: We will be carrying out field demonstrations in local areas to give practical hands-on training on integrated farming of vegetables and fruits. For each site, we will develop a small piece of land that will be used for raising vegetable seedlings and demonstrating different ways of cultivating vegetables and fruits together. We will be demonstrating the following model for integrated farming:
- Wire-based boundary and live hedge: The boundary of the field will be built using a low-cost wire-based boundary and concrete and wooden pillars. This will be followed by live fencing with Gliricid or similar plants that will protect the field from animals and also increase soil fertility.
- Border Fencing: Fruit trees (Papaya) will be planted on the border. Growing fruit trees on the hedge also act as a windbreak. Depending on the temperature and soil characteristics, the farmers can opt for different species of fruit trees.
- Seasonal Vegetable Cultivation: We shall be growing seasonal vegetables in the demonstration plot. We shall be installing sprinkler/drip irrigation to meet the water requirement of the vegetables. We shall use a combination of 2-3 vegetables for each season. Depending on the season various vegetables like Brinjal, tomato, beans, pea, okra, capsicum, and onion will be cultivated.
- Perennial Vegetable Cultivation: Some portion of the sample plot will be used for the cultivation of perennial vegetables.
- Leafy Green Vegetables: We shall also use some portion of the plot to cultivate green leafy vegetables.
- Diversifying Cocoa: Considering a large number of farmers are involved in cocoa cultivation in the region, we shall provide them with suitable options to integrate vegetables and fruits. We will encourage these farmers to select some vegetable cultivation in cocoa farms in the early stages of cocoa establishment. Plantain and cassava grow well in cocoa shade and can easily be cultivated, we will encourage the farmers to integrate cocoa with plantain/cassava.
- Setting up Farms: Once the training and demonstration are complete, we will be working with the farmers on their farms to develop suitable integrated vegetable and fruit farms. We will be distributing quality agriculture inputs like seeds, soil, manure, insecticide, and pesticides, etc. to help the farmers in improving the yield from their farms.
- Harvesting and Marketing: We shall also support the farmers in harvesting and marketing the yield. For ensuring that the yield sustains for a longer period of time, we will be storing all the products at a lower temperature in cold storage. Storing them in colder temperatures will ensure that they do not get over riped before reaching the market. For marketing, we will be getting into an agreement with local vendors and local eateries to purchase the products from our farmers.
- Collection of Baseline Data: A baseline study will be carried out to understand the existing state of agriculture in the area. We shall undertake both a combination of primary and secondary literature surveys. The following will be explored in the baseline:
Outputs of the Project
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- Site-specific IFS plans for vegetable and fruit cultivation for the selected Municipalities.
- ICT on integrated farming systems published and disseminated.
- Training on various agriculture practices and packages on integrated vegetable and fruit farming conducted.
- 10,000 households adopt IFS practices to improve their income and agricultural productivity.
- Demonstration plots established in all the project districts.
- Quality agriculture inputs distributed to the target beneficiaries.
- Vegetable nurseries and other infrastructure were developed for all the sites.
Evaluation Plan
The project has the following plan towards ensuring successful implementation and delivery of various outputs:
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- Submission of financial reports and fund utilization on a quarterly basis.
- Submission of progress reports with data and photographs on a monthly basis to the head office.
- Development of monthly action plans after consultation with the field team, to clearly set the physical targets to be achieved on a monthly basis.
- Monthly meetings with key stakeholders and farmer communities to get their feedback and understand the challenges that they are facing.
- Annual site visits will be conducted by the project director to assess the field interventions.
