If sustainable agriculture is your concern this specific project is specially designed for you. Due to poor knowledge, poverty and infrastructure, most farmers still practice subsistence farming. Towards supporting the farmers and improving farm base income, this project proposes to implement a sustainable farming and help in improving the knowledge of farmers on various aspects of sustainable farming,which will help them in improving the productivity from their farms, thereby improving their income. This sample proposal will also promote sustainable farming practices through awareness generation and demonstration.
Project Overview
Title of Project: Sustainable agriculture development through expansion, enhancement and
Demonstration of Sustainable Farming Practices in Rwanda.
Project Goal: To augment the livelihood of rural communities in Rwanda through enhancing resilience of agriculture through the development, promotion and adoption of Sustainable Farming Practices.
Project Sector: Agriculture
Name of Executing Entity: XYZ Non Profit
Beneficiaries: Rural communities of Rwanda.(25% of the overall beneficiary under the project would be women)
Project Duration: Two years
Start Date: ……….
End Date: …………
Amount of Financing Requested: XX million USD
Project Location Province : Rwanda
Project Background
Agriculture is the main economic activity for over 88% of people of Rwanda. The agriculture sector contributes 47% of Rwanda’s Gross Domestic Product and over 80% of foreign earnings come through exports of Coffee, Tea and other agro-based products. The most commonly cultivated crops include cassava, potatoes, sweet potatoes, maize, plantains, and beans. Rwanda has two distinctive seasons for crop cultivation, the first season is from September to January and the second season between February to June.
Though agriculture production has improved in Rwanda over the last decade, it has yet not reached its true potential. Fortune of Africa suggests the following challenges that the agriculture sector in Rwanda currently faces.
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- Scarcity of land, which is an outcome of high population.
- Deterioration of soil fertility and severe land erosion.
- Very low levels of inputs in the form either organic manure or other fertilizers.
- Agriculture is based on rainfall as little irrigation goes on in Rwanda.
- Low purchasing power among the rural people.
- Lack of awareness about market dynamics by the farmers in the country.
- Limited market participation by the farmers
- Lack of access to financial services.
- Agricultural advisory services are not easily accessed by the rural farmers.
The Food and Agriculture Organization, also emphasises on the need to adopt good agricultural practices to deal with the existing problems that the sector faces. FAO, identified the following major challenges that the agriculture sector in Rwanda, currently faces.
Land degradation and soil erosion are among the main challenges faced by agriculturalists: 90% of domestic cropland in Rwanda is on slopes ranging from 5% to 55%, which leads to soil loss, erosion and reduced fertility. It is estimated that 1.4 millions of tones of soil per year is lost, accounting for a loss of 320.000 US dollars.
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- Land use and distribution: Women in Rwanda face difficulties in land inheritance and have insecure land rights, because of which they are unable to use their land efficiently.
- High dependence on rainfalls: Rwandan agriculture is highly dependent on rains and a very low percentage of farmers use any form of irrigation.
- Low levels of productivity for both crops and livestock: Farmers in Rwanda follow inefficient farming practices which results in poor yields.
- Poor Processing capacity: Rwanda has a very low share of processed food; as a result a lot of harvested products get wasted in the absence of proper marketing or value addition.
- Lack of access to appropriate technology: Farmers do not have access to appropriate technology that can help them in reducing post harvesting losses.
Due to poor knowledge, poverty and infrastructure, most farmers still practice subsistence farming. Towards supporting the farmers and improving farm base income, our organization proposes to implement a sustainable farming project. The proposed project will help in improving the knowledge of farmers on various aspects of sustainable farming, which will help them in improving the productivity from their farms, thereby improving their income.
Project Description
Project Goal: To augment the livelihood of rural communities in Rwanda through enhancing resilience of agriculture through the development, promotion and adoption of Sustainable Farming Practices.
Project Objectives
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- To promote sustainable farming practices through awareness generation and demonstration in Rwanda.
- Establishment of 10 farmer training centers to provide training on aspects of sustainable farming to 1000 identified farmers.
- Establish 50 farmers libraries and common facility areas to provide agricultural inputs – quality seeds, manure and other equipment to the farmers.
Project Activities
Objective 1. To promote sustainable farming practices through awareness generation and demonstration.
Activity 1. Baseline Generation
Our teams shall undertake a baseline study to understand the existing agriculture scenario in the identified project sites. We shall undertake secondary research along with conducting meetings with focus groups to document the following aspects of agriculture in Rwanda:
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- Area under degradation
- Identifying fertile area under agriculture
- Major challenges that farmers face
- Markets for selling their produce
- Soil quality
- Water quality
- Landholding size
- Farmers income
- Major crops being cultivated
- Assessment of economic importance of various crops
- Existing agronomic practices being used by farmers
The baseline report will also help us in identifying the 1000 farmers for the initial phase of the project. During the survey we shall also develop linkages with the government department and other organizations.
Activity 2. Promotion of Sustainable Good Agriculture Practices
Awareness generation will be an important activity towards promoting Sustainable Good Agriculture Practices amongst the farming communities in Rwanda. Through a series of awareness camps and farmer meetings, we shall sensitize the farmers the importance of sustainable farming practices and how these simple changes in farming can bring about a positive change in the overall environment, health and the local economy. The following strategy will be used for awareness in the identified villages.
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- House to house visits: Our field coordinators shall conduct house to house visits to educate the farmers about the relevance of the project and also the importance of Good Agriculture Practices.
- Village Meetings: During the village meeting, we shall organize mass awareness sessions, which will provide us an opportunity for the whole community to listen and participate in the events.
- Display of informative posters and wall paintings throughout the villages.
- Organize cultural events to draw large crowds and then deliver key messages through songs, dance and shows.
- Farmer fairs wherein successful farmers from nearby villages will exhibit their best practices and show how they were able to enhance their incomes through sustainable farming.
Objective 2: Establishment of a farmer training center to provide training on aspects of sustainable farming to 1000 identified farmers.
Activity 1. Development of training module: Our team will be developing a comprehensive training module for the farmers. The training manual will cover the various aspects of sustainable farming practices and will be made in easy to understand vernacular language. Also we will be using simple flow diagrams, info graphics and pictures to make the manuals attractive and also easy to understand.
Activity 2. Training on aspects of sustainable farming: Master trainers at the training centers will conduct farmers training to the identified farmers. Each batch of trainees will comprise 20-30 farmers and training will be for a period of 6 days. The training will comprise two components viz. theory class and practical learning. The theory classes will be carried out in classroom style teaching and will be carried out for the first three days, followed by practical field demonstrations. During the field demonstrations, the master trainers will provide practical hands-on training on various agronomic practices to be followed by the farmers to improve their field productivity. The trained farmers will improve their knowledge on various aspects of sustainable farming and gain skills on following GAP.
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- Understanding the history of the field so as to identify most fertile areas and then accordingly plant the most suitable plant for the area.
- Preparing a clean and chemical free area before planting of crops.
- Understanding of the local pears, diseases and weeds.
- Soil preparation by avoiding soil erosion and compression.
- Crop rotation and understanding of different crop cycles.
- Adequate seed treatment, sowing and planting process.
- Preparation of seedbeds, setting nurseries and greenhouses.
- Water conservation and proper irrigation method suitable for the crop.
- Reduce contamination of water tanks and irrigation channels.
- Use of safe and natural fertilisers, pesticides and weedicides.
- Periodical observation of the crops for early detection of problems.
- Preparation of organic manures and ways to prepare it.
- Suitable harvesting and post harvesting techniques for different crops.
- Post harvesting techniques to ensure that quality of crop remains intact.
- Marketing of crops
Activity 3. Formation of Farmers Club: Once the training of the identified farmers is complete, we will support them in formation of farmers club. All the members of the farmers club will meet and discuss their learning and will ensure that they pass on their knowledge to other farmers in their villages. The farmers club will be a community level initiative where the trained farmers will help other farmers to adopt sustainable good agriculture practices in their respective fields.
Objective 3. Establish farmer’s libraries and common facility areas to provide quality seeds, manure and other equipment to the farmers.
Activity: Establish farmer library- We shall establish farmers libraries in all the project villages to provide information to the farmers. These farmers library will provide necessary information to all the farmers about the following aspects:
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- Weather Advisory
- Market prices of products
- Good Agricultural Practices for maximizing yield and income
Activity: Common Facility Areas: Along with establishing farmer libraries, we shall also establish common facility areas to support the farmers by providing them quality seeds, manure and equipment at subsidized rates. These common facility areas will help the farmers in the following:
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- Distribution of quality agriculture inputs
- Support in storing the produce in a hygienic manner
- Basic processing of some products- sun drying, pulping of fruits, extraction of oil etc.
- Packaging of their products
- Marketing of their products
Project Monitoring and Evaluation
The project will be evaluated by an independent third party organization. The third party named XYZ, will be responsible for monitoring and evaluation of the project. They will carry out pre and post training surveys to assess the effectiveness of different training programs and also the behavioral changes in farmers attitude towards sustainable farming. Also XYZ will conduct assessment of the farmers to see the changes that have occurred on the field. The endline report will also help us to see the impact that the project has yielded.
Expected Outcomes
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- Increase in productivity (i.e. production/acre/year) due to improved soil quality, water availability and usage of sustainable farming techniques.
- Good Agricultural Practices adopted by at least 50 % of the farmers in the area.
- Improved soil quality and fertility as a result of using manures and organic fertilisers.
- Increase income of target households as a result of increased yield and improved quality of produce.
