• Kernels of Hope   2011 - 2014


    Country/Region:

    North Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

    Programme Title:

    North Kivu Food Security Project

    Programme Duration :

    01 April 2011 – 31 March 2014

    Amount Requested:

    CDN $1,050,000

    Direct beneficiaries targeted:

    22,500 individuals (15,000 returnees, 5,000 hosts, and 2,500 IDPs)  

    Programme Goal:   To increase food security, nutritional intake and livelihood resilience of 4,500 vulnerable households in targeted communities in the Birambizo Health Zone, through improved understanding and practice of sustainable, diversified agriculture, improved nutrition and decreased incidence of diseases which contribute to malnutrition.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

    Justification for intervention

     

    • Conflict and population displacement

          North Kivu as the priority area for humanitarian response. Years of war and ongoing armed conflict in North Kivu has led to massive population displacement, theft of basic resources and destruction of homes, health centres, water points and other infrastructure.  The re-escalation of violence and deteriorating humanitarian situation since the end of 2008  led to new waves of displacement                                

         The total number of returnees within North Kivu province October 2009 – September 2010 is 373,396.

          Population displacement increases food insecurity in vulnerable communities as displaced households have lost essential inputs such as seeds, farm tools, household utensils and assets, and cultivation has been disrupted, which can cause poor or lost harvests, engendering a more severe hunger gap in the next season.    With the return of approximately 40,000 Congolese refugees from Uganda and 40,400 from Rwanda planned to start in 2011, thousands more returnees are expected to return to Rutshuru, causing the situation to become more acute and increasing potential conflict over resources.

    • Security

    The relative stability in the proposed project area is confirmed by the high rates of existing and planned returnees and also former IDPs in these communities choosing to remain after camp closures.  This relative security provides a key opportunity to access vulnerable populations, and since it is expected to continue under Congolese army (integrated CNDP) control, should facilitate consistency of access to these areas throughout project period. .  Ambushes against commercial and non-commercial vehicles continue and have at times dictated use of alternate routes in consultation with UNDSS and other NGOs.  It should be noted that the motivation for these ambushes is primarily economic rather than political as soldiers haven’t been paid. 

    • Food insecurity

          The UNICEF/Norwegian Refugee Council showed food consumption levels were poor for 29% of the population, limited for 53%, and acceptable for only 18%. ‘Lack of food’ and ‘hunger’ were the number one priorities of women and youth respectively .  65% of youth reported eating only one meal per day.  There are two hunger gaps during the planting seasons: one during October/November and again in March/April.  Coping mechanisms during food shortages include less meals and a reduction in the quantity of food per meal.  

    The assessment showed that nearly 97% of people in the target area are mainly reliant on agriculture as their livelihood.  However, despite relatively good climatic conditions that can support the growth of many crops, agricultural production remains at subsistence level and is characterized by very low yields.  The assessment identified key constraints to agricultural production as: a shortage of good quality disease-free agricultural seeds and tools; limited or no access to markets or external support; limited access to land due to landownership issues; population displacement due to conflict; and limited knowledge of sustainable agricultural techniques amongst the population.

         Chronic food insecurity in this region has been made worse by the recent spread of the mosaic virus, which has attacked the staple cassava crops, alongside banana wilt disease, banana weevil attacks, and a disease reported to be ravaging arrowroot crops. Farmers in all of the assessed communities have had crops attacked by disease. 

         Access to fertile agricultural land is limited due to increasing population, returning households, encroachment by soldiers/armed militia and landlord’s livestock grazing. The majority of the available land is owned by landlords, with rent usually paid in the form of crop produce, further reducing the already limited harvest.  The landlord dictates which agricultural activities will be carried out on the land and farmers complain that they have no recourse when the landlord’s livestock ruin their crops.  The majority of landless households are headed by women.  

         Population displacement impacts food security as displaced households often lose seeds, tools and assets when they flee, cultivation is lost or interrupted, harvests are pillaged. Sustained conflict has also had a devastating impact on the livestock sector.  75% of the residents had thriving livestock before the conflict, keeping cattle, goats, sheep and poultry.  At the time of the assessment, however, only 5% of households owned up to three animals. Lack of variety of crops grown, and lack of access to animal proteins results in low nutritional diversity of food consumed, with cassava and/or maize “ugali” (paste) constituting a substantial percentage of a household’s daily menu.

    • Water and Sanitation

     Safe water sources and sanitation facilities in this area are vastly insufficient for the host communities, returnees and displaced people. During discussions with all of the health centre representatives and in 66% of the focus group discussions with women and youth, lack of clean drinking water was given as either the #1 or #2 priority need  in the communities. 

         High incidence of diarhea is linked to poor water and sanitation provision and practice. Assessment Report indicated that only 14% of people had access to safe water and only 36% to a family latrine., with as many as 20 households using one school latrine.

         Health issues affect food security, as disease burden undermines an individual’s food utilisation, and as sickness reduces or prevents agricultural production, so decreasing food availability.

     

    Proposed Response

    The underlying causes of food insecurity are many and complex.  Some are structural due to landownership issues, while others are due to education, population displacement, disease, and availability of quality seeds and tools.  Over the three years, the strategy is to address the root causes of food insecurity through an integrated project as outlined below

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    Result 1: Re-established sustainable local food production among 4,500 households leading to improved access and availability of food for improved nutritional intake through increased and diversified agricultural production and increased understanding of improved agricultural techniques.

     

    Activities:

    • Seed, tool and livestock distribution  

    The proposed food security project will target in total 4,500 vulnerable  people an area affected by acute food insecurity exacerbated by high levels of population displacement.  The multi-year project will seek to address immediate needs during year one, mitigate food shortages in years two and three, and improve household resilience to withstand further livelihood shocks.  We will enable vulnerable households to improve the quality and quantity of their harvest by procuring and distributing high-yielding disease-resistant seeds of staple crops (maize, cassava, beans and groundnuts) and basic agricultural tools including hoes and machetes.  Direct distribution of seeds to 1,500 vulnerable households will be done in the first year in order to establish a local source of quality seeds.  During the second and third years, it is expected,  that at least 50% of year one beneficiaries will be able to supply seeds that can be distributed to year two and year three beneficiaries,   Chickens, rabbits and/or guinea pigs will be distributed to 500 vulnerable households.

         To increase the nutritional diversity of household diet, as well as to provide opportunity for income-generation, 1,000 targeted beneficiaries will receive vegetable seeds for kitchen gardening.

    • Training on improved agricultural practice

    Comprehensive training on sustainable agriculture practices (erosion control, linear planting, crop maintenance), food production and post-harvest activities (storage, processing, selling) will be provided to beneficiaries alongside these material inputs, to ensure sustainability of the activity and to develop local capacity. 

    4,500 targeted beneficiaries will receive training in vegetable garden planting and management, watering and organic fertilization (use of manure and animal waste).  Pest and disease control as well as weed management will also form part of the training.  100 model farmers will be trained directly , with those farmers then training other beneficiaries with supervision. Agronomists and trained agricultural extension workers will provide management, monitoring and technical support for individual and communal vegetable nurseries, to ensure significantly higher germination and transplantation rates than those currently achieved.  

    • Advocacy regarding land ownership issues

          We will lobby both government authorities and landowners to establish more flexible and favourable share cropping agreements to enable vulnerable households to cultivate larger areas of land.  They will also be encouraged to give farmers more freedom in the types of crops to be planted.    

    Result 2: Improved access to safe drinking water and sanitation facilities and increased knowledge of preventative health and hygiene issues.  

    • Water, sanitation and public health and hygiene promotion

    We will improve access to safe drinking water at the household level through the protection of springs and by initiating  a demand-led bio-sand filter (BSFs) project at the household level . We will encourage the construction of household latrines, providing minimal inputs such as latrine slabs and will support communities to construct up to 1000 demand-led latrines. 

    • Nutrition education and behaviour change

    We will provide training in the benefits of crop diversity and basic principles and practice of household nutrition including food hygiene, a balanced diet, infant feeding practices, proper food storage, sanitation and practical demonstrations following food from the farm to the dining table.

     

    Purpose: To assist vulnerable farmers, mainly women, to improve their food security through larger areas of land cultivated, improved inputs, promotion of animal husbandry, and improved hygiene and health (specifically integrating returnees from Rwanda and former IDPs remaining in host communities)