Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in partnership with Caritas Mauritania Brakna Recovery Initiative (BRI) 3nd Quarterly Report Project Period: 14 June 2013 – 13 June 2014 Reporting Period: January 1 – March 31, 2014 (FY14, Q2) Submitted: April 25, 2014 (via https://abacusxp.ofda.gov) Funded by USAID/OFDA Agreement No. AID-OFDA-G-13-00074 Contact: Nicole Poirier Contact: Hilary O’Connor Country Representative Public Donor Liaison Catholic Relief Services CRS Baltimore 72, Bd de la République, Dakar 228 W Lexington St Sénégal Baltimore, MD 21201 Tel: +221 33 889-15-75 Tel : (410) 927-7613 Fax: +221 33 823 -58-24 Fax : (410) 234-2995 Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] CRS Senegal AID-OFDA-G-13-00074 (Brakna Recovery Initiative) 1 I. Introduction 1.1 Project Summary In partnership with Caritas Mauritania and the Government of Mauritania technical authorities, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and USAID/OFDA are providing assistance to 2,600 extremely vulnerable and vulnerable households in Mauritania. The 12-month Brakna Recovery Initiative (BRI) targets the Bababe and Mbagne departments in the Brakna region of Mauritania, an area still suffering from the effects of the 2011/2012 Sahel food crisis. BRI is restoring community assets through Cash for Work (CFW) opportunities, Cash Transfers, small ruminants for those who lost or sold livestock, and technical trainings on improving soil fertility in agro- pastoral zones. 1.2 January-March 2014 Project Highlights During the 3nd quarter of the project, January-March 2014, CRS and Caritas Mauritania completed the following activities in each of the 33 targeted villages: 1st Cash for Work - $24,000 for 800 beneficiaries (January 2014) Set up demonstration sites for permaculture and key hole gardens (February 2014) Mid-term Review (February 2014) 3rd Cash transfer - $ 78,000 for 2600 beneficiaries (March 2014) Tree plantation (using the Irrigasc method) in selected villages (March 2014) Refresher trainings (February March 2014) II. Progress toward objectives 2.1 Monitoring & Evaluation 2.1.1 Agriculture and Food Security SO 1: Vulnerable household livelihoods have been reinforced Sub sector: Livestock Upon conclusion of the November livestock fairs, more than 820 animals were purchased by the beneficiaries. During supervisory field visits conducted in January 2014, CRS and Caritas staff recorded the birth of 94 animal offspring. However, due to some fatalities among the newborns, the total number of livestock was 836. The project staff doesn’t have a clear and scientific explanation on why such a large number of newborn and livestock in general are dying. The project asked the veterinarian to further investigate this issue. In March, the project organized a refresher training session for 1,537 beneficiaries (471 men and 1,066 women) on effective fodder storage/preservation methods. Project beneficiaries were able to describe in detail the techniques and other knowledge they learned during several focus group discussions this quarter. Animal health practice learned by project participants was confirmed by observing the state of the distributed animals. Sub sector: Improving Agricultural Production/Food Security In each of the 33 villages, the project conducted refresher trainings on post-harvest processing and storage, and agricultural production techniques for 1,537 beneficiaries (471 men and 1,066 women). Beneficiaries reported improved knowledge of agricultural practices in the midterm evaluation (55%) compared to the baseline survey (15%). In February, BRI Project Staff also conducted a training-of-trainers and established 9 demonstration gardens in select beneficiary villages to illustrate the key-hole garden approach. This approach is used in contexts where good soil and water are limited. This methodology, which recycles grey water, has caught the CRS Senegal AID-OFDA-G-13-00074 (Brakna Recovery Initiative) 2 attention of project beneficiaries and others and appears to respond to household food needs. Further analysis and results will be documented during the final evaluation. Table 1: Number of beneficiaries that participated in refresher trainings Department Commune Village Extremely Vulnerable Total M W Trained % Vulnerable Bababé Aéré Mbar Total Aéré Mbar 105 225 330 92 179 271 82% El Vor Total El Vor 193 438 631 109 308 417 66% Total Bababé 298 663 961 201 487 688 72% Mbagbne Débaye Total Débaye 316 654 970 131 460 591 61% Hijaj Hijaj Niabina Total Niabina 62 166 228 28 56 84 37% Bagodine Total Bagodine 124 317 441 111 63 174 39% Total Mbagne 502 1137 1639 270 579 849 52% TOTAL BRI 800 1800 2600 471 1066 1537 59% BRI project staff also introduced the Irrigasc system on a pilot basis in 4 villages. The Irrigasc system uses plastic, “semi-conductive” tubes to avoid water loss by evaporation and to allow market gardening, using less water and bringing higher yields. This system has been tested and is being used in the Sahel to plant mango, cashew or eucalyptus trees (more than 950,000 trees in Senegal for example). This technique saves 90% of water and nutrients and trees are rapidly autonomous (18 months for mango) with deep roots and request little care and maintenance after. Half-moon, key hole and Irrigasc system 2.1.2 Economic Recovery and Market Systems SO 2: Vulnerable household livelihoods received supplemental incomes Sub sector: Livelihoods Restoration The third and last unconditional cash transfer was made in early March and covered all 2,600 beneficiary households. BRI distributed 8,500 MRO (approx. 30 USD) per beneficiary household in each village totaling $ 78,000. CRS managed the disbursement of cash to beneficiaries in collaboration with Caritas Mauritania staff. Sub sector: Temporary Employment Each of the 800 extremely vulnerable households nominated one person from the household to work on community projects for 7 working days during January in return for 8,500 MRO (approx. 30 USD) in cash totaling $24,000. CFW consisted of perimeter fence repair around gardening sites, village sanitation and CRS Senegal AID-OFDA-G-13-00074 (Brakna Recovery Initiative) 3 hygiene initiatives, preparation of compost for the creation half- moon gardens, and land restoration projects including erosion control and assisted natural resource generation. Each village received tools to be used in carrying out the CFW activities, but were also asked to contribute their existing tools. Upon completion of the 2nd CFW in May, the tool kits will be donated to each community and managed by a local committee. III. Constraints, Challenges and Proposed Solutions 3.1 Constraints and Challenges Focus groups with current beneficiaries coupled with observation from CRS and local partner staff highlighted inadequate or non-existent water sources and retention methods in most of the targeted villages. Another challenge is the targeting of 60 ha for the following indicator “OFDA 4: Number of hectares reclaimed and protected for agro-pastoral use through CFW activities”. This is most likely an error and CRS will not reach the target. It is possible that the 60 hectares was based on the assumption that the project will work in 50 villages and not 33, which was modified the project design. 3.2 Proposed Solutions Properly design gray water management systems as the permaculture or key-hole garden were introduced on a pilot basis in the project villages. During this quarter, CRS focused on methods for intensifying food production and prolonging the growing season through effective water management. As the most effective way to learn a new technique and to change cultural practices in regards to water and food production is to see the methods in action, CRS and Caritas decided to create the maximum of number of demonstration sites possible to ensure the project’s success, given the project’ size . (30 for the permaculture and 9 for the key- hole garden). In the next project, CRS hopes to increase the number of keyhole gardens significantly. CRS will make every effort to rehabilitate as much land as possible through remaining scheduled CFW activities (estimated at 15 hectares or 37 acres of land through CFW activities). In the opinion of the CRS team, this is a realistic and positive achievement where previous soil quality was very low. IV. Lessons Learned, Best Practices and Success Story 4.1 Lessons Learned and Best Practices A focus group in Saada village highlighted that the project has been able to reduce the amount of migration, contribute to restoring the local economy, and provide benefit to protecting community agricultural assets, which in the long-term will increase community resilience to future shock and disaster. The village chief and some women explained that normally in March most men go to Nouakchott to search for employment. Currently, with the help of the project, the majority of the men are staying here to work on farm labor. The project also continued the monthly meetings with community volunteers (relais), 2 per village, who assist with program activity implementation and ensure knowledge transfer and skills to other community members. These meetings reinforce the clarity of relais roles and helps them to organize their weekly meeting with beneficiaries. Project staff comes to one of these weekly meetings to sit and discuss with beneficiaries. 4.2 Success Story During a focus group discussion, in the village of Wendou Idy, beneficiaires and the relais explained that the half-moon training was attended not only by beneficiaries from their village, but also by neighboring villagers, not targeted by the project. The women who came from the neighboring village explained that even though they CRS Senegal AID-OFDA-G-13-00074 (Brakna Recovery Initiative) 4 are not beneficiairies and that their village will not receive anything from the project, they will still do the half- moon techniques at the same time as Wendou Idy (during the last CFW in April). This is the first example of the adoption of training techniques that is being replicated in non-beneficiary communities.