PROJECT RATIONALE AND APPROACH

This project was planned by SOUTH CLIMATE CHANGE AFRICA (SCCA) in response to a nationwide research finding of easy to grow and high economic return food crops for the cultivation of Banana and Plantains in each section of each chiefdom to districts of Sierra Leone. The project will be implemented in ALL the rural areas of Sierra Leone in phases,  as a way of making the participants economically self-sufficient as well as addressing the environmental issue of rampant deforestation (caused by the slash and burn upland food crop production) that is contributing to global warming. Here they will be using the low land (Boli) area together with the banks of swamps/rivers/streams and will not be burning the grass brushed but used it as manure around the plants. The broad and green leaves of both Banana and Plantain will act as a good sink in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere thereby reducing Sierra Leone emission budget.

The Present proposal is for the first phase of the Project that will be piloted in one district. The second phase during the second year will next pilot it in one Province including the first district. The final Phase is the rolling out of the process nationwide. The budgets for each of these various phases are in given the excel sheets two, three and four.

Shout Climate Change Africa is an independent campaigning organisation that acts to change attitudes and behaviors of individuals, to protect, conserve the environment and promote peace. Creating a toxic free nature, SCCA catalyzes the energy revolution to address the number one threats facing our planet: Climate Change. It also hopes to defend our ocean by challenging wasteful and destructive fishing, and creating a global network of marine reserves. It also helps in protecting the World’s Ancient forest and the animals, plants and people that depend on them. In conflict and post conflict countries like Sierra Leone, SCCA is working for disarmament and peace by tackling the causes of conflict and consolidate such peace through community engagement. It also helps for sound environment calls for the elimination of all nuclear weapons. 

SCCA helps in protecting biodiversity by encouraging community/national solution to community problem environmental problems.

The organisation is strongly working with some civil society organizations, development partners, relevant government ministries, departments and agencies to protect the environment and to promote the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals that mainly focuses on the environment. The organisation comprised of 5 core staffs, working with 15 Volunteers and more than 45,000 members in total nationwide.  The organisation builds its capacity from its experience in advocacy, campaign, monitoring, community engagements, sensitization and education and reporting on climate change and associated environmental issues.

SCCA has a well-structured management; operates from a coordinating centre in Freetown.

Since its inception, SCCA has undertaken several community engagements resulting in the establishment of voluntary CSO partners in three districts to report on climate change, conservation and environmental issues in their communities. 

SCCA campaigns for sustainable Agriculture by rejecting genetically engineered organisms and encouraging people to undertake intensive economic agricultural practices unlike the primitive extensive one that waste land and reduces the green vegetation.

This project therefore hopes to mobilize the targeted community and engage them in productive agricultural practices that will make them economically self-sufficient. Sierra Leone especially the Moyamba District has vast amount of lowland (Boli-land) as well as wet lands. However for years, the people concentrate on upland agriculture especially in rice production. Such method deforests the land thereby contributing to climate change through emission of CO2 (during the slash and burn process) and the reduction of the carbon sink following the deforestation. 

In the present project, it was discovered that the cultivation of economic food crops of Banana, Plantains, pineapple and sour sap  are less time consuming and brings in faster and better economic returns and being permanent crops, they only need initial input as its expansion and sustainability could be achieved from the continuous harvest of the starting crops.

It will create a long impact employment for the women and youths of the rural communities, and they will claim ownership and protection for it and the biodiversity and ecosystem of these areas will be restored.

Alongside the farming process will include the massive sensitization and advocacy for the community regarding sound and sustainable environmental management. It will start sections of the chiefdoms to the district in the first phase. This will be gradually extended to the province in which it started in the second phase and finally easily be replicated in the whole country. Sustainable Land use and climate change will be included in the posters and the Exhibition on Wheels to reach more people to involve many more in the project in other parts of the country.

The final project budget summary for all the phases is tabulated in the table under Budget and following is the required budget for the first phase.

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