WATSAN & FOOD

The project area is located in Quirimbas National Park in the coastal zone of Cabo Delgado Province. The population of about 300.000. Annual rainfall around 800mm. The bedrock is close to the surface. Only 22.6% of the households reported that they produce enough food. The rest are under-nourished and 2% reported having lost a family member from malnutrition during the last year. Depending on the season, between 16% and 42% of the population have access to water from protected wells. Diseases like diarrhea, malaria and cholera are frequently occurring. There are a large number of primitive schools, and only a few are on the list of the government to be improved.

Current status

Outcome:
2270 villagers, including 570 schoolchildren have access to clean water.
570 schoolchildren have access to pit latrines;
About 50% of the villagers have access to pit latrines and awareness has been created in the villages through CLTS training, motivating them to provide the remaining 50%;
200 small holder farmers have increased their income by sales of their increased products;
Watercommitees in 4 villages are in place and functioning, capable of maintaining the WATSAN systems.

Target group:
The rural population belongs to the poorest people in the world. Only 22.6% of the households reported that they produce enough food. Between 16% and 42% of the population have access to water from protected wells. Very few people have a latrine.
Four villages (2270 people) have been selected from 10 villages, on willingness to start a Farmers Club and assist with installing WATSAN facilities and set up Water Committees for O&M.

GSB, the local partner, is responsible for:
• Implementing the planned investments in the schools, villages and farmers clubs
• Establishing the water committees, in close consultation with all stakeholders
• Establishing and providing training to the farmers clubs in conservation farming
• Linking the farmers clubs to the Financing organizations like GAPI for obtaining loans
• Informing and attracting the district government in the project
• Monitoring
• Reporting (at mid term and at the end of the project)

Arrakis is responsible for:
• the project coordination,
• fundraising
• providing capacity building by means of a TA mission and support by e-mail and skype
• selecting and sub contracting an external project evaluator
• reporting
• distributing the results

One long term goal is to develop excellent example schools where students are trained to become "developers of the region, where they come from."

Another long term goal is that all farmers will be able to attract funds from Micro Finance Institutions and increase their incomes, so that they can contribute to improvements of the schools, becoming independent from donor money.

Another long term goal is to upscale and replicate the project approach in Cabo Delgado and in similar rural areas

Goals

• 21 pit latrines built
• 24 wells improved and equipped with a hand rope pump
• 9 tanks of 4 cub m built
• 4 new or improved school roofs made
• 22 siphon filters installed and 600 students trained

Financial -cost recovery for operation and maintenance:
The innovative concept in this project is the income earning element, namely the Farmers Clubs approach, in which smallholder farmers are trained and learn to increase production. The increased income can be used to invest in WATSAN for the schools and for their own which minimize dependency on external subsidies. This is strengthening the “in-country” structural finance for WASH services.

Institutional - ownership and organizational capacity of target group and support organizations:
The government has very low budgets for public provisions like schools and water supply, and their provincial offices are quite understaffed, but is cooperative.
The implementing organization GSB, based in Bilibiza, is quite eager to grow in provision of WASH solutions. The director of the small organization is trained in the program of ADPP community development projects, including establishing farmers clubs. ADPP is a strong NGO working for over 20 years in Mozambique, and has a project center in Bilibiza in which various affordable water technologies like hand rope pumps are produced.
The FC's are being organized, up to becoming a legal entity, eligible to attract loans.

Environmental - impact environment on project and vice versa:
Rainwater harvesting done by the schools is beneficial both for people and environment;
By providing latrines, there are less diseases and less environmental pollution;
Training farmers in conservation farming with low external inputs, results in beneficial effects on the environment (no chemical fertilizer & no pesticides used).

Technical - sustainability of technology choice:
The use of the affordable technologies as selected in the project have proven their sustainability in various African countries with similar conditions.
Hand rope pumps, water harvesting systems, including tanks and latrines are produced locally in the project area, using locally available materials. Only the tulip siphon filters have to be imported.

Social - alignment with local social norms:
The people working in GSB and ADPP are from the area itself and are aware of the social customs and conditions of the villagers, village leaders and local authorities. They speak the local languages, like Makonde and Macua. The experience with former long running projects is that due to this knowledge their projects are fully embedded in the local social settings, and therefore successful.