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GARDENS OF HOPE

URBAN MICRO-FARMING AS A COMPLMENTARY STRATEGY FOR MITIGATION OF THE HIV-AIDS PANDEMIC

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa 17-25 August 2005

Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), ETC Urban Agriculture, Leusden, the Netherlands Abalimi Bezekhaya, Cape Town, South Africa EU-ACP Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Ede, the Netherlands

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

CONTENTS 1. Introduction Introduction to backgrounds, aims, participants and programme of the study visit and workshop. 2. Urban Micro-farming and HIV-Aids; A need for systematisation of experiences and scaling up An introduction to the key issues by the organisers of the study visit 3. Presentation of experiences Short presentations of the experiences gained by the organisations participating in the study visit (see the introduction to this paragraph for an overview of the 20 cases presented during the study visit) 4. Conclusions and recommendations A summary of the main conclusions and recommendations to local and national policy makers and donor agencies 5. Follow up actions An overview of the follow up actions planned by the participants. ANNEXES 1. List of participants 2. Role and main sources of protein and micro-nutrients 3. Overview of nutritional characteristics of selected food products

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

List of abbreviations CBO CHW CSO IGA NGO MOA MOH PLWHA or PWA TOT Community Based Organisation Community Health Worker Civil Society Organisation Income Generating Activity Non-Government Organisation Ministry of Agriculture Ministry of Health People Living With HIV-AIDS Training of Trainers

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

1. INTRODUCTION The problematic In countries of Southern Africa at least one of five adults is suffering from HIV-AIDS, of which the main part in the urban areas. South Africa alone has a total of 4.2 million HIV infected people. Over one third of 15-years olds may die of AIDS. What strikes when visiting families affected by HIV-AIDS in low income neighbourhoods, is that such families normally first and for all ask for food, rather than medicines, counselling or care. However, strange enough, food is rarely made the focus of HIV-AIDS mitigation programmes and many HIV-affected households find it difficult to follow the nutrition recommendations provided to them due to lack of cash and access to fresh nutritious food Research results1 clearly indicate that adequate nutrition although it cannot cure HIV-infection- can enhance life expectancy and the quality of life of HIV-infected persons substantially. Balanced diets are essential to maintain body weight and muscle tissue, replace lost vitamins and minerals, strengthen the immune system and thereby reduce the susceptibility to co-infections and enhance the ability to fight such infections (e.g. diarrhoea, TB, respiratory infections), improve the response to treatment and delay the onset of full blown AIDS. On the other hand we observe in cities in Southern Africa that poor urban people are increasingly seeking to survive by gardening and raising of animals in their back yard gardens and on vacant public land (e.g. along rivers, roads, below power lines, in flood zones, on ex dump sites, etcetera). Also an increasing number of community centres, schools, hospitals and clinics allow community groups to use part of their land for food production by poor and vulnerable people, often involving families affected by HIV-Aids or caring for orphans. Urban farming is emerging strongly in Sub-Saharan Africa as a survival strategy of the urban poor and families affected by HIV-AIDS with lack of purchasing power and low access to nutritious food and as a response to the growing food needs of the rapidly growing cities (especially perishable products like green vegetables, milk, poultry meat, etc.). Several Churches, NGOs and Municipalities actively supporting community based food production projects in resource poor neighbourhoods because they recognised food and nutrition needs of the urban poor and vulnerable. The study visit and workshop on Urban Micro-Farming and HIV-AIDS Against the background sketched above, it is understandable why the Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF), operated by ETC Urban Agriculture, Leusden the Netherlands2 took the initiative to organise a study visit and workshop on Urban-micro farming and HIV-Aids, in cooperation with Abalimi Bezekhaya and other South African Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) that are

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See the presentation by H. de Zeeuw below

See www.ruaf.org for more information on RUAF and the Cities Farming for the Future programme that ETC and regional RUAF partners are implementing.

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

promoting small scale urban farming activities in Cape Town, Johannesburg and other cities in South Africa. The EU-ACP Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) provided the financial support. The Conference Company (TCTC, Cape Town) provided the logistical support needed to realise the study visit and workshop3. The organizers brought together a variety of stakeholders including senior staff of Municipal Health and/or Agriculture departments, NGOs and CBOs from various countries in Southern Africa. Part of them is involved in urban gardening and livestock programmes, while others are implementing HIV-AIDS programmes with a strong nutrition component (and some do already both)4. The study facilitated the exchange and analysis of experiences among these stakeholders regarding the potentials and limitations of urban food production as an additional strategy for mitigating the effects of the HIV-AIDS epidemic. This with the following aims: To identify successful approaches and critical factors in the design and implementation of urban micro-farming activities To enhance the impacts and sustainability of existing urban micro-farming activities and their relevance for HIV-AIDS infected persons and their families To facilitate the inclusion of urban micro-farming in HIV-AIDS programmes implemented by NGOs and local and national government To establish a platform for information exchange and mutual support in the field of Urban Food Production and HIV/AIDS The key questions that were looked into during this study visit and workshop included the following: Which factors determine the success or failure of micro-farming projects that seek to improve nutrition and income of households affected by HIV-AIDS? How to select the right project locations and participants? How to enhance their access to land and water for urban micro-farming projects close to their homes? How to enhance security of land use for urban micro farming? How to overcome the labour constraints that are experienced by HIV affected families? What are recommended nutritious crops, animals and technologies? What is optimal plot size for one family, taking into account nutritional needs and available labour? What risks associated with urban farming have to be taken into account? How does the way these projects are organised influence their social impacts (positive and negative)? What lessons have been learned regarding the organisational and institutional aspects of (various types of) micro-farming? How to reduce the risks associated with farming activities in densely populated areas? How to finance urban micro farming projects?
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Thanks Michele, Wendy, Ndashe !! See Annex 1 for the list of participants.

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

How to monitor the impacts of these projects on nutrition, health, livelihood and life expectancy of HIV-AIDS infected persons and their families? How to scale up from local successful initiatives? How to ensure the sustainability of micro farming projects?

The programme for the study visit and workshop was as follows: August 17 and 18 August 19 and 20 August 21 August 22 and 23 August 24 and 25 Participants present their experiences Visits to urban micro-farming projects in/around Johannesburg Travel to Cape Town; rest Visits to Urban micro-farming projects in/around Cape Town Analysis of experiences gained; Formulation of conclusions and recommendations; Planning of follow up actions

The following micro-farming projects were visited: Nomvano Food Garden in Mamelodi Pretoria, supported by Food and Trees for Africa. Contact Jeunesse Park (011-803 9750) Leumo Le Botse letswa Tshemong project at the Pimville Clinic, Soweto, supported by Food and Trees for Africa. Contact: Jeunesse Park (011-803 9750) Kathlehong Home Food gardens project, East Rand, Johannesburg, supported by Food Gardens Foundation. Contact Hilda Pheto (011- 880 5956) Sparrow Rainbow Village HIV Hospice, Maraisburg, Johannesburg. Contact Corrine Mclintock (011-472 6628) Urban Farmers Cooperative in Diepsloot, Johannesburg supported by Cooperative and Alternative Policy Centre. Contact: Constance Pendula (083-7401584) False Bay Hospital Community Garden in Cape Town. Contact: Wendy Crawford (082- 8261333) Sezeni Support Group for HIV/Aids Garden in Cape Town, supported by Art of Living. Contact: Nyameka Ndashe (021- 7892494) Masizame Womans Group in Driftsands, supported by Soil for Life. Contact Pat Featherstone (021- 794 4982) Women for Peace Project in Mfuleni, Cape Town supported by Soil for Life. Contact: Pat Featherstone (021-794 4982) Thando Community Centre in Touws River supported by Soil for Life. Contact: Pat Featherstone (021-794 4982) Ntwasahlobo School and Community Garden Project in Cape Town supported by Abalimi Bezekhaya. Contact: Rob Small (021- 3711653). Siyazama Community Allotment Garden Association (SCAGA) in Macassar, Cape Town, supported by Abalimi Bezekhaya. Contact: Rob Small (021- 371 1653).

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

2. URBAN MICRO-FARMING AND HIV-AIDS; A NEED FOR SYSTEMATISATION OF EXPERIENCES AND SCALING UP Ir. Henk de Zeeuw Resource Centre on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) ETC Urban Agriculture Leusden, The Netherlands INTRODUCTION The participants to the study visit cum workshop on urban micro-farming and HIVAIDS come from a variety of backgrounds: practitioners from the health sectors and their colleagues in agriculture, people from NGOs as well as from local government and research. With this presentation I seek to establish a common ground and a starting point for the exchange of experiences during this study visit, by: a. Summarizing some facts on the relation between poverty, nutrition and HIV-Aids b. Defining urban micro-farming and its potential for enhancing food security and nutrition c. Listing some key questions that we want to explore during this study visit (and thereafter) d. Formulating some working hypothesis regarding the design of effective urban micro-farming projects that aim at enhancing food security and nutrition of HIVAIDS infected and affected persons. POVERTY, NUTRITION AND HIV-AIDS: SOME FACTS A vicious circle exists between poverty and inequalities and HIV-Aids with malnutrition as the key link. Poor households are more exposed to HIV Aids and are more severally impacted by HIV Aids. Women, who are key actors in household food security and care giving, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the disease and its impacts. The vicious circle is as follows: Poverty and inequalities lead to nutrition deficits and higher exposure to HIVinfection. A person who is malnourished and acquires HIV is more likely to progress faster to AIDS because the body is already weak, is more susceptible for coinfections (like tuberculosis, pneumonia, diarrhoea), reduces the bodys ability to absorb nutrients, and leads so to weight loss, muscle wasting and nutrient deficiencies (A,C,E, Selenium, Zinc). The parasitic infestations and malnutrition may result in increased oxidative stress and immune suppression, which leads to increased HIV replication in the body (higher viral loads) and hastens the transition from HIV to full Aids and finally to death. Families affected by HIV-AIDS tend to have higher expenses due to costs related to treatment, while income tends to go down. As a consequence, these families tend to save on food expenditures by reducing food quality and quantity (food constitutes 50-70% of expenditures of poor families), although the presence of HIV-infected persons requires more food and better diets.

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

In their effort to try to cope to this situation, these families often also apply other survival strategies that on the long run work out negatively on family livelihood: taking children out of school, young women becoming sex worker, reallocation or splitting up the family, taking loans to fill the gaps, etcetera). As a consequence: deepening poverty and malnutrition. Remaining family members are more at risk now to become HIV infected. Especially young women are much more susceptible for contracting HIV-Aids; in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia young women are three to six times more infected by HIV-Aids than young men, a/o due to their sub-servient status in the household/community and becoming a sex worker as a survival strategy. Also orphans are particularly susceptible since they are likely to be more malnourished and more exposed to unsafe sexual behaviours.

Enhancing food security and nutrition of vulnerable households should receive much more attention in programmes seeking to mitigate the effects of the HIV-AIDS pandemic. Research results5 clearly indicate that: Adequate nutrition cannot cure HIV-infection, but can enhance life expectancy and the quality of life of HIV-infected persons substantially. Balanced diets are essential to maintain body weight and muscle tissue, replace lost vitamins and minerals, strengthen the immune system and thereby reduce the susceptibility to co-infections and enhance the ability to fight such infections (e.g. diarrhoea, TB, respiratory infections), improve the response to treatment and delay the onset of full blown AIDS. HIV-infected adults and children have increased energy (10-30 %) and protein needs (up to 15 %)6 and need sufficient amount of vitamins and minerals to compensate for losses and increasing inefficiency of the body. However, in practice the food intake and food quality of HIV infected and affected persons is often declining rather than improving amongst others due to loss of income and loss of appetite due to depression, painful sores in the mouth, side effect of medicines, etcetera. HIV infected pregnant and lactating women need special attention, since they already need extra energy, proteins and micro-nutrients for their pregnancy and lactancy, next to the extra requirements due to HIV-infection. Their situation can be compounded by existing socio-cultural habits and gender relations that restrict their food intake and food quality. Mother to child transfer of HIV-infection is highly affected by nutrition (of mother and infant). Adequate nutrition is also essential to optimize the benefits of ARV-treatment: the ARVs are more effective if the treated persons are well nourished which is normally not the case in low income neighbourhoods. It is like building a house. If you have a roof but there are no walls and no foundation, the house is not very useful. If you include drug therapy but you do not have adequate nutritious food, you will not be able to fight the infection7. Hence, food and nutrition programmes are becoming all the more important with the increasing access to ARV-treatment in developing countries.

See literature references at the end of this paper WHO concludes that data regarding increase in protein requirements due to HIV-infection are insufficient and hence states that HIV-infected persons do not require more protein than the level recommended for healthy persons. However, HIV-infected persons often have pre-infection malnutrition and protein deficiencies need proper attention, especially by increasing food intake to required levels and improving nutritional quality of the food (FANTA-AED, 2004). 7 UN-AIDS, 2001, Nutrition Policy Paper, Volume 20
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Many HIV-Aids mitigation programs include a nutrition education component for the HIV-affected people and their families. However, the impact of such nutrition education is generally low since the recommended foodstuffs are not locally available or cannot be afforded by the poor families. Access to food is one of the main problems of HIV impacted communities. Accordingly, enhancing access to food of good quality forms a crucial entry point for programmes assisting such communities. Such food security and nutrition programmes have there largest impacts at the early stages of HIV-infection before developing into stages requiring antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) treatment (that is however the stage that most people do not know yet that they are infected with HIV). Often food aid is used to supplement the diets of HIV-infected persons through specific programmes providing food handouts (e.g. through clinics and community centres) to families affected by HIV-Aids or caring for orphans. However, the organisations involved in such programmes rapidly recognise that this is not a sustainable solution and that a more structural solution is needed to ensure access of HIV-infected families to nutritious food and income. Local food production projects can possibly fulfil such a role in a sustainable way. URBAN AGRICULTURE Urban micro-farming can be defined as the growing of plants and raising of animals, and related activities like water harvesting, composting, food processing and marketing, by urban people (especially poor and unemployed people) for food, income, medicinal herbs, shade/micro-climate on small tracts of land in home yards and in vacant public or semi-open spaces in the built up city (along and in rivers, roads, below power lines, in flood zones, on ex dump sites, etcetera) and in the periurban area. For the purpose of this study visit, the following types of micro-farming may be distinguished: a. home gardens (attached to the private house; includes cellars, barns, balconies, rooftops, window sills, green walls). b. community gardens (garden area split up in small family plots; often on public or semi-public grounds) c. institutional gardens run by schools, hospitals, prisons, factories d. open field plots (small holders, especially peri-urban, owned or rented) Urban food production in the South is in many cases a response of urban dwellers to: inadequate, unreliable and irregular access to food supplies, partly due to either a lack of availability of food or a lack of purchasing power and inadequate access to formal employment opportunities. Urban farming is emerging strongly in Sub-Saharan Africa, where the fastest urban growth is occurring in countries least equipped to feed their cities, but recently a strong increase was also observed in other regions with acute economic crisis (e.g. Zimbabwe). Urban agriculture may contribute to: Increased urban food security and reduced malnutrition through enhancing access to fresh nutrient-rich foods of urban populations suffering from food insecurity and malnutrition. Increased income opportunities for the urban poor through agricultural activities: a. self-provisioning reduces family expenditures on food. As the

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

urban poor are found to be spending 60-80% of their income on food, any of these actions can have a major impact on household well-being. b. sales of surpluses or exchange for other products the family needs Social inclusion: urban agriculture projects help to restore the self esteem and hopes of disadvantaged and stigmatised people and their acceptance in the wider community An improved living urban environment by cleaning up and greening the neighbourhoods, improving the micro climate (shade, less dust) and recycling of solid and liquid wastes.

An increasing number of cities (e.g. Kampala, Dar es Salaam, Dakar, Addis Ababa, a/o) and national governments (e.g. Botswana) in Sub Saharan Africa are recognising the importance of urban agriculture and adapting their policies and programmes regarding urban farming. New approaches are currently underway to reinforce the formal establishment of allotment garden schemes and other forms of urban agriculture in cities in Sub Saharan Africa. URBAN MICRO-FARMING AND HIV-AIDS: CREATING GARDENS OF HOPE Urban micro-farming has good potential to enhance food security and nutrition of HIV-infected persons and their families. However, urban micro-farming projects have received little attention of central and local government and research institutes and few attempts have been made to systematise the existing experiences. Before the potential of urban micro-farming can be fully realised, many questions have to be dealt with. Some of these questions are: Which factors determine success or failure of micro-farming - projects that seek to improve nutrition and income of households affected by HIV-Aids? How to select the right project locations and participants? How to enhance their access to land and water for urban micro-farming projects close to their homes? How to enhance security of land use for urban micro farming? How to overcome the labour constraints that are experienced by HIV affected families? What are recommended nutritious crops, animals and technologies? What is optimal plot size for one family, taking into account nutritional needs and available labour? What risks associated with urban farming have to be taken into account? How does the way these projects are organised influence their social impacts (positive and negative)? What lessons have been learned regarding the organisational and institutional aspects of (various types of) micro-farming? How to finance urban micro farming projects? How to monitor the impacts of these projects on HIV-Aids infected and affected persons? How to scale up from local successful initiatives? How to ensure the sustainability of micro farming projects? We will use the opportunity of this study visit to compare a number of experiences gained in Southern Africa and jointly draw some lessons for future programmes. From review of recent literature and discussions with some local experts indicate some lessons are emerging regarding factors to take into account when designing

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urban micro-farming projects aiming at enhancing food security and nutrition of HIVAIDS affected families. I present them here as working hypothesis, open to discussion: In order to maximize the effect of urban micro-farming projects for HIV-AIDS affected families: a. Micro-farming projects should target on whole communities with a high number of poor and food insecure households (rather than on people living with HIV-Aids directly). This because: Stigmatisation should be prevented; Greatest overall impacts of nutritional support is to be expected in the early stages of the disease (but when most people even dont know that they are effected, due to lack of testing facilities and stigma) when improving the quantity and quality of nutrition is most effective to prolonged period of relative health by preventing /stabilizing loss of weight, preserving/gaining physical strength, preventing diarrhoea and speeding up recuperation from infectious diseases; This for their own benefit and for the benefit of those who depend on their income and care (children, elderly). Also mother-child transfer of HIV-Aids will be reduced. In this way vulnerability to the impacts of the disease of the whole household is reduced; A second stage targeting might be used to young under-employed adults, especially young women (high risk group); By focussing on the community the project may also contribute to breaking the vicious circle between malnutrition and HIV-Aids. b. Urban micro farming projects should be based in community based organisations and social networks and bottom up participatory planning and learning in action approach c. Urban micro-farming projects should also involve institutional actors at higher levels in order to ensure: o provision of required support to local initiatives (e.g. access to land and water); o coordination among local initiatives and between these and city or national programmes; o upscaling of locally successful community supported initiatives; o creation of a supportive policy environment (e.g. legalization of urban agriculture and inclusion in urban land use planning). d. Urban micro-farming projects should be strongly linked with the services provided by conventional HIV-AIDS programmes, including: Awareness raising and education on HIV-AIDS (special eating needs for people living with HIV-Aids, mother to child transfer facts and infant feeding choices; importance of testing, local remedies for frequent health problems; Nutrition education: promotion of key foods and nutrients, changing dietary and food preparation habits, promotion of water and food hygiene, additional feeding after infection to compensate food loss, herbal treatments and remedies (See FAO manual); Early treatment of opportunistic infections like TB and pneumonia; Provision of anti-retroviral drugs.

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e. When designing Urban micro-farming projects one should give special attention to the following issues: Securing access to land of acceptable quality (community gardening); Securing availability of irrigation water and choice of low cost and labour saving irrigation techniques; water harvesting; reuse of household wastewater; Training and guidance regarding the management of community gardens and how to deal with most frequent problems when working with HIV-Aids affected families; Training of participants in adequate selection of adequate species (nutritious food see table 1 for nutritional values of a large number of crops; attention for indigenous foods), easy to grow, labour and capital extensive, pest and drought resistant) and production technologies for space confined and low input but high output agriculture. E.g. through farmer field schools and farmer- to- farmer extension. Organic production methods, soil fertility maintenance (composted wastes, animal fertilizer) and IPM are among the priorities; Provision of equipment and inputs (especially compost, seeds and young stock). These inputs initially have to be provided at a subsidised price but should preferably be provided in such way that sustainability is enhanced (provision of equipment and tools and inputs as a revolving fund, establishment of community seed production units, establishment of saving schemes and rotating micro-credit, etcetera). At later stages of the project/groups self financing has to be increased and subsidy to be lowered; Measures against theft (fencing or guards); Mechanisms for processing and/or marketing of surpluses. f. Food for work or food for training can play a role in the urban farming project: during the initial stages of the project (land preparation, composting, etcetera). This especially if the participating families are undernourished and lack sufficient strength; as a form of payment to participating volunteers. The food should be supplied through the community based organisations that run the local programme (and which should have the required logistical and management capacities of storing, transporting and distribution of food) g. Financing of urban micro-farming projects In most cases shared financing will be needed with contributions (in kind, in staff time, in cash) from various sources: national government (e.g. funding, food for work, drugs, technical advice), local government (e.g. legal support, access to land, access to water, technical advice, fencing), hospitals and schools (access to land, bio medical support), NGOs (project management, group development and management support, training, etcetera), CBOs (ensuring community participation, individual care for HIV-infected persons, etcetera). The main arguments for government support to local micro-farming initiatives have been found in the first chapter of this paper: by improving food security and nutrition the effect of ART-programmes will be greatly enhanced; by enhancing local food production capacity, longer term food security and nutrition can be realised, breaking the vicious circle between poverty, nutrition and HIV-AIDS.

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Information sources The following information sources have been consulted when preparing the paragraph in this paper regarding HIV-AIDS, food security and nutrition: WHO (2005) Consultation on Nutrition and HIV-Aids in Africa, Durban South Africa, 10-13 April, 2005 STUART GILLESPIE AND SUNEETHA KADIYALA (2005) HIV/Aids and Food and Nutrition Security, From evidence to action. Food Policy Review 7, IFPRI, Washington DC FANTA-AED (2004) HIV-AIDS a guide for nutritional support, Washington DC WHO/FAO (2002) Living well with Aids. A manual on nutritional care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, FAO, Rome UN-ACC Sub-Committee on Nutrition (2001) Nutrition and HIV/Aids Nutrition Policy Paper # 20, ACC-SCN, Geneva PIWOZ E.G. AND PREBBLE E.A. (2000) HIV/Aids and Nutrition. A review of literature and recommendations for nutritional care and support in Sub-Saharan Africa. Academy for Educational Development, Washington DC, 2000 HADDAD L. AND GILLESPIE S. (2001) effective food and nutrition policy responses to HIV/Aids: what we know and what we need to know. Food Consumption and Discussion Paper IFPRI, Washington DC 2001 UN-AIDS. Nutrition Policy Paper, Volume 20

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3. PRESENTATION OF EXPERIENCES GAINED BY THE PARTICIPANTS In this paragraph you will encounter the following cases: 3.1 Momo Masoka. The Urban Food Security Programme of Action Aids International, Zimbabwe 3.2 Rob Small, Christina Kaba and Sindi Mahusa-Mhlana. The Urban Agriculture Programme of Abalimi Bezekhaya, Cape Town, South Africa 3.3 Pat Featherstone. The Food Gardens Programme of Soil for Life, Cape Town, South Africa 3.4 James Onyango. The Nutrition and Food Security Programme of Kenya Aids Intervention Prevention Project Group (KAIPPG), Kakamega, Kenya 3.5 Jeunesse Park. The Permaculture Food Gardens Programme of Food & Trees for Africa, Gauteng, South Africa 3.6 Ssemwanga Margaret Azuba and Richard Kabuuka, Urban Farming and HIVAIDS initiatives supported by Kampala City Council, Kampala, Uganda 3.7 Innocent Balagizi Karhagomba. The Urban Agriculture Programme of the Diobass Platform, Bakuvu, DR Congo 3.8 Simon Chanda Fikansa. The Integrated AIDS Programme of Catholic Diocese Ndola, Zambia 3.9 Amrico Cassamo. The Urban Agriculture Programme of Maputo City Council, Maputo, Mozambique 3.10 Bonginkosi Njokwe and Jon McCosh. The African Roots Project, Institute of Natural Resources, Scottsville, South Africa 3.11 Noah Sigauke. The Improving urban livelihoods project of ITDG - Southern Africa, Harare, Zimbabwe 3.12 Godwin Chisenga. The HIV-AIDS Programme of Catholic Aids Action, Windhoek, Namibia 3.13 Joseph Tembo. The Community School Based Urban Agriculture Project of Project Concern International, Lusaka, Zambia 3.14 John O. Onyatta. Urban agriculture surveys by National Council for Science and Technology, Nairobi, Kenya 3.15 Abedaye Ogunmokun. Urban agriculture studies and pilot projects by University of Namibia, Oshakati, Namibia

3.16 D.L. Keboneilwe and M.E. Madisa. Policy development and implementation
on Urban Agriculture by Ministry of Agriculture Botswana, Gabarone, Botswana 3.17 Nyameka Ndashe. Sezeni Food Garden Project, Art of Living Foundation,

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Cape Town, South Africa 3.18 Wendy Crawford and Karen Jordi. False Bay Hospital Garden Project, Cape Town, South Africa 3.19 Ann September. The Emerging Farmers Projects of Wes-Kaap Ubuntu Farmers Union, Cape Town, South Africa 3.20 Sebenzile Nxumalo. The urban gardening pilot project of AMICAALLSwaziland, Mbabane, Swaziland

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3.1 URBAN FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMME OF ACTION AIDS INTERNATIONAL Momo Masoka ACTION AIDS INTERNATIONAL Harare, Zimbabwe INTRODUCTION TO AAI AND ITS FOOD SECURITY PROGRAMME ACTION AIDS INTERNATIONAL (AAI) was founded in 1972 to help children living in poverty. Since then the organization has moved from providing short term relief assistance to long term development assistance and finally to the rights based organization the organization now is. Today AAI is operational in more than 42 countries globally, with more than 20 of them in Africa. The country offices are coordinated by four regional offices in Nairobi (Africa), Brussels (Europe), Bangkok (Asia) and Rio de Janeiro (Americas) Our vision is a world without poverty and injustice in which every person enjoys his/her right to a life with dignity. Our mission is to work with organizations, alliances and movements at all levels to foster approaches rooted in a global identity and consciousness and formulate alternatives that will eradicate poverty and injustice in Africa Since 2003 Action Aid International (Zimbabwe program) has been supporting nine local NGOs in Harare and Bulawayo on a food security program targeting poor and vulnerable households affected by HIV/AIDS. The overall goal of this project is to improve the livelihood security of poor, marginalized and vulnerable households affected and/or infected by HIV and AIDS, especially women and children. More specifically the project has aimed to improve household food security through food aid and own food production in low input gardens. This project has been part of the protracted relief program that DFID has been supporting in Zimbabwe since 2003. In supporting urban agriculture this project is seeking to augment the food aid component by assisting households to produce a wide variety of foods to improve the quality of their diet through consumption of a greater quantity of nutritious foods and sale of surpluses. The project has also sought to use these gardens to produce medicinal and nutritional herbs, particularly important for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Urban agriculture8 is not a new phenomenon n Zimbabwes urban landscape and dates back many years. However, its prevalence and significance has grown in line with worsening urban poverty, particularly after Zimbabwe adopted the structural adjustment in 1990. With the continued macroeconomic decline, rising unemployment and the HIV/AIDS pandemic, urban agriculture has become key source of livelihood for many urban households in Zimbabwe in recent times.

8 In this paper urban agriculture is viewed as the production of crops and/or livestock in areas designated as urban. It may occur within residential properties or in open public land. Depending on prevailing land use regulations such urban agriculture may be a legal or illegal (Masoka 1997).

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At its inception this project sought to support individual household gardens within their residential areas or other open spaces that these households had access to9. The project also introduced the concept of low input gardening (LIG) that uses locally available resources to help beneficiaries plan and manage their crops without expensive chemicals to achieve healthy, productive gardens. LIG uses ideas from other approaches such as permaculture, integrated land-use design, and sustainable agriculture. Specifically designed for urban areas, the LIG approach maximises the diversity of food that can be grown in small plots. This sustainable approach to livelihoods is tailored to meet the specific needs of people affected by HIV and AIDS (e.g. crop diversity for nutritional needs and gardening approaches that require minimal financial and physical resources). Beneficiary training has encompassed land use design, seasonality, water access, pests, use of compost/mulches, soil structure, seed collection, nurseries, and food handling, preparation and preservation. The project trains local volunteers who then train beneficiaries. As a strategy to minimise the risk of loosing public land areas (given the fluid policy environment in Zimbabwe and the current clean up operation) the project has partnered with local schools in both Harare and Bulawayo. These schools have offered land for LIG within their premises. To improve sustainability of this partnership, the schools have become active participants, not just providers of land. The schools have made LIG a part of their curriculum and so their gardens will likely be secure from possible policy change restricting land use in future. In these school gardens the heads of schools, teachers and students are all involved and participate. The project beneficiaries also take part in maintaining these gardens. This gives the project collective ownership. Vegetables from these gardens are consumed by the children from vulnerable families jointly identified by the school and the local IP. School teachers have been trained on LIG and they in turn, train their students. So far a total of 33 school gardens have been established and another 49 more are planned. In both the household and community garden beneficiaries grow leafy vegetables (Cabbage, rape and other traditional vegetables), root or tubers, and herbs.

Since 1980 local authorities had tolerated open space cultivation in urban areas but the legislation governing urban land use prohibited this and this legislation has not been amended (Mbiba 1994).
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RESULTS OBTAINED An assessment of the project results so far has found that the benefits of the LIG approach include economic returns, increased food security and nutrition as well as psychosocial benefits, such as increased self-esteem, improved group cohesion, decreased stigma, and increased community support. Furthermore the herbs being produced in these gardens have been used for medicinal purposes, improving the health of HIV affected beneficiaries. Urban gardens are an essential part of urban livelihood systems particularly of the poor and vulnerable. LESSONS LEARNT Access to Land and Water Access to land for cultivation by poor households has always been a big challenge in Zimbabwes urban areas. Most poor households do not have houses of their own and often live as tenants in backyard cottages (before the clean up exercise). Most such tenants often do not have access to land to cultivate their crops. But with creativity even under those conditions agricultural activities are taking place. Production Issues In this project beneficiaries grow a wide variety of crops including vegetables, herbs and trees. Although the projects gives beneficiaries a start up seed kit, they are usually free to grow crops of their choice including indigenous and wild plans. Our emphasis has been to ensure that beneficiaries grow crops that are nutritious, have medicinal value, help with soil fertility improvement and also offer insecticidal value to protect the garden from pests. Due to space limitations in the urban areas the project has not used micro irrigation although there is drip kit technology on the Zimbabwean market. To ensure sustainable availability of seeds and tools, the project has provided start up tools and seeds to all beneficiary households. Furthermore the project also cooperates with agents that provide training in permaculture and LIG. These institutions are also key sources of seeds and seedlings, particularly of herbs and other trees. Labour has been one major problem for households affected by HIV/AIDS as some of them are ill or have large numbers of young and dependant orphans. To minimise this problem, the project has targeted the household instead of the sick individuals in the household. Where the affected households have more than one adult member this strategy has worked well. Security of produce is an important factor. Produce in open places is often vulnerable to theft. The school gardens have tended to be safer as most schools have security arrangements. Organizational and institutional issues Training and mobilisation of beneficiaries is a crucial factor. Beneficiaries need to be trained in an ongoing process. Most of the growers are poor with limited agricultural or horticultural skills. Mobilising the communities motivates them to continue working. It is important to de-stigmatise the project. Although our project targeted households affected by HIV/AIDS, it would not have survived if it had been viewed as an

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HIV/AIDS project. For instance, when this project was first introduced in schools, only children from HIV/AIDS affected households were targeted to work in school garden. Immediately it became apparent that the other children viewed the project as an HI/AIDS project and nobody wanted to be associated with it; not even the beneficiaries. The strategy had to be changed to involve all the children to remove the stigma. For the success of household gardens: a large pool of volunteers is needed to work with a small number of households, providing training and monitor progress. Working with a small number of beneficiaries gives the volunteer more time to support the beneficiaries and to attend to their own (the volunteers) needs and to restrict transport needs The beneficiaries need to be organised into groups of say 20 to 30 households to make mobilisation and training easier. Even if gardening activities will be organised at household level, bringing the participants together provides opportunities for peer influencing, training, support and motivation. In school gardens: The whole school needs to be actively involved in the project: the head of the school, the teachers and all students. There needs to be a strong cooperation between the households participating in the school garden and the school authorities.

In order for urban agriculture to succeed in Zimbabwe, there is a need to develop an enabling policy and regulatory environment that guaranties access to and security of tenure for the poor. In Zimbabwe, following the clean up operation many poor household were displaced following the destruction of their homes. Many households being supported by the project lost their gardens in this process. Even where the owners were not displaced some of these gardens destroyed. However, in uluwayo recently a process of multi-stakeholder policy formulation and action planning has started.

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3.2 URBAN AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME OF ABALIMI BEZEKHAYA Rob Small, Christina Kaba and Sindi Mahusa-Mhlana ABALIMI BEZEKAHAYA Cape Town, South Africa INTRODUCTION TO ABALIMI BEZEKHAYA AND ITS ACTIVITIES. ABALIMI BEZEKHAYA (Planters of the Home) is a registered civil society organisation founded in 1982. Abilimi has a core of 12 permanent staff and an additional group of about 14 contract staff and volunteers, who work on the Board and on associated Special Projects that directly enhance core delivery effectiveness10. ABALIMI is based at the Agri-Business Place in Phillipi, Cape Town and in two nonprofit Peoples Garden Centres (supply and training) in Nyanga and Khayelitsha. ABALIMI runs two core programmes: a. the Urban Agriculture Programme (UAP) b. the Cape Flats Greening Programme (CFGP). The UAP and CFGP currently support about 200 community agriculture and environmental projects and approximately 3000 home gardens (vegetable and recreational) throughout the townships in Cape Town. The most important associated special projects currently underway are The Schools Environmental Education & Development project (SEED, since 2000), which capacitates teachers to develop and utilise school gardens as outdoor classrooms. The Agri-Business Place Phillipi, a new partnership project (since June 2005) which aims to provide all round services to emerging agricultural entrepreneurs. ABALIMI supports approximately 100 urban agriculture projects and 2000 home vegetable gardens every year. The majority of the urban agriculture projects are Community Allotment and/or Communal Gardens run mainly by women (average age: 35 yrs plus) based in school yards and in a few servitude (commonage) areas. Another type of urban gardens supported by ABILIMI are the Institutional gardens: gardens initiated by institutions in support of their own core programmes (e.g. outpatients gardens at clinics or educational gardens at schools). The majority of the ABALIMI-supported gardens have been initiated by community groups or individuals as part of a survival and/or subsistence strategy to cope with poverty. In Cape Town and surrounding there is a growing movement for Urban Agriculture and Urban Greening, represented by the Vukuzenzela Urban Farmers Association (VUFA), the School Environmental Teachers Association (SETA) and an emerging Green Streets Association. ABALIMI provides support to this movement, through the ABALIMI Core
10

See the ABALIMI Friends Newsletter and Website for more info on Abalimis activities and a list of donors and funders.

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Programmes and associated Special Projects, including the following activities (or Key Result Areas): Project Implementation: delivery of actual projects on the ground, with infrastructure. Resource Supply: subsidised and free start-up agricultural and horticultural inputs to gardens Training: basic training in gardening , with long term on-site follow-up (intermediate and advanced training is now being developed) Organisation Building: facilitation of Savings Mobilisation and Horizontal Action Learning Networking: facilitation of partnerships in order to add value to all movement initiatives (agricultural or non-agricultural) and linkage to lobbying organisations and networks. ABALIMI itself is not a lobbyist, but only inputs into lobbying formations. Research, Monitoring & Evaluation: facilitation of RME in the movement and development of RME tools for the movement and for internal evaluation and Action Learning. Financial & Organisational sustainability for ABALIMI: HRD, Resource Mobilisation, Accounting and Management of ABALIMI to ensure that ABALIMI remains effective as service provider to the movement.

RESULTS OBTAINED Important results obtained by the core programmes include: Relative nutritional security at household level: most of the gardeners are producing seasonal organic vegetables which impact on nutritional security and health at household level. People may still be hungry, but are less at risk of disabling nutrition-related disease11. HIV-AIDS support: This is growing naturally out of the impulse for nutritional security. Neither ABALIMI, nor the movement it supports, have a developed programme or policy for HIV-AIDS support. However, there is a programme emerging out of the movement itself, which begins simply with a regular and free seasonal supply of fresh vegetables by the community gardeners themselves to families and organisations in their communities which are struggling to feed people with HIV-AIDS. Furthermore, institutional gardens (at clinics and at NGO
11

Empirical studies on the nutritional impact of seasonal organic vegetables at household level have not been done. Only anecdotal evidence and personal testimony from hundreds of gardeners exists to prove this fact.

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care centres) are beginning to emerge which could become permanent supply sources of fresh organic vegetable to patients. Income from sales of surplus vegetables: the community gardens (who are mostly at early-mid subsistence level) have been known to save between R1000R20 000 per year in their bank accounts. These savings are irregular and often under-declared. Most of the savings are used for essential cash-based items like fuel, school fees, transport etc. Group savings are normally kept until year-end and distributed among the members as a sort of Christmas Bonus. There is also a trend within the community garden associations to use the group savings for setting up internal micro-loan schemes to members or for bulk buying of inputs or equipment. Much more needs to be done to facilitate Savings Mobilisation in the movement, whereby the community projects can collaborate to pool savings and thus obtain leverage in the cash economy. Job creation: ABALIMI has established through empirical field studies and action-research that one job can be created for every 250-500m2 of wasteland converted into gardens, selling organic vegetables to the local community at street prices (worth 1300-R1500/month after costs) or to the Cape Town retail market at premium prices (worth up to R 3000/month). These facts have been communicated to the movement and are being taken seriously, although few people are yet willing/or able to put in the 7 days per week/365 day per year effort needed to achieve own job creation and job security. There is still a broad-based feeling that there must be an easier way. Social benefits: group organic gardening generates important outcomes among the urban poor12. Among these benefits are the individual and group empowerment among women (and also men if they are awake enough to their feminine side) whereby women have entirely assumed leadership of the movement, with good men in support roles. Because of this empowerment, women are able to hold their family and community culture together, while the men go off looking for the mythical job.

LESSONS LEARNT Taking the development continuum into account Interventions with regard to setting up urban agriculture projects should be clear about their objectives and the development level of the groups they will be working with. In this regard ABALIMI has now developed, from field experience, a draft Sustainability Index (SI)13 which tracks the development continuum of community farming projects, with measurements, from survival level into subsistence level, into livelihood level and finally into commercial level.. Linked to the SI is a field worker career path and a gardener/farmer career path, capable of taking even illiterate people through a continuum to gain accredited capacities at trade certificate level. Programme designers should design interventions which are level appropriate: each level in the development continuum has its own requirements and sustainability criteria. This will avoid the mistake being made here in South Africa where agencies are still trying to create commercial growers in quick-time, out of people who are not yet competent at Subsistence or Livelihood level, and who are often unclear if they even want to be farmers at all.
12

Also on this subject -other than one or two studies done some years ago- little field research has been implemented due to lack of funding. However, anecdotal evidence and personal testimony from members in the movement make it crystal clear that the social impacts are substantial 13 The SI will be made available freely once it is finalised (by Mid July 2006)

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The most important kind of gardens to start with are the survival and subsistence gardens, which enable nutritional security. These gardens can only be sustainable if land, water and fertility inputs are functionally free or extremely cheap, as there is little or no cash available in families at survival or early subsistence level for purchasing inputs. Accordingly, technologies should by low cost and simple although high fertility, energy and water efficiencies must be achieved. ABALIMI targets to bring all community farming groups to the Livelihood stage, characterized by a mix of self provisioning and commercial activities at the garden centre as well as other value-adding initiatives (e.g. restaurant, compost production, vegetable shop, etcetera). Access to land and water; subsidized inputs It is an absolute fact that agriculture anywhere in the world cannot survive without being subsidised (via price controls, special loans, cross-subsidies or grants). Agriculture is not a normal straight-line business that merely adds value to cheap raw material. Thus survival and subsistence gardens and farms must also be subsidisedespecially by provision of free land and very cheap or free water and organic fertiliser. The poor, for their part, are usually happy to work hard physically, together. People are often also prepared to pay for their seed, which can be cheaply supplied from decanted bulk stock. Permanent non-profit and wholesale supply centres are critical as a first step: without supply of cheap or free resources, there will be no gardening or farming of any sort, ever. There is no farmer on this planet that pays the full cost of their inputs. There is absolutely no need for large areas of land to achieve nutritional and relative food security at household level. One square meter of sprouts or fresh quick growing greens can make the essential difference to one person as far as nutritional security is concerned. Even 10-20 m2 of intensive organic garden can supply base-line nutritional security to one family of 5-6 souls and 100 m2 can provide all fresh greens a family needs year-round. Water can be recycled, harvested, conserved in the soil and deployed through drip lines or equivalent. Only 34 litres per square meter per day is needed during dry periods. If there is no rain and no surface water, invest in wells or boreholes. If there is no water at all, get a job elsewhere or invest in a coffin. Production aspects Free access to bio-mass/organic municipal waste (we are not talking about human faeces) is essential and relationship with stock owners -particularly cattle owners- is vital. ABALIMI is about to start a campaign for one cow-one garden. One cow produces 10 tons of manure per annum, if kraaled overnight. This is enough to supply up to 1ha of community garden with all annual fertility requirements. Of course, small livestock should also be included, but small livestock, like fruit, is something that has a tendency to vanish if not kept under armed guard. But vegetables and cows (and goats) are less vulnerable to vanishment.

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It is easy to begin organic gardening at a basic level, but to progress takes study and time and commitment to develop the required skills. Organizational and institutional aspects The consumer culture mindset, where people perceive land-based lifestyles to be backwards, and group dynamics, leading to disruption of production, are probably the two most important limiting factors to the development and continuity of agricultural projects and growth in the movement. However, we are learning to facilitate the inevitable organisational crises in such a way that they are learning and growth opportunities, not failures. The main tool used is Horizontal Action Learning Exchange, where the gardeners analyse problems and decide on solutions themselves. Group wisdom usually finds the right way, if everyone can be properly heard and group process is not diverted by dominant individuals. There has to be a number of service providers who supply what the gardeners and associations do not have, with a good understanding of the requirements of each level in the development continuum. As far as nutritional security/HIV-Aids is concerned, there has to be a nutrition education component to ensure that the quality of the food is not destroyed in the (over)cooking process. ABALIMI still has to find a permanent partner in the nutrition education sphere, but in the mean time we work with a few different organisations. Once micro & meso models have been developed and tested by civil society organisations (social entrepreneurs), the State should adapt and test the models on a macro scale. The State is functionally no good at innovation, but once an innovation has been trialed and tested the State has the capacity to apply it. As an alternative to the State, the movement itself can take to scale provided it is well organised and sufficient funding can be obtained. The movement can enable itself through Horizontal Action Learning, Savings Mobilisation and cheap MicroLoans between members and Local Economic Trading Systems (LETS)14 Community Investment Programmes (CIPs) use all the above tactics, to incentivise communities to design and execute own development programmes which address the full range of community needs, including food security through urban agriculture15. Ongoing grant finance from enlightened funding agencies is vital to keep the development process in the movement rolling, by investing at all levels in the development continuum, and using the tools and approaches mentioned above to finalise in detail a sustainable model for food, nutritional and cash security16 for permanent local livelihoods and jobs (with urban agriculture as a key component!!), which the State could then take to scale.

14 15 16

For more info on LETS, see: www.ces.org.za For more information on CIPs, contact Dr Norman Reynolds at marketnr@iafrica.com Food security does not necessarily lead to cash security e.g. a farmer can eat very well and have no cash- and cash security does not automatically lead to food security e.g. a rich man may starve his family. Food security and cash security do not always equal nutrition security e.g. there are millions of fat people who live on starch and meat. At survival or early subsistence level the focus is on nutritional and food security. When moving to Livelihood and Commercial levels, reaching cash security too gets more emphasis.

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3.3 FOOD GARDENS PROGRAMME OF SOIL FOR LIFE Pat Featherstone SOIL FOR LIFE Cape Town, South Africa INTRODUCTION TO SOIL FOR LIFE AND ITS PROGRAMME SOIL FOR LIFE is a registered not-for-profit NGO that was established in March 2003, formerly operating as the Western Cape branch of Food Gardens Foundation, a national NGO based in Gauteng. There are four full-time staff and seven part-time staff. The organisation has a Resource and Training Centre based at a school in Constantia and all operations are carried out from here. Our vision is to make a significant and positive contribution to the health, selfconfidence and family finance of indigent people in the Western Cape. Our aims include improving the nutritional and economic status of individuals and communities in urban and rural areas, to develop human potential and to balance human needs with natures capacity to sustain life now and in the future. SOIL FOR LIFE is implementing the following activities: We run hands-on practical education and training courses in: small-scale organic food and herb production, soil improvement methods, waste recycling, health and nutrition, including medicinal and culinary herbs, nursery skills and plant propagation, food processing and preserving. The latter courses have been given to equip groups with the skills necessary to start a home business to boost household income. Part of these trainings are implemented for the City of Cape Town and there are many gardens have been started as a result. Initial supply of compost, seed and basic tools We provide ongoing support and advice to gardening groups that have been trained by SOIL FOR LIFE. However, many of the groups that have been trained do not have any follow support, since SOIL FOR LIFE does not have the financial resources to support all these projects. We encourage the development of local networks and support groups. We form partnerships with related NGOs and Community-Based Organisations. RESULTS OBTAINED SOIL FOR LIFEs work in indigent communities is important because: People are enabled to put safe, fresh, nutritious food on the table every night. Exercise, fresh air, good food, and the reduction of stress (all spin- offs of the food-growing culture) build strong immune systems and help in the fight against AIDS, TB, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and poor mental health. A food-growing initiative within any community removes social, cultural and economic barriers. Raising living standards and generating local trade circulates income within communities and pays for education and social services. People create jobs for themselves and others. The re-use of waste by community gardeners reduces the burden on local authorities and landfill sites.

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Food gardens make a significant difference to the lives of many people. The food gardeners are obviously eating better. Many people are eating large quantities of green vegetables (particularly important because of significant Vitamin A content) from these gardens (and this includes thieves!) The food gardeners have some money to spend on things which they could not previously afford and they are getting all the advantages of healthy, outdoor exercise, companionship, new skills, a marginally improved life, and learning to work with other people as a group Many people also have gardens at home the transfer of skills and appropriate technology is what SOIL FOR LIFE wants to happen. It has also been noticed that well-managed and productive community and home food gardens catch the attention of locals who, in turn, are inspired and encouraged to attempt the same for themselves using SOIL FOR LIFE methods. Lastly, with massive land degradation in South Africa, and alarming losses of topsoil, and the consequent loss of good agricultural land, how are we going to feed our burgeoning population? Consider what it would mean in terms of increasing the amount of cultivated land and reducing hunger if people could be encouraged to establish food gardens at their homes, community centres, clinics, churches, wherever there is vacant land; if everyone in South Africa had a food garden, no matter how small.

In 2004 a survey was implemented on the impacts of six food gardening projects that SOIL FOR LIFE implemented for the Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation, with the following outcomes: Between the six groups over four hundred people are being fed, as well as some of the food finding its way into the larger community. If more attention would be paid to replanting, (i.e.: just over one-half of the beds was planted at the time of the survey), there could be even more food available for community consumption. Sales of surpluses generate an average of R14.42 per week per seller, which in these communities is a significant amount and makes an enormous

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difference between a poor diet and shortage of food and an adequate diet, so contributing to improved nutrition in the community as a whole. With greater attention to better replanting and production methods, and more home gardens, the surplus for sale would undoubtedly increase. The people themselves are very aware of the difference these gardens have made to their lives. Nearly fifty percent of the gardeners no longer buy vegetables elsewhere, and must therefore save money in this way, as well as eating more nutritious food. Also nearly half of the gardeners indicate that the gardens made life easier, presumably because finding food, or money for food, is now less problematic. Well over one third have found a great improvement in health, either their own, or their families. One tenth remark on how making money from vegetable sales has improved their livelihood. The impact appears to have been considerable, out of all proportion to the input. The areas in which these projects are located are often areas of transition, with a movement of many people into and out of the area, so stability of the garden projects is a problem. Additionally some, like Mfuleni, have aging populations and death and disease have taken a toll of a number of the gardeners. A typical example is Driftsands, where the original twenty-eight members were later joined by eight TB+ patients. Of the latter, four have died and only one remains in the project. Of the original twenty-eight, only twelve remain in the project, and there has only been one new member subsequently. Often there are also other internal problems. For example, Nolungile is a large garden located on a school property, and the school administration is not happy with the inability of the group to contribute to water costs. In some cases it has been difficult for SOIL FOR LIFE to operate without interference, from other groups or interested parties, in its methods and the administration of the projects. Yet despite these setbacks, there are some very positive results are evident. A disappointing aspect is the small number of food garden beds being made at gardeners homes. This may be due in part to the absence of space and lack of security of tenure in the informal settlements. It is always considered best when the gardens are at the home of the producer. The range of vegetables being grown (twenty-seven different vegetables) is impressive and a good indication of the growth in the attitude to eating vegetables. It is also a good sign that these communities are eating a more varied and, probably, a more balanced diet. However, with the exception of green peppers, they are still eating the well-known vegetables.

LESSONS LEARNT Factors influencing the success or failure of the urban agriculture projects Lead by example. Whether it be home or community gardeners, nothing works as well as seeing other inspiring examples of productive gardens. By encouraging networks and support groups, standards are set and people are excited to emulate what they have seen. It is important to have a well-trained and motivated community person co-ordinating the project and to have a train-the-trainer programme in place. Working with groups of women, rather than men. If you want something said, ask a man. If you want something done, ask a woman (Margaret Thatcher). Older women tend to have better staying power and motivation.

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Working with people who have a rural background, and who are not too sophisticated. In other words, people who are not aspiring to white- or blue-collar jobs. It is important to take into account that many participants in these projects are characterized by: - Poor nutrition levels low energy and interest - Low energy levels either of infected people, or those who are affected by infected family members because they act as carers. - Apathy and ignorance. Low self-esteem/lack of self confidence. No vision. - Dependency syndrome and the mindset no money, no work. A mentorship programme (subsequent to the initial training course) which lasts for at least two to three years, during which time farming groups undergo an extension of the training, problems are sorted out, techniques are checked for correct implementation and people are motivated and supported. The importance of a follow up programme cannot be expressed strongly enough. It not only ensures correct implementation, but also provides opportunities for further training and motivation and the solving of problems, either with crop production, or with people. Service providers need to stay with projects for five, six or seven years. This is not generally possible with the way funding occurs. And therefore few groups reach the status of true self-sufficiency or sustainability. There is, however, the problem of changes within the group over this period. It is no good teaching people how to grow food without teaching them about good health and nutrition. People also need to learn other skills associated with

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sustainability: food processing and preserving, food storage, seed-saving with a capital S. Access to resources Small is beautiful, and bountiful. Large pieces of land are not necessary to make a difference to a familys (or a communitys) nutritional status. Use production methods which are high yielding in limited spaces. Reduce soil compaction, and increase levels of organic material. Even simple mulching improves the harvest. To increase the area of land under cultivation, food gardens must be established in individual homes, community centres, clinics, schools wherever there is a small bit of earth capable of producing food. South Africa is a semi-arid country and water is a problem. Water harvesting off roofs and other flat surfaces can be achieved with minimal effort and simple technology using urban waste. Grey water usage, drip irrigation and waterconserving methods of production (e.g. mulching) should be encouraged. Use of labour saving and easy to manage technologies: mulching, no till, raised beds, crop rotation, vermiculture, drip irrigation In order to reduce external resources needed: Optimal use of locally available resources i.e. reuse of urban wastes and Sourcing of second hand tools and equipment Local production of own seedlings in seed beds and simple nurseries and seed collection from crops and trees. Exchange of tools/services/products among community gardening groups and households: Trade vegetables for labour, manure, compost with community members and join the Community Exchange System (CES) and trade with a local currency (not money).

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Production aspects Food gardening, the SOIL FOR LIFE way, produces high yields of top quality, muchneeded food in small spaces quickly, easily, cheaply. Within eight to ten weeks of planting, a household can be eating. SOIL FOR LIFE methods work along the maxim healthy soil, healthy plants, healthy people; and people are taught how to first feed the soil. South Africa loses about 500 million toms of topsoil every year and, along with it, go about six million tons of plant nutrients which are not replaced. It has been estimated that fertiliser use accounts for the addition of 1kg of nutrients for every 19kg lost forever. No wonder there is widespread malnutrition and depressed immune systems. Mulching is strongly advocated since it solves a myriad of problems. Liquid fertilisers from seaweed, manure, compost, weeds and so on boost plant growth and production. The production of leafy green vegetables are encouraged: NZ spinach, morog, CM Kale, walking stick cabbage, sou sou marrows, etcetera. All high in Vitamin A to boost immune systems. Especially the production of cut and come again crops is promoted (e.g. New Zealand spinach, CM kale and red Chinese mustard) since these are not only hardy, highly productive and nutritious but also important labour savers. The main (technical) problems we face are: Upgrading the soil. Getting sufficient supplies of organic waste to fill trenches, mulch and make compost is a time-consuming and frustrating exercise. Partnerships with local councils, businesses etc help. Installing and maintaining drip irrigation systems. Keep it simple. The attempts to increase food production through intensification and increasingly complex technology will only lead to increasing degradation of soils and soil erosion, and an increasing need of materials and resources. Apart from climate problems, lack of assured water supplies, poor fertility and difficult topography there are other problems such as poor communications, long distances from markets, lack of transport, high input costs, lack of credit. We need a type of survival agriculture where illiteracy, lack of infrastructure and other such problems do not limit food production by every kind of community at every stage of development. There are methods to turn things around. Organisational and institutional aspects Things happen slowly. No major changes happen overnight. Partnerships with other NGOs and community-based organisations strengthen our efforts in the field. Partnerships with Local councils and provincial government are important to get access to land and for the provision of organic waste, infrastructure etc. A productive and cost effective strategy to multiply our efforts are train-the-trainer type of programmes for staff of other NGOs, clinics, church groups and other organisations that work specifically with HIV-AIDS patients and other vulnerable groups. This training allows these organisations to implemented urban agriculture projects with their own people.

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There is a scarcity of funds to get projects well off the ground and on their way to self-sufficiency. Sustainability does not occur overnight. It takes a long time and therefore requires funding for a quite lengthy period. Our main sources of funding for these projects are the Department of Social Services and Poverty Alleviation. The Department of Agriculture has supplied some infrastructure. Other potential sources include the Department of Health, the City of Cape Town and private corporations. Sustainability comes faster if all available resources in communities are used maximally.

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3.4 NUTRITION AND FOOD SECURITY PROGRAM OF KENYA AIDS INTERVENTION PREVENTION PROJECT GROUP James Onyango KENYA AIDS INTERVENTION PREVENTION PROJECT GROUP (KAIPPG) Kakamega, Kenya INTRODUCTION TO KAIPPG AND ITS PROGRAMME KAIPPG is a grassroots service NGO working with marginalized communities in the rural and peri-urban areas of Kenya, founded in 1996. Its mission is to addresses HIV-AIDS problems holistically through linkages with various aspects of community welfare. It attempts to build the capacity of communities to realize their full potentials and bring about positive change. It focuses its work on improving the status of women, children and youth living in the rural and peri-urban areas, through direct support and increased access to knowledge and information about the links between HIV/AIDS and other social concerns such as poverty, agriculture, nutrition, gender and general health. KAIPPG fosters an approach of self-empowering activism, which in turn helps in the development of programs to address the identified community needs. KAIPPG trains people to help themselves and encourages communities to collect, preserve and disseminate indigenous health and agricultural knowledge and techniques. Currently KAIPPG has 12 paid staff, 2 program volunteers and a large team of community-based volunteers. The paid staff include, 4 Nutritional Field Workers attached to the Nutrition and Food Security Project, 2 nurses attached to the community care and support program, 1 Projects Coordinator, 1 Administrator, 1 Accountant, the Chief Executive and 2 support staff. KAIPPG addresses the holistic needs of the HIV/AIDS affected households in rural, urban and peri-urban areas of Kakamega, Kenya through its Nutrition and Food Security Program. This Program was initiated in 2000; initially targeting 240 HIV/AIDS affected rural households. In 2003, the project was scaled up to reach 720 households, including 180 urban and peri-urban communities, particularly slum dwellers. The primary objective of this program is to improve nutritional and economic status and overall food security of rural and peri-urban communities and households made vulnerable due to HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The strategy is to build an innovative and integrated program that holistically addresses the food, nutritional and economic needs of HIV/AIDS affected communities and other vulnerable households in a sustainable way. The project attempts to holistically improve the status of the entire household where the children live; links families with each other, with local and national agencies, healthcare workers, and other "helping" entities so that a web of support and well-being can be established. The current program is serving 720 households enrolled on 24 NFS of 30 beneficiaries each, of which 6 NFS comprising 180 participants have been developed in urban centres. The success of this program is based on proper development of participatory processes that allow involvement of project beneficiaries plus other strategic partners from the time of project conception, planning, implementation and evaluation. To achieve this, the project went through a series of activities as briefly outlined below:

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Community Mobilization and Nutritional Needs Assessment Activities The project started by stakeholder mapping and mobilization of communities. This was done through field visits and community sensitization workshops. This process helped in identification and sensitization of the community and other stakeholders on the proposed project and define the roles of the various stakeholders The stakeholders identified included community health workers (CHWs), trainer of trainers (TOTs), provincial administration (PA), Ministry of Health (MOH) and Ministry of Agriculture (MOA), NGOs and other Community based organizations (CBOs) within the project area. KAIPPG conducted 3-day non-residential community sensitization workshops in each targeted project sites. First workshop day focused on making the project known to the community and identifying and familiarizing with possible stakeholders and partners in each project area. Community leaders, MOA extension officers, MOH personnel and the PA were invited to attend. This enabled all stakeholders to identify their roles and assist in the identification of project beneficiaries. Approximately 60 people participated in each of the workshops. Day two focused on conducting the nutritional needs-assessment. The needs assessment helped to determine the common crops grown in the particular areas, the farming resources already available within the groups, the seasonal calendars, establish the community action plans, determine respective roles of each stakeholder and develop the participatory monitoring and evaluation tools. Day three focused on developing criteria for selection of project beneficiaries. Establishment of Nutritional Field Schools (NFS) KAIPPG established 24 community-based non-formal learning centres, called Nutritional Field Schools (NFS) in 24 sites. Of these, 6 project sites comprising 180 participants were developed in urban centres of Busia, Mumias and Kakamega, while 18 sites comprising 540 participants were in rural areas in Bungoma, Teso and Malava/Lugari districts in Western Kenya. Using participatory methodologies, 30 people per site were selected from vulnerable households. The 30 people were organized to comprise one NFS. Priority was given to older orphans; widows, low-income women and older vulnerable children who are PLWHA or HIV/AIDS affected household members. KAIPPG worked closely with its already existing community groups to identify group members from their home-based care beneficiary clients and those already enrolled on our other projects.

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Establishment of beneficiary plots and demonstration sites Each member of the NFS donated a small plot (about half acre), from the family land, on which to grow crops. KAIPPG rented small farms for the participants who did not own or have access to the family land, while the multi-storey gardens (sack gardens) were developed for the urban-based clients. The crops to be grown were selected on the basis of their nutritional components, with priority being given to indigenous crops and vegetables. NFS members were then supplied with farm inputs and supplies, and equipment. Certified maize and sorghum seeds, vegetables, and fertilizers were purchased from authorized dealers and supplied to the beneficiaries. One farm demonstration plot was centrally established on each field school where NFS members met once a week to receive training and share issues of concern and successes. Community members donated the land for the demo plots. Where this was not possible KAIPPG rented the farm from the municipal land. Formal classes were held during the NFS meetings, facilitated by Nutritional Field School facilitators, Ministry of Agriculture Extension Officers and Nutritionists. The facilitators used the demonstration plots to show how to effectively prepare the soil, proper plant spacing, cultivation techniques, pest control, harvesting techniques and dietary intake for OVCs and PLWHA. Training of Vulnerable Households in Nutrition and Food production The participants were taught relevant skills and techniques to enable them acquire the needed nutrition and patient care skills, maximize crop harvest and have the potential to become more economically and socially empowered. The NFS participants who completed the above training and who were able to apply new skills of food/crop production and utilization were linked up to our Information, Communication and Technology project, which trains communities in integration of Information and Communication Technologies in HIV/AIDS prevention, gender and agricultural development. This in turn empowered the project beneficiaries to serve as facilitators in dissemination of information to the new field schools in their catchment areas, as the project further expands. Apart from the weekly meetings, small inter-care group meetings were held to share experiences on counselling, team strengthening and motivation and as a means of relieving stress. When the group members harvested their crops, they donated 5% of their total produce to new groups earmarked for subsequent growing seasons, in order to replicate and expand the project with minimal external inputs. During the weekly formal classes at the demonstration plots, community members were given a chance to ask questions on cross cutting issues, which were then addressed by the NFS facilitators. Condom distribution was also done on demand after every weekly session at the demonstration plots. Stigma reduction Reduction of stigma and raising the status of PLWHA was among the key anticipations of the project. KAIPPG achieved this through: Trainings on the NFS Organization of post-test clubs (PTC) and other community self supporting initiatives. PTC members are NFS participants that have undergone an HIV test and have knowledge of their current status. Its primary aim was to link beneficiaries and provide opportunities for them to share their burdens and experiences. By the close of 2004, 11 PTCs had been formed. Through the PTCs, clients were able to know each other, form strong webs of support and access ARV treatments. KAIPPG developed proposals for the PTCs to seek

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funding for initiation of their own Income generating projects directly from the National AIDS Control Council (NACC). Facilitation of joint meals with PLWHAS. KAIPPG provided the beneficiaries with food during the NFS classes. This ensured that the process of food preparation, feeding and teamwork was more practical, with the food being bought from the community, prepared as part of the learning process and eaten by all those participating on the NFS classes. Since all beneficiaries were eating together as a group, this reduced stigma. Since food was prepared on the spot and eaten jointly, beneficiaries could not divert the money meant for their food into spending it on other pressing needs at the expense of the food.

Collaboration and Linkage of Clients to health facilities and other support networks In order to ensure that a comprehensive package of care and support services are provided to PLWHA and affected family members, KAIPPG worked with its homebased care volunteers and those trained by other institutions to encourage and motivate NFS participants and reinforce the nutritional training component of the project. CHWs are uniquely positioned to promote compliance with revision of diets geared for the client with opportunistic infections, eating disorders, and certain food intolerance related to HIV/AIDS. NFS members were provided with the opportunity to visit with previously trained NFS members to get a first hand view of the changes made in household dietary regimes as well as the impact the program made on food production and marketing. Apart from linking beneficiaries with each other into a sort of web, KAIPPG created strong linkages with several governmental and non-governmental agencies. CHWs strengthen the linkage of project clients with health facilities for early diagnosis and treatment of infections, such MSF Spain, for ARV access by the clients, hospitals and clinics in the districts of operation for the purpose of facilitating referral of the patients and provision of VCT and ARTs, among other services. KAIPPG also linked up NFS members with K-REP and SMEP-micro-financing organizations, so that members could access resources to start up small businesses and expand crop production. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute in Busia and Kakamega provide some researched varieties of root crops (such as potatoes and cassava) to our project clients; MOA and MOH provide technical expertise to the whole project. The provincial administration assists with the security of the farm plots and safety of widows and orphan headed plots. These networks facilitated the provision of a complete care continuum to our targeted communities. It is hoped that these networks will further be strengthened as the project progresses in the subsequent phases so that they will survive and be sustained even after the end of the project. RESULTS OBTAINED Improvement of household food security and nutritional status of PLWHAS The project helped the most stigmatised groups (HIV/AIDS-infected and affected) to be self-sufficient in long-term food supply, and to improve the nutritional status of children. This in turn provided them with greater psychosocial empowerment and adaptability. Monitoring information shows that the households are maintaining their improved gardening practices, nutritional habits and methods of caring for PLWHA. In addition longevity of life and a delay in progression from HIV to full blown AIDS, has been observed in 65% of HIV infected individuals who were enrolled on this program.

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Improvement of household economic sustainability In addition to linkages with micro-financing institutions, households sold other products of their agricultural activities such as animal cakes and margarines, thus generating extra income. This helped to improve both the livelihood of families and their general long-term economic and social standing. Skills development: The project trained communities in caring for the PLWHA in the home, good nutritional habits, proper knowledge on the importance of VCT and ARV treatments and also in reliable, innovative, and simple methods of food production and processing, record keeping and farm planning. This skill development ensured that the communities were adequately equipped to implement the project on long term basis using their own resource people The organization was successful to prove to the community that through proper farming practices food security can be attained. The plots produced yields, which were approximately 65% to 70% higher than the previous productions. Stigma Reduction and Empowerment of orphan-headed households The project activities made that the urban and peri-urban communities negative attitude towards farming and stigma towards PLWHA began changing. Other benefits and beneficiaries The project had benefited many people, either directly or indirectly. Each of the 720 beneficiaries was from a household of 8 persons on average, totalling to approximately 5,760 beneficiaries. Apart from this, all NFS were open to attendance by other members of the neighbourhoods. An additional 1350 persons not initially registered on the program participated in NFS classes. Local business communities also benefited due to sale of farm equipment and supplies to the project, as were the micro-financing institutions to which the groups were linked. Several local NGOs and Farmers Groups have adopted the nutritional field school model.

LESSONS LEARNT The success or failure of urban agriculture projects that aim to positively influence nutrition and income situation of households affected by HIV-AIDS is dependent on a number of factors, which are presented below.

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Creating access to Land and water Urban families normally have very restricted access to land and water for food production. In many urban centres open space for agriculture is limited and the faster the urbanisation, the more limited that space becomes. For this reason, the efficient protection of open spaces in inner cities is an important issue. Farming can be done on strips of land at the sides of roads, railways and power lines, as well as along riverbanks and on seasonally flooded land. In most countries, power lines are situated in non-residential areas and so, in the same way as river banks, the land over which they pass is often used as illegal dumping sites. These strips may be converted for agricultural use. Experiences in Kenya have shown that by creating community gardens in such areas, illegal dumping and squatting on such land can be prevented. Sack gardens can be developed within the inner cities where there is limited space and water. Hand drip irrigation can be used in resource constrained agricultural areas. Overcoming labour constraints: group and livelihood approach HIV-Aids affected households encounter severe restrictions in labour availability for farming (or other productive activities). It is for this reason that organizing people into groups is important. Groups assist in tending each others farms, as it is understood that the failure of one individual within the group would be seen as failure of the whole group. Group activities such as merry-go-rounds can be used to raise funds that can help in meeting the labour and other productive needs of PLWHA. Where the program has trained family and community care givers, these can be used to assist the PLWHA with day to day social chores including tending of the farms. Urban farmers to a large extent have other urban jobs too. This limited their availability and focus on training on the field schools. It is in this context that the program did not restrict itself to agricultural activities but took the whole of the peoples livelihood strategies into account. Most people, who get infected with HIV while residing in urban areas, immigrate to their rural homes during their final time of illness. It is important that during the planning of the program methods that are sensitive to these dynamic processes should be considered. Dealing with rapid change Change is a dominant feature of the urban context for many people, either real or anticipated. The rapid changes in the urban settings can be a major impediment to project sustainability. Housing insecurity, land insecurity, rapid changes in land use, immigration, shifting work opportunities, soaring land prices and an increasing interference of urban political and economical power groups will all have varying implications on the sustainability and long term impacts of the micro-farming program. Availability of high quality but affordable gardening Inputs Access to the necessary inputs for gardening from a local, sustainable source is an important element for successful gardening. Such inputs include seeds, seedlings and saplings, a regular water supply, environmentally friendly soil improvement techniques and pest control, fencing, proper farming tools and capital where needed. Community Participation Involvement and participation of the community in project initiation, design, implementation and evaluation will ensure active participation and ultimate ownership of the project by the beneficiaries. Having two-way channels for information

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exchange is instrumental for achieving sustainable, improved gardening practices. Self- created local community groups are necessary for creating a voice through which the marginalized can be heard. Technical assistance, demonstration and training Technical support is especially important when new gardening techniques are being promoted such as growing new or increased number of varieties or year-round vegetable production, and when all these have to be linked up with HIV/AIDS care, support and mitigation. Training and other group activities around a central demonstration garden can serve to demonstrate different varieties, hybrids or other important garden techniques such as composting, use of natural pesticides, year round production, sack gardening and other topics relevant to community needs. Nutrition and HIV/AIDS education within the gardening activity Counselling to change feeding/eating behaviours and adopt positive attitudes for PLWHA is generally an important component of food-based strategies. Similar to understanding the indigenous approach to gardening, an understanding of the cultural context, feeding practices and interaction of drugs with food will guide nutrition education to achieve good health and sustainable behavioural changes. The garden or nursery can also be utilized as a focal point for nutrition education and social marketing to promote increased consumption of micronutrient rich foods. In addition, messages about a variety of other issues that influence nutrient absorption and overall health such as prevention of childhood illness, timing of meals/foods, intake of tea and other factors that inhibit nutrient absorption can be presented to households, HIV/AIDS care givers, orphan guardians, mothers and household members. Broadening from gardening to animal husbandry KAIPPG has begun integrating animal husbandry, fish, bee and mushroom farming, with its home gardening program. This is because of the important success of related pilot activities, as well as the fact that animal foods are a very good source of micronutrients, and that their bioavailability is better than that of micronutrients of cereals and vegetables. Implementing Integrated and multi-stakeholder programs Since agriculture is not a job of choice for most urban dwellers, it is strongly recommended that the program integrates other activities, such as the arts and communication, non-agricultural economic activities, into the program. Involvement of other stakeholders in program implementation will facilitate comprehensive support across a wide spectrum of community needs. Funding for support of the post-test clubs (PTC) should be provided within that of the nutritional activities in order to facilitate effective community mobilization for VCT and ARTs. The PTCs are very effective fora, not only for stigma reduction and PLWHAs economic empowerment, but also for educating people on the importance of VCT and ARTs, including where and how to access these services. This approach will make the program more attractive to all cadres of people - youth, women, men and the elderly- and lead to greater program impact and sustainability. Monitoring and evaluation Monitoring facilitates the identification of problems and the development of solutions based on sharing between the beneficiaries and the program managers. Indicators are dependent on the program objectives and should include some that can be monitored locally. Continued integration of lessons learned from implementation and evaluation efforts is one of the key aspects to the successful scale up of this program. Evaluation and planning should be conducted at key intervals during the

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program period to improve the program. Follow-up of program clients and involvement of other partners in the monitoring and evaluation framework will ensure that problems are identified and tackled before they get out of hand. Semi-annual Participatory Project Review workshops were held with strategically selected beneficiaries, CHWs and partners, in order to assess the impact of the project. Achievements made during the implementation, challenges and lessons were shared, and action plans for subsequent phases developed. These workshops are normally broad-based so as to share the lessons from other projects of the KAIPPG program as this not only helps in creating synergies, but also to establish ways and linkages for the communities project sustainability in case of the unavailability of future donor support. Combination of funding sources A project of this nature requires both external sources of finance and reasonable contributions from both the beneficiaries and other local stakeholders. For instance, the overall institutional, administrative and logistical support to this project was provided by KAIPPG, using funding from USAID through Pathfinder International. The farm tools and equipment were donated by WORKAID -a British charity- while the ICTs component of the program was funded through CTA/IICD/IDRC/HIVOS GenARDIS Small Grants Program. On the other hand, the project beneficiaries provided labour and where possible, land. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) provided some certified seeds while MOA and MOH provided technical support. Technology development There is still limitation of local technical knowledge in urban agriculture with no or minimal research having been conducted. More research is needed as well as capacity development for institutions undertaking urban micro farming in the context of HIV/AIDS.

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3.5 PERMACULTURE FOOD GARDENS PROGRAMME OF FOOD & TREES FOR AFRICA Jeunesse Park FOOD & TREES FOR AFRICA (FTFA) Gauteng, South Africa INTRODUCTION TO FOOD & TREES FOR AFRICA AND ITS ACTIVITIES FOOD & TREES FOR AFRICA (FTFA), is a non profit non government public benefit organisation established in 1990. Currently there are 15 full time employees and a varying number of sub contractors and volunteers. FTFA develops, manages and promotes greening, sustainable natural resource management and food security programmes. FTFAs programmes contribute to poverty alleviation, improved environments, capacity building and skills development, increasingly for People affected by Aids (PWAs). FTFAs mission is to work in partnership with government, the private and public sectors and civil society to improve the quality of life and environments for all communities of South Africa. In the past 14 years FTFA has distributed over 2 million trees and helped to set up over 500 organic gardens for the poorest in South Africa. With the support of funders and the endorsement and cooperation of government FTFA implements four programmes, each with many projects. All FTFAs programmes are aimed at under resourced and underserved communities across South Africa. FTFA is implementing the following programmes: Trees for Homes, The Urban Greening Fund, EduPlant and Permaculture Food Gardens. The Urban Greening Fund (UGF) is a basket fund that supports partnerships for sustainable development through tree planting, parks and food gardening projects, as well as environmental awareness and education. The UGF aims to: Respond to NGOs and local government willing to implement Urban Greening projects that will improve quality of life and Alleviate socio economic and environmental poverty Build capacity, including business plan development Facilitate partnerships between various tiers of government, NGOs and CBOs to expedite delivery and ensure sustainability of projects EduPlant is the national school gardening and greening program motivating schools and their communities to address poverty alleviation, greening, food security, capacity building and skills development. Benefits for schools: Better nutrition and less dependence on feeding schemes Unemployed parents and community members benefit from garden produce Community outreach projects that provide food, trees and Permaculture assistance for hospices, HIV/AIDS patients, unemployed and indigent communities Vastly increase their understanding of sustainable natural resource use and management and their environment.

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The Permaculture Food Gardens programme integrates ecology, landscape, organic gardening, architecture and agro-forestry to provide healthy food for all anywhere. The word permaculture comes from PERMAnent and AGRIculture. Permaculture creates sustainable food rich environments by following nature's patterns. Fresh vegetables, fruit and herbs build immune systems and help AIDS patients. FTFAs Permaculture projects: Teach schools and residents in low-income neighbourhoods how growing food improves diet and health, supplements income and saves on grocery bills Address HIV / AIDS, health and nutrition Communities wanting assistance to develop urban agriculture projects approach FTFA, who then seek funding from government, aid agencies or the private sector to respond to these requests.

LESSONS LEARNT The interest in urban agriculture is growing in South Africa especially with the high rate of unemployment, the high incidence of HIV/Aids and illness and the lack of food security. To date no national government department has championed urban agriculture. Main challenges encountered The greatest challenges FTFA experiences in the urban agriculture projects are: a. Limited access to basic resources such as land and water, seed and plant materials. b. Lack of sufficient funding and support from government and the short term nature of funding which does not allow for full development of projects c. Apathy and lack of commitment of beneficiaries and their urgent need for cash income which makes that (especially men) loose interest once they realize that are not being paid for food gardening d. Lack of awareness, education and training in urban agriculture, sustainable resource management and use and business skills to name a few e. Illness of participants f. Community politics Access to resources FTFAs criteria for providing assistance to new groups include that access to land and water have been secured. Since schools in South Africa have land, many community projects take place at schools. In some instances FTFA has intervened with

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government to facilitate land access through 99 year leasing agreements or other agreements. Where possible boreholes are sunk and water tanks installed. Drip irrigation has been piloted at several projects but was not found to be effective as communities tend not to maintain it well so pipes and sprinklers (not overhead as these waste more water) are used instead. Access to organic seeds and planting materials (non GMO and non hybridized) is often a problem. Production aspects FTFA provides appropriate planting materials for projects it funds, dependent on climate and beneficiary requests and needs. It is a challenge introducing new vegetables, herbs and natural medicines to communities whose diets are extremely limited but this is overcome through training, education and awareness. FTFA attempts to introduce as much diversity as possible and provides projects with organic seed where possible. Medicinal gardens are cultivated including an intensive workshop on the uses and cultivation of medicinal plants. Through research it has been found that many medicinal plants have aided in alleviating some of the ailments related to HIV/Aids. FTFA provides all tools to project beneficiaries. Gardeners are taught to make compost, liquid fertilizers and natural pesticides. Gardeners must volunteer their labour in exchange for access to resources and training. In instances where beneficiaries are ill or too old to work in the gardens the beneficiary group are encouraged to conscript more members. Production needs to be intensive and food and medicinal plants should be available through out the year. It is of importance to include a nutritional education and feeding scheme in the project to ensure people receive a balanced meal on a daily basis. The consumption of fresh organic vegetables defiantly aids and builds up the immune system of people living with HIV/Aids. People have the opportunity to heal mentally, physiological and physically as they engage in activities that have a positive impact on their lives. Organizational and institutional aspects Community gardens have been the main focus for FTFA in its developmental implementation process. The organization has focused largely on developing gardens where HIV/Aids infected and affected people are directly involved. Nutrition has been the main objective and driving factor in these particular projects. Organic gardening being the main methodology is a very important aspect to improve the immune system of the people that are involved. Community development is made or broken by the community themselves. Successful projects all have in common a dynamic, motivated community member or members to lead the project. It is usually an individual. Often strong leadership itself can lead to a projects demise as other members become jealous and destructive. Extensive interdisciplinary training to these leading members and other group members is crucial: training in urban agriculture and sustainable resource management, business skills, group management, nutrition, to name a few. Total commitment has been an ongoing problem area in project development. Some of this stems from members needing alternative ways of earning income whilst being

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part of a project. Additional courses such as entrepreneur, business, and craft workshops has aided in altering the desperate need to find alternative income. The health sector within the community needs to be directly involved. Programs involving health issues are of great importance wherein people living with HIV/Aids can have easy access to health care including nutrition and sex education. The health sector should set up organic food gardening projects at all clinics and provide information on urban agriculture, health and nutrition. Local council and social services play an important role in mobilizing the community to actively participate in theses type of project where the work force is week due to physical set backs. The main funding for our projects has come from the Urban Greening Fund, mentioned above. Funding support from government is still limited and a serious problem is the short term nature of funding which does not allow for full development of the projects.

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3.6 HIV-AIDS AND URBAN FARMING INITIATIVES SUUPORTED BY KAMPALA CITY COUNCIL
Ssemwanga Margaret Azuba and Kabuuka Richard KAMPALA CITY COUNCIL Kampala, Uganda INTRODUCTION Kampala is the capital city of Uganda, and the only urban District among the 67 Districts. It is located on the Northern shores of Lake Victoria and Covers an area of 197 Sq.km. The District is endowed with an equatorial type of climate. It has a night population of 1.2 million people (49% males, 51% women, and a growth rate of 4.13% p.a) and a day population of about 2.5 million people. Kampala is typical of many cities in developing countries. A small segment of the citys population lives an affluent life with modern housing and accompanying amenities. A big number of Kampala dwellers, however, live in slums with very poor infrastructure and social services. 39% of the Kampala population live in absolute poverty, 5.4% comprise the real poor, mainly living in informal settlements (oneroomed houses). Using the anthropometrics indicators, 19.4% of the children are stunted, 11.6% underweight and 3.6% wasted The scourge of HIV/AIDS, continues to impact negatively to the productivity and development of the District. About 11% of the Kampala population is infected (approx. 132,000 people). There are numerous risks / exposing factors that facilitate HIV transmission at a high rate in Kampala District. About 30% of the Kampala population is engaged in farming (75% of whom are women). Several programmes on HIV-AIDS and Urban Farming are being implemented in Kampala at the moment: UACP- HIV-AIDS programme for Kampala The HIV/AIDS programme for Kampala District is mainly funded through the Uganda HIV/AIDS Control Project (UACP) which is a World Bank funded project in operation since 1998. In recognition of the fact that HIV/AIDS has causes and consequences far beyond the health sector, the UACP in Kampala District applies a multi-sectoral approach in line with the Uganda decentralization policy. The following activities have been implemented: Development and distribution of IEC messages in a bid to prevent transmission. Such IEC messages include Posters, Brochures, Video tapes T-Shirts which are distributed to organized community groups, some of which are farmer groups. Provision of VCT services at both static and outreach sites Sensitisation and training of health workers, Councillors, Community leaders and Community Contact Persons in the promotion of PMTCT. Provision of funds to capable Civil Society Organizations, to provide effective Home Based care serves to the PLWAS and affected families

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Supports activities on community condom promotion, condom distribution and training of condom distributors. Some of the beneficiaries of condom distribution exercises, are farmers. The use of condoms enhances positive living and maintains a labour force for food production

Achievements: Tremendous rise in condom use (>76%) High-level awareness about HIV-AIDS (>90%) High level in involvement of Civil Society Organization Clients seeking VCT services have increased by 30% since last year 50 NGOs involved in HIV-AIDs activities have been funded, and support has been extended to 8 Big Home Care Units Last FY, reaching over 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS. 97 Community led HIV-AIDs initiatives (CHAI) have received funding to the tune of 200,000 last FY. Out of these, five initiatives are involved in urban agriculture activities in the fields of small scale vegetable production, local poultry production, mushroom production and dairy production. Through the CHAI initiatives, over 7,500 orphans have been supported with scholastic materials. An important constraint has been the loss of confidence in the use of condoms due to reported defects of some types of condoms (Ngabu) and the negative messages from some sections of the communities. This also has negatively impacted on the adoption and acceptance of other government initiatives e.g. ARVs, food hand outs and vitamin supplements etc.

Alliance of Mayors Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the Local Level (AMICAALL) AMICAALL Uganda, is part of the Global Alliance of Mayors and Municipal Leaders on HIV/AIDS in Africa, formed under the auspices of UNAIDS and UNDP. The overall goal of the alliance is to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDs and to mitigate a social and economic impact of the Epidemic on the Urban and Peri-urban communities in Africa. AMICAALL Uganda chapter is currently operating in 12 urban centres of Kampala and implementing a number of activities aimed at strengthening the institutional capacity of urban Local Governments to effectively respond to HIV/AIDs at the local level:

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Community Based HIV/AIDS initiatives. AMICAALL is currently supporting 12 urban authorities to implement community based HIV/AIDS Sub-projects. These include; Goat rearing project in Fort Portal for the OVCs, Cattle keeping in Soroti Municipality, Piggery production in Busia Town Council and Fort Portal Municipality, Irish Potato growing OVC community Project in Kisoro Municipality, Food Vending OVC Project in Iganga Town Council, Sale of agricultural produce in Soroti Town Council, Vegetable production and Fish farming in Kampala city Capacity building activities Community mobilisation and sensitization; Establishment of local level management and co-ordination systems through Municipal and Town Council AIDS task forces; Skills based training for municipal and town council HIV/AIDs task forces in various aspects of HIV/AIDs Apprentice ship training and technical and financial support to OVCs to establish Income generating activities including Urban Farming and retail shops. Information Documentation and dissemination through periodic reports, newsletters, guidelines and audio visual materials. Partnership development and networking for HIV/AIDs response through City to City and Community to Community partnership programmes. Resource mobilisation using project proposals, Mayors Charity fund, Local Budget Lines and Alliance memberships. Monitoring and Evaluation of National, Local Government and Community HIV/AIDs Initiatives in urban areas.

Promotion of Orange Fleshed Sweet Potatoes (OFSP) through Schools in Urban and Peri-Urban Communities in Kampala. Vitamin A Deficiency is one of the most widespread deficiencies in Uganda. In 2001, 30% of the children and 50% of the women in Uganda had Vitamin A deficiency. The food consumed in most urban centres lacks adequate amounts of essential micronutrients, such as vitamin A. Because of this, most children and mothers are malnourished, reducing the potential for proper growth, good health, increasing the burden of disease, and shortening peoples lives. Orange fleshed varieties have been recommended because they have high betacarotene, the precursor for - Vitamin A, a major micronutrient reported deficient among Ugandan children (CIP, 2002, International Potato Annual Report). Despite their acceptance and yielding potential, dissemination and utilization of the orange types of sweet potato remains limited particularly among urban and peri-urban farmers. There also lack of planting materials and an untapped local and export market for roots, which can also be processed into a highly nutritive porridge e.g. baby food (Opio, personal communications, 2003). Sweet potato is an important food security crop in Kampala city, and there is a high demand for improved varieties, such as the orange-fleshed. With the objective to disseminate orange-fleshed varieties and to promote a rapid multiplication system of planting materials, a partnership involving Kampala City Council (Agricultural Section), Makerere University (Dept. of Agricultural Extension), International Potato Centre (CIP), NARO-sweet potato programme and Civil Society Organisations undertook a project using a participatory school based approach. This with the aim to contribute to urban food security, reduce vitamin A deficiency, ensure rapid spread of the OFSP technologies, and enhance income from sales of storage roots- and vines in urban and peri-urban agriculture areas of Kampala.

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In the project participate ten primary schools and 500 farm families with at least 0,1 acre each for growing potatoes, of which two farmer groups consisting of PLWA and PAWA. The following activities were implemented: Sensitisation and training of School children, teachers, community resource persons, farmers and agricultural extension workers in Seed bed preparation, Selection of healthy planting materials, Planting, Soil care, Pest and disease management, Appropriate harvesting and storage of the food produce, Provision of planting materials to the target beneficiaries, Support activities on setting up communal and centrally placed Rapid Vine Multiplication plots Production of IEC materials such as a training manual, calendars and posters Kampala District Cow Bank (KADICOBA) In 1998, His Excellence the President of Uganda, through the Woman MP for Kampala, donated 20 in-calf heifers to Women in Kampala City interested in rearing dairy cattle. The donation arose out of the desire expressed by women, especially widowed and single mothers, to utilise the domestic waste and overgrowing bushes around the city, as livestock feed, knowing that garbage collection and bush clearing seemed to be a problem of the city council to collect and slash respectively. The project operates as a revolving Cow Bank, with every recipient returning the first two female calves to the pool for other women beneficiaries to take on. The major objective of the project is to alleviate urban poverty and improve household food security and nutrition, as well as offer employment to the redundant youths. KADICOBA is currently operating in all the 5 Divisions of Kampala City, and is being implemented on a Community Based Approach, where by the women formed a task committee of 10 people, who oversee the operations of the programme. Participants are trained in appropriate housing, alternative Livestock feeds and feed regimes, pests and disease management, forage preservation, milk handling and collective marketing. So far, 124 women (households) have benefited from the KADICOBA programme, 45 of whom are households affected with HIV/AIDs. The average yield per cow is 12 litres / day. Gross income per month from the benefiting households is Ug.Shs. 150,000/= .Household nutrition improved since it is condition that 2 3 litters of milk have to be consumed per day. LESSONS LEARNT Creation of a favourable policy environment for urban agriculture In Kampala until recently the existing legal frameworks was not in favour of urban farming. Lobbying and advocating for recognition and promotion of urban farming activities in the urban centres, based on the results of research showing that urban farming is a cost effective activity whose benefits can be realized after a short time and that associated risks (health, environment) can be adequately managed, gradually made an impact, resulting in high level of political support and commitment, especially at the District level and review of existing legislation. Kampala City Council

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now has recognised the existence and benefits urban farming and integrated urban agriculture in the Kampala City Structural Plan. The presence of this new policy gives an opportunity for urban agriculture to be integrated in the HIV/AIDS agenda. Until recently the restrictive policy framework on urban agriculture, greatly influenced other sectors to disregard urban farming activities, the Health sector inclusive. Thus most of the HIV/AIDS related programmes in urban centres are only just now bringing urban farming on board. Its legal acceptability is still new and therefore the need for massive sensitization about the new Kampala City Urban Farming Laws, and the importance of urban farming for the mitigation of the effects and impacts of HIV/AIDS. This can be done among others by developing IEC messages in the form of documentaries, highlighting the direct and indirect linkage between HIV/AIDS and Urban farming. The development of an HIV/AIDS workplace policy for Kampala City, that recognizes urban farming as one of the sources of employment and food supply and promotes inclusion of HIV Aids and food security and nutrition issues in all Sectoral Development Plans, proved to be an important instrument. Multi-sectoral approach and participation of Civil Society Organisations Urban local governments have a weak institutional capacity and limited technical capacity to effectively address HIV/AIDS. Therefore, adequate cooperation with Civil Society Organisations is crucial. Especially the Community Based Groups and Community contact persons have been found instrumental in transfer of HIV/AIDS messages to the target groups. These could also be used as link persons in mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS through urban farming. Home Based Care Service providers could be used as an entry point to promote urban farming as a source of food and nutrition to PLWA or PAWA. Overcoming labour constraints and stigmatization Households affected by HIV/AIDS often encounter a labour constraint, given the type of urban farming activities. Therefore, labour saving technologies should be promoted, such as Use of locally made planters Rearing of local poultry using locally available materials Production of climbing beans and OFSP Especially men seem to avoid participation in Community led HIV-AIDs Initiatives (CHAI), urban farming inclusive, for fear of being identified as HIV-AIDS victims and at times, males in the community discourage their spouses to actively participate in such programmes. Stigmatization of some of HIV/AIDs victims caused by unfavourable statements made by some community leaders, e.g. one leader said, All PLWA should be left to die so as to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in future. With such statements some of the PLWA who are also carrying out urban farming, got discouraged from continuing with the practice, leave alone the fear of failing to sell their fresh produce to the markets. Stigmatization of participants might be reduced and male participation might be enhanced by focusing on resource poor communities and income generation rather than on HIV-AIDS and people affected by HIV-AIDS directly. Addressing funding constraints

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An important challenge that needs to be properly addressed is the frequent lack of adequate funds for: Supporting Community led HIV/AIDs Initiatives inclusive urban farming activities Late disbursement of funds from the various sources leading to delayed implementation of planned farming activities and HIV/AIDS Initiatives. Supporting HIV/AIDS task teams at the District , Municipal and Sub-county levels to oversee the implementation of HIV/AIDS activities

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3.7 URBAN AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME OF THE DIOBASS PLATFORM Innocent Balagizi Karhagomba DIOBASS PLATFORM Bakuvu, DR Congo INTRODUCTION TO DIOBASS PLATFORM AND ITS PROGRAMME The Diobass Platform is a local NGO operating since 1992 in the rural and peri-urban areas of the Kivu province in the eastern part of DR Congo. The Diobass Platform was established by local resource persons for the survival of the community since the local government is still unable to provide adequate support to the zens. The Diobass Platform brings farmers and scientists together for sustainable development research and action, with the aims: To develop a permanent linkage among peasant researchers and other development workers through free and mutual sharing of information and experiences To collect local farmers knowledge and to create a databank of indigenous practices and knowledge available in the Kivu; To develop participatory research and experimentation involving professional and peasant researchers on indigenous knowledge as a basis for local innovation and sustainable development The Diobass Platform intends to develop research and innovation into a social and community process through which knowledge is generated for action. The Diobass Platform creates spaces for exchange of experiences and training where researchers farmers and development workers (of both genders) meet to share and learn from each other. This, in order to learn from and to encourage local farmers innovations and community development. Most farmers are searching solutions, both on individual and community level, to their multiple problems to which official or professional institutions have, up to now, simply failed to respond. The Diobass Platform emphasizes the logical thoughts of the farmers towards adequate response to the different problems affecting livestocks and fields productivity and the management of the soil and other resources. Diobass Platform receives support from donor organisations in Switzerland and Belgium. Since 1996, the number of people affected by HIV-AIDS in the Eastern DR.Congo is rapidly growing and AIDS is becoming a serious public health problem, amongst others due to: Poverty (leading to prostitution) Armed conflicts that lead to diverse sex abuses mostly in women. Polygamous life style and lack of information concerning HIV-AIDS As a result of HIV-AIDS infection of the socially active family members, the families loose income earning capacity leading to Reduction of food availability in the families and increase of malnutrition

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When payment for health care and medicines is required, often an animal or other asset has to be sold, reducing familys economic resources

Premature deaths linked to HIV-AIDS are almost due to Malnutrition Lack of effective medicines against the multiple opportunistic ailments Stress linked to negative social attitudes in their community Organisations participating in the DIOBASS PLATFORM are; committed to find better and immediate solutions to the problems of HIV-AIDS affected families in the rural and peri-urban areas of the Kivu province. Therefore, since 2002, the Diobass Platform, in cooperation with the Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles (CRSN) are implementing the project titled Promotion of Best Farming Practices in Peri-Urban and Urban areas within the Kivu province, Eastern D.R.Congo. The project aims at promoting food security and nutrition of marginalized people and families affected by HIV-AIDS and creation a better living environment for the PLWHA. The project is based on the principle: Let your Food be Medicine and let your Medicine be Food The project involves 130 People living with HIV-AIDS (PLHWA) through the cultivation of community gardens that are located Katwa hospital (peri-urban) Goma (urban) and Buvaku (urban) as well in Lwiro research station (this garden is just to multiply and provide seeds to other gardens). PLWHAs are organized into active working groups operating their own garden plots as a way to solve nutritional problems and medicines supplies. Participants receive training in positive living with AIDS, organic farming methods, production and use of medicinal plants and nutrition The project stimulates local farmers innovations through exchange of experiences, local experimentation and diffusion of results to the wider community. A participatory research-in-action approach is applied involving urban farmers, scientists and community development workers (who need to acquire some new skills (e.g. for participatory analysis and communication).

In our gardens we grow three categories of plants (see also table 1):

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Plants which are exclusively medicines: Aloe, Artemisia annua, Vernonia amygdalina Plants which are food and medicines: Moringa, Chinese spinach, capucin, cabbage, okra, onion, garlic, lemongrass, hibiscus, rosmarin, amaranth Plants which bear edible fruits : Lemon, avocado and grapefruit

Table 1. List of plants are grown in the gardens and highly used by PLWHA Plant species Aloe vera Amaranth Artemisia annua Basella alba Cabbage Capsicum frutescens Garlic Harungana madagascariensis Honey bees (+ Propolis) Moringa oleifera Okra Tropaeolum majus (capucin) Vernonia amygdalina Mushrooms Lemon tree Grapefruit tree Avocado tree Characteristic medicinal Food Medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Food & medicinal Food For What purpose Immune system stimulation Immune system stimulation, loss of appetite Immune system stimulation, prevent gastric ulcers Prevent gastric ulcers Prevent candidosis Prevent candidosis, Immune system stimulation, prevent stress effects Immune system stimulation Prevent candidosis Immune system stimulation Prevent gastric ulcers Immune system stimulation Immune system stimulation, Loss of appetite Immune system stimulation Improve health ( pectin) Improve health and stimulate Immune system Vitamins and grease Rhythm of uses Often Some times Often Thrice a 15days period Some times Often in food Often Twice a week Twice a week Often Some times Together with Moringa Often Twice a week Thrice a week Thrice a 15days Twice a week Cost on local market 3 $ /plant 1 $ / kg 40 $/ kg 10 $/kg 0,4 $/ 2 plants 10 $ / kg 10 $/kg 15 $/kg 4 $/kg 25 $/kg 5 $/kg 10 $/ kg 15 $/kg 10 $/kg 1 $ / 10 fruits 1 $ / 20 fruits 1 $ / 15 fruits

Since many PLHWA do not have sufficient space for food production, ones who have no space for food production, use movable gardens in containers and bags. From the garden, families get their organic food. Seeds and part of the harvests are sold to local agricultural organizations and the income raised is used to pay needed modern drugs for the HIV-AIDS patients and to assist families in need. The project seeks to developing a honeybee project just for producing honey containing propolis that is helpful in case of HIV-AIDS. RESULTS OBTAINED The impacts of the project are as follows: People living with HIV/AIDS are economically and socially re-integrated in their community; The PLWHA develop permanent linkages among themselves and with healthy community members and development workers through free and mutual share of information and experiences. Regularly new members join the groups who can benefit from the experiences from others PLWHA are becoming socio-economically active again and continue to maintain their family as in past.

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Since people are organized into groups, they can share their problems and find immediate solutions within the group from experiences. This improves their quality of life and reduces illness and mortality Through the gardens the PLHWA have access to valuable food and alternative medicines. The combination of food with medicinal plants together helps to enhance the immune systems and PLWHA remain physically unrecognizable as HIV affected. Table 2 shows the effects of the combination of organic agriculture and medicinal plants in micro-farming system on 9 PLHWA that we have been observing since September 2004 until June 2005.
SexAge F 27 Clinical signs before joining the team group Sedimentation: 78 mm/h 3 WBC: 2300 /mm Weight: 48 kgs Loss of appetite, fatigue, vaginal candidosis Sedimentation: 78 mm/h WBC: 3300 /mm3 Weight: 51 kgs Vaginal candidosis Sedimentation: 25 mm/h 3 GB: 4500 /mm Poids: 60 kgs Skin eruptions Sedimentation: 79 mm/h 3 WBC: 3700 /mm Weight: 45 kgs Skin eruptions Sedimentation: 78 mm/h WBC: 4900 /mm3 Weight: 37 kgs Chronic diarrhoea, cough, zona, dysphagia, loss of appetite Sedimentation: 102 mm/h 3 WBC: 2400 /mm Weight: 45 kgs Fever, cough, chronic diarrhoea, V.S: 72 mm/h GB: 1900 /mm3 Poids: 45 kgs Cough, zona, vaginal candidosis Sedimentation: 106 mm/h WBC: 2200 / mm3 Weight: 36 Kgs Fatigue, Fever Clinical signs after harvest (10 months later) Sedimentation: 12 mm/h 3 WBC: 7200/ mm Weight: 68 kgs No sign Sedimentation: 28 mm/h WBC: 6200/ mm3 Weight: 65 kgs No sign Sedimentation: 9 mm/h 3 GB: 8100/ mm Poids: 67 kgs Clean skin Sedimentation: 32 mm/h 3 WBC: 5700/ mm Weight: 58 kgs Clean skin Sedimentation: 24 mm/h WBC: 7400/ mm3 Weight: 58 kgs No sign Received treatment *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant * Aloes + Honey * Garlic / Ginger * Capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant * Aloes + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant/ * Aloes + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * Capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant * Aloes + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * Capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant/ * Aloe vera + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic * Art/ Vern/ Phyllant * Aloe vera + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * Capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant * Aloes + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * Capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/garlic *Art/ Vern/ Phyllant * Aloes + Honey * Garlic/ Ginger * Capucin/ moringa as food supplement * Lebrunia oil/ Garlic

N 01

02

F - 35

03

F - 31

05

M- 26

06

F - 52

07

M -32

Sedimentation: 42 mm/h 3 WBC: 8200/ mm Weight: 61 kgs No sign Sedimentation: 30 mm/h WBC: 4800/ mm3 Weight: 65 kgs No sign Sedimentation: 25 mm/h WBC: 5500 mm Weight: 65 kgs No sign

08

F -45

09

F - 39

In future, we are planning to organize the mushroom breeding at a large scale. Such project should not only generate money for PLHWA but also it is of great help for health in PLWHA. Also a pond with Spirullina (algae) is planned.
References BALAGIZI K, 2001. La culture du Moringa oleifera peut-elle aider la population dAfrique se prendre en charge pour la nutrition? Recheches africaines. CERDAF. Bukavu DHARMANANDA S, 1996. Garlic as the central herb therapy for AIDS., Institut for Traditional medicine, Portland, Oregon.

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FLUGLIE L, 1999. Moringa oleifera: Natural nutrition for the tropics. CWS, Dakar, Sngal FLUGLIE L, 2002. Larbre de la vie: les multiples usages du Moringa. CWS, Dakar, Sngal FOIDL N., MAKKAR H.P.S., & BECKER K., 2001. The potential of Moringa oleifera for Agricultural and industrial uses. Symposium. What development potential for Moringa Products? October 20 November 2, Dar-es Saalam. HIRT H.M, LINDSEY K & BALAGIZI I.K, 2003. AIDS and natural Medicine. A resource book for carers of AIDS patients. Anamed. LEONARDO Co, 1989. Common medicinal plants of the Cordillera Region. CHESTCORE, Banguio City. LUANNE EPSTEIN, 1995. Food for people living with HIV/AIDs. NAP, Hope productions, Cape Town. MUELLER M. & MECHLER E., 2003. Medicinal Plants in Tropical Countries. Traditional: uses, Experience, Facts. DIFM, Tbingen. PAMPLONA R., 1999. Guide des plantes mdicinales. Encyclopdie Vie et Sant. Volume 1. POUSSET J.L., 1989. Plantes mdicinales africaines. Usages pratiques. Ellipses, ACCT, Paris. SCHNEIDER E., 1973. Des plantes pour votre sant, Ed. SdT, Dammarie les Lys, France. STAMETS P. & YAO C.D.W., 1999. Mycomedicinals. An information Booklet on Medicinal Mushrooms. MycoMedia. Olympia. www.gaiaresearch.co.za/garlic.html

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3.8 INTEGRATED AIDS PROGRAME, CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF NDOLA Simon Chanda Fikansa IAP, CATHOLIC DIOCESE NDOLA Ndola, Zambia INTRODUCTION TO IAP The Integrated AIDS Programme (IAP) is a Non Governmental Organisation under the Catholic Diocese of Ndola that was created in 1993, with help of Cordaid (then Memisa) after it operated informally in Luangwa Kitwe and Nkwazi in Ndola from 1991. From its inception, it operates on a non discrimination basis and on interdenominational approach as can be seen from the clients it serves and the staff it recruits. The overall objective of the Integrated Aids Programme is to address the AIDS epidemic in its widest context for the most vulnerable people in society through the provision -by community based organisations and volunteers- of home and orphan care, prevention and community development activities in an integrated manner to people with symptomatic infection and their families and to advocate respect of their rights. The IAP operates in 32 shanty compounds of five main towns (Ndola, Kitwe, Luanshya, Mufulira & Chingola) in the Copperbelt which is the most urbanised province of Zambia due to the copper mines and industries. As such it high densely populated with a population of 1,600,000. The target group of people with symptomatic HIV infection and their families is large and has increased over the years. With a population of 350,000 to 400,000 residing in the compounds where IAP operates, the coverage is estimated at 77% of all chronically ill people. Eleven different managing agencies of which most are church-related coordinate the provision of home care -integrating medical and nursing care, psycho-social support and pastoral care- to patients with chronic illnesses, especially AIDS by about 750 community volunteers and 38 professional nurses. All patients with symptomatic HIV infection (95% of those chronically ill) are eligible for counselling services. About 70% of them require immediate medical/nursing care by a trained professional. The latter figure is so high mainly because the majority of the patients join the home care programmes at an advanced stage of their disease. In addition, many of the patients have tuberculosis and they require special medical attention. The number of people receiving home care currently stands at about 9,000 (June, 2005). 80% of these households involved are eligible for welfare support in the form of food or nonfood items. The number of orphans that have been identified through the home care programmes is about 15,500. These are all orphaned by the AIDS epidemic. Once a chronically ill patient has died, the programme is obliged to continue supporting the orphans. The emphasis is on supporting children (as far as they are of school-going age) to remain in school; providing their households with welfare support; and assisting orphan guardians and teenage orphans who are no longer in school in setting up income generating activities. Eighty percent of the orphans and their

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households are eligible for such types of support. Cognisance should be taken, though, of the fact that the needs of some of the orphans will be addressed through the ongoing care of chronically ill component of the home care programmes, which provides for holistic care including welfare support, where appropriate, to the households in their entirety. People living positively with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) form the third target group of the programme. Some of them may already have developed clinical symptoms of AIDS, but what they have in common is that they all know that they are HIV positive, that they acknowledge this in public and they participate in IAP activities that aim at preventing the further spread of HIV. These are about 1,000 spread among 11 home care programmes. Some groups engage in income generating activities, that the IAP tries to promote in order to strengthen peoples income base. In principle, all people living positively with HIV/AIDS are eligible to join groups that engage in income generating activities, but for practical reasons the number of beneficiaries at any point in time has so far been limited. Volunteers form the cornerstone of the IAP programme. They engage in caring for other patients and those affected by the AIDS epidemic, as well as in activities aimed at preventing HIV transmission in their respective communities. The number of volunteers currently stands at 750 (June 2005). The minimum standards put in place by the integrated AIDS Programme to ensure quality home care requires that one volunteer to look after 10 15 patients, one coordinator for 150 patients and one nurse for every 200 patients. The general public is being targeted through the involvement of volunteers and groups of people living positively with AIDS in a wide variety of activities, in which some of the initial programme beneficiaries have become actors themselves. Counselling and testing services are being offered to the general public at no financial charge by community-based drop-in centres and VCT centres. Multifunctional centres These are centres that are owned by local communities and which draw some limited sponsorship from the IAP. Each centre is run by a coordinator, who receives part of her salary from the IAP programme, in close conjunction with people with HIV/AIDS who have been identified through the home care programmes. There are four such centres, all situated in compounds at the premises of the respective home care programme from which they originated. The participants engage in group meetings to discuss their own situation and what they can do about it, and they organise training in life skills development. They also engage in income generating activities, which, because of their success, have become the mainstay of the MFCs. Further the MFCs serve as a drop-in centre for people who are in search of information about HIV/AIDS, or HIV testing. Iseni MFC in Chingola includes an established centre for Voluntary Counselling and Testing. Chisilano MFC at Nkwazi compound of the Ndola home care programme is the oldest centre, where several groups of people living with HIV/AIDS have participated in various activities. Some of the income generating activities of he centre are highly successful, such as the production and sale of greeting cards, doormats, school uniforms and gardening. While there is a steady attrition from the groups of people living positively with HIV/AIDS (PLHA), due to death, it is a deliberate policy of the centre to renew the membership of the groups every 6-12 months so as to make room for new members.

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The Clinical and Pastoral Care Centre (CPCC) located at Kitwe Central Hospital, is an interdenominational centre that provides information, counselling and testing services and pastoral care. The centre plays an important role in ensuring continuity of care between the various home care programmes in Kitwe and the hospital. It receives both patients that are referred from home care programmes to the hospital, as well as patients that are referred by the hospital back to the home care programmes. The Centre is run in partnership between the Counselling and Testing Unit of Kitwe Central Hospital, the Hospital Chaplain Office (with a Catholic priest and a revered of the United Church of Zambia) and the Integrated AIDS Programme. The IAP has a coordinator, Counsellor/nurse and a Secretary/Receptionist based at the CPCC, who provide VCT services to patients referred by the home care programmes. The coordinator is also involved in training activities, especially for home care volunteers and counsellors from the community and for nurse counsellors. The CPCC has in phase iv taken up a new role of a training centre/resource centre. AIDS department of Ndola Diocese The AIDS department provides technical support to the above implementing agencies the agencies implementing home care, the multifunctional centres and the CPCC and ensures proper coordination and exchange of experiences between them. The department has no implementing role and always works through the above implementing agencies, or through other organisations and programmes that have similar objectives. The AIDS Department is responsible for planning of the activities conducted under the IAP, monitoring, reporting (on a half-yearly basis) and accounting towards the donor agencies that provide financial assistance to the IAP. Income generating activities Through the four Multi-functional Centres, IAP has some bit of experience in Income Generating Activities (IGAs) including urban agriculture. The People Living with HIV/AIDS have been involved in IAGs such as knitting, weaving, gardening, poultry, production of high energy protein supplements (HEPS) and running of grinding mills. All these activities are meant to provide an income to the PLWHA who have lost their jobs due to their poor health and are not strong enough to engage in labour intensive activities to earn a living. LESSONS LEARNT Access to resources Small scale farming is very difficult on the Copperbelt because access to land is very difficulty since most of the land is owned by the Copper mines, industries and the state. The people are confined to lands around the big cities where they live in shanty compounds or slums. Some compounds have over 45,000 people while the smallest are those with over 10,000 people. Unfortunately, these are the areas which are highly affected by HIV/AIDS. Some Positive Living groups have small communal gardens near the centres where they have access to water and a bit of space. Those who grow their crops around the compounds usually fail to harvest as the crops are stolen before it is even ready. However, since the privatisation wave and the massive job loses due to the closure of the mines and most supporting industries, the government is seriously considering to degazet part of the state own land and give it to jobless people in the form of small farming blocks. This may offer a chance to the PLWHA who may want to engage in micro-farming in the near future.

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The Integrated AIDS Programme intends to lobby with the government through the bishop to get a large piece of Land where some of the beneficiaries may access the land for micro-farming. Other challenges The development of the gardening, poultry and other production activities has encountered many difficulties. Some being: a. Lack of technical competence in the staff at IAP level to enhance the technical capacity of the various support groups involved in IGAs as almost all the IAP staff are health biased and lack production or marketing skills. b. Limited access to finance: Most donors refuse to fund farming as a way of supporting and empowering PLWHA. Most partners advise IAP to leave farming to those involved in agriculture as IAPs expertise is health and social work. c. Access to water for irrigation is very difficult and simple irrigation technology is absent. Increasing need for urban agriculture With a lot of PLWHA accessing ARVs in Zambia, the challenge of socio-economic rehabilitation becomes even more relevant if the quality of life for PLWHA has to improve. As experienced so far, the 270 PLWHA who were put on the ARVs five months ago are now up and running. Five months ago they were bed ridden; today they are strong and engaged in gardening to sustain themselves. The demand for economical empowerment from the PLWHA on ARVs is increasing every day. If PLWHA are rehabilitated with ARVs, without economic empowerment, prevention of the further spread of HIV in Zambia and on the Copperbelt in particular, is a pipe dream. It is time donors funded initiatives such as urban micro-farming as tools for economic empowerment for the PLWHA after they access ARVs. Integrated AIDS Programme is therefore interested to learn from all those organisations already involved in the economic empowerment of the PLWHA through Urban Micro-farming.

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3.9. URBAN AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME OF MAPUTO CITY COUNCIL Amrico Cassamo MAPUTO CITY COUNCIL Maputo, Mozambique INTRODUCTION TO MAPUTOS URBAN AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME In Mozambique, about 60% of the population live below the threshold of absolute poverty. The situation is getting even worse for citizens infected and affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic since this disease brings with itself the increase of family responsibilities (care for the diseased), reduction of income and the depletion of the scanty economical resources of those families. The Municipal Council of Maputo (CMM) has tried to find new tools and solutions to support the citizens infected and affected by HIV Aids in their struggle to survive. As part of its efforts to reduce poverty and mitigate the effects of the HIV-Aids pandemic, CMM has identified the problems encountered by the urban farmers. Among a large variety of problems mentioned, three main ones were identified: 1. lack of work force; 2. lack of abilities to cultivate food and 3. lack of employment. As the main strategy to improve the situation of those citizens confronted with these problems was to sensitize them to establish farmers associations. As a means to encourage this process Agriculture Houses were established in the Municipal Districts where the affected citizens are located, which offer services to the urban farmers that are well adapted to their real needs.

The short term objectives of the Agrarian Houses are: to promote the establishment and strengthening of the farmers associations, to enhance literacy and technical training of urban farmers and to provide agricultural support services. Under the paradigm of a support house for the urban farmers the Municipality of Maputo, through the Council for Local Economic Development and Professional Training, tries to bring together all local farmers in the agrarian house. The Agrarian Houses seek to establish partnerships between urban farmers and hospitals, hotels,

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restaurants, etc, with a view to strengthen the farmers economical resources, as well as to ensure that the farmer associations have more resources to help the families infected and affected by HIV/AIDS to cover expenses for medical care and/or in education (school taxes and materials) among others. Under the slogan an agrarian house for the sensitization and the farmers literacy, Municipal Council promotes partnerships with agricultural schools and colleges in order to allow the graduate students to train poor urban farmers in literacy as well as to provide free technical information and support to HIV/AIDS affected and infected farm families. The literacy helps the families in that they can read prescriptions on medicines (less accidents), read or write legal papers (less loss of land), understand technical information leaflets, etcetera Through these activities the Municipality of Maputo expects to improve the basic conditions for enhance the production of horticultural products, enhance alimentary safety of the urban poor and HIV affected families and increase their job opportunities and income. In the longer term, the objectives of the Agriculture Houses are: - To realise larger competitiveness of the urban green areas - Strengthen the capacity of the producers to participate in the dynamism of the agricultural market for local production, to link up with distributors, negotiate good contracts, and persuade different types of consumers. - To enhance added value of the products grown and to meet the needs of modern distribution; - To enhance the quality of the horticultural products grown and to accomplish the quality standards of the World Trade Organization In June 2004, CMM started a project named Rapid Generation of Incomes (IRR), with view to generate income and improvement of the alimentary diet for 100 families infected and affected by HIV/AIDS in Catembe (an Urban District of Maputo City) through agricultural activities (horticulture and raising of small animals) in cooperation with the National Council of Combat to the HIV/AIDS (CNCS) and financial support of the World Bank. Many families affected by HIV-Aids have lost (part of) their lands to others since many adults died from AIDS without leaving behind proper inheritance testimony or property documents. This project focussed on families that experienced such problems in an effort to strengthen the economic capacity and quality of diets of families and communities affected by HIV/AIDS. The project contained the following components: 1. Publicity: Announcement of the project through the Agriculture House; 2. Selection of families (horticulture: 70 families) and fattening of chickens (30 families) 3. Training: all team members and beneficiaries were trained in horticultural management and fattening chickens; 4. Horticulture: the Municipality granted lands to the affected families for horticulture production; provision of agricultural inputs (hoes, rakes, shovels, boots, seeds, fertilizers, insecticides and fungicides); 5. Aviculture: Acquisition of material for the construction of hen houses for the fattening of chickens; provision of agricultural inputs: chicks, heaters, illumination lamps, vaccines against new castle, etc; 6. Monitoring and technical assistance: To monitor the management of the chickens and the horticultural production as well as the commercial and nutritional aspects (consumption and sales).

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The project does not only benefit the selected families, but also the wider community in the district since it guaranteed that the agricultural extension reached all people in this area that, in certain measure, are discriminated and stigmatized, due to poverty and living with HIV/AIDS, and the project promoted that these families are included again in the community organizations.

LESSONS LEARNT This experience demonstrates that this kind of projects (IRR, Agricultural House) help communities to strengthen their agricultural practices as a way to solve the reduced income earning capacity due to HIV-AIDS and to guarantee food for their alimentary diet. This can be done both through promotion of horticulture activities as well as through the distribution of chickens, goats and pigs to the families that are infected by HIVAids and assisting them in their agricultural activities, by providing loans for equipment as well as technical and other advice. It is very important to carefully plan the agricultural activities in order to ensure that the cultivation can take place in the most proper periods of the year and do not meet adverse conditions due to wrong timing. Also the protection of the agricultural areas against the action of domestic animals turned out to be very important. Also very important is that the urban farming areas are formally zoned for agricultural cultivation in Maputo City and thereby under the protection of the Municipal Council. Where urban poor are penalized for cultivating in areas zoned for construction, the Municipal Council will offer them help to find alternative income sources or other farming area.

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3.10. AFRICAN ROOTS PROJECT Bonginkosi Njokwe and Jon McCosh INSTITUTE OF NATURAL RESOURCES Scottsville, South Africa INTRODUCTION TO THE AFRICAN ROOTS PROJECT The African Roots Project is a partnership between the Children in Distress Network (CINDI), the Institute of Natural Resources (INR) and the Msunduzi Municipality. African Roots also brings together CINDI partners, Academics (Dr Albert Modi in particular) from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, and Local and Provincial Government Departments, noticeably Agriculture, Health and Education. The African Roots Project is funded by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The African Roots initiative aims to address the nutritional needs of poor communities affected by HIV/AIDS (with special attention given to female and child headed households) through the co-ordination of food garden initiatives in the Msunduzi municipal area and the propagation of traditional/indigenous plants. The African Roots Project was born out of the recognition that good nutrition is the foundation for good health, particularly for people affected by HIV/AIDS. Poor health affects food security as it limits peoples ability to effectively engage in subsistence or income generating activities. Wild edible plants (imifino and traditional crops are other names and are used interchangeably in this document) were identified as crops that can assist in addressing food security, nutrition and ultimately health. They are hardy and fast growing, require less care than conventional crops, can be grown organically. They also provide many of the essential micronutrients required for good health often at concentrations far greater than conventional crops (see table 1).
Table 1 : Nutritional contribution of wild leafy vegetables from one 180g portion to the RDA for adult females from cropland, October 2004 % of RDA per 180g portion for adult females Propor tion (g) Ene Protein Calciu Iron m of a rgy total portion * Percent of RDA Black jack
1 2 2 2 0

Zinc

Sele niu Vit.A m

Ribofla Vit. C Vit. E vin Niacin Vitamin B6

48 2 44 10 2 73 180 180
1 2 1

4.32 12.24 31.50 72.00 13.65 5.89 221.18 69.00 56.70 24.92 8.40 3.19 10.08 42.66 178.80 12.00 4.64 10.80 43.02 236.40 45.15 3.04 11.52 51.12 63.60 19.50 2.77 13.32 51.30 114.12 20.40 22.15 7.68 31.85 9.60 19.38 7.44 119.03 69.90 170.10 20.10 76.50 33.00 -

39.38 -

Wild lettuce

Water navel

Gallant soldier Wild mustard

29.08 14.52 13.85 12.00 20.25 4.85 6.30 15.75

Red pigweed ** Total per portion* Cabbage


1

3.02 10.44 46.80 57.60 22.65 1.64 73.35 138.00 3.83 4.64 9.45 9.77 6.30 3.94 5.15 2.76 157.50 9.84

3.76 11.10 42.05 107.97 25.48 2.23 128.69 93.16 16.63 22.27 10.48 18.68 4.43 17.01 36.86 92.40 19.16 6.87 184.28 126.00 11.81 24.23 12.60 15.75

Swiss chard

180

Source: Hendriks, S.L, Modi, M and Modi, A.T. 2005. Preliminary Findings: The Availability and Dietary Contribution of Wild Leafy Vegetables in the Pre-Cropping Season, KwaZulu-Natal. Unpublished Paper.

The African Roots project is therefore developing a strategy (in collaboration with strategic partners) which will ensure an increase in the variety of plants, with a

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nutritional and medicinal value, that are locally available and an increase in the number of affected household cultivating these plants During the first phase of the project the following activities were implemented: a stakeholders survey including various government departments (Health, Agriculture, Social Welfare, Education, Msunduzi and uMgungundlovu Municipalities), various NGOs, community based organizations, individual farmers and University of KwaZulu-Natal. a situation analysis within community gardens in Msunduzi municipality: This was to establish attitudes towards the cultivation and consumption of traditional crops and understanding their importance for nutrition and HIV-AIDS. 28 groups were surveyed, representing clinics, CBOs, NGOs, youth groups, PLWHA, OVC and community gardens. a Strategic Planning Workshop: Identified stakeholder groups, partners and community gardeners were invited to a workshop to develop a strategy for the implementation of the African Roots project. It was here that the aims objectives and activities of the project were confirmed and project activities defined.

During the second phase of the project the following activities are implemented: Identification of crops for promotion. The following crops were chosen: Blackjack (Bidens pilosa), Amaranth (Amaranth spp.), Spiderweed (Gynandropsis gynandra), Cowpeas (Vigna spp.), Orange Sweet Potato (Ipomomea batatus), Lambsquarter (Chenopodium album), Calabash (Lagenaria spp), Wild Mustard, Quickweed (Galinsoga parviflora). These crops were chosen because these are common in the Msunduzi area, grow easily in cultivation and have a high nutritive value, particularly in micronutrients which are important in boosting the immune system (see Table 1). The crops chosen are also well known by the older generation and therefore one is not introducing a concept that is completely new. While these plants in particular are promoted, participants are encouraged to use other wild edible plants. It is important to point out here that traditional crops were never promoted as an alternative to conventional crops, but rather as a supplement to these crops in order to deliver improved nutrition, particularly micronutrients. Establishment of demonstration sites. Project sites were chosen that represented as wide a range of stakeholder groups as possible were selected.

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This included community gardens, schools, clinics, crches, CINDI partner organisations and individual farmers. To eight demonstration sites intensive support was supplied, while numerous other sites having been provided with training, mentoring and encouragement. All sites engaged included discussions on HIV/AIDS, nutrition and agronomic practices. Training on Bio-Intensive gardening At all sites demonstrations on BioIntensive gardening techniques such as trench beds, container gardens, raised beds and no-till systems are undertaken. Organic production of traditional crops is always encouraged. This is because agrochemicals can impact negatively on the nutritional value of crops, there is potential for trace amounts of poisons to cause problems for people with compromised immune systems and importantly, cost money which many of the target groups do not have. Dissemination through engagement with government and non-government extension/technical services. The project linked up with appropriate government departments, (e.g. Agriculture, Education and Health) as well as NGOs and CBOs (among others by incorporating these organisations in the project steering committee) in order to raise awareness of the benefits of wild edible plants within extension/technical services in an effort to gear up the project and expand the use of traditional crops. Seed Collection and Propagation. Apart from the Amaranths and Sweet Potatoes, seed of wild edible plants is not available commercially. It was therefore important that participants learn to collect their own seed for propagation. In order to promote this, participants were trained to collect seed and then a seed collection competition was held, culminating in a seed collection workshop, where prizes were awarded for seed collection, according to variety, quantity and quality of seed collected. The workshop provided an opportunity for the participants to share experiences in seed collection and thereby enhance the knowledge of all participants. Linked with seed collection is demonstration on the propagation of wild seeds. Four propagation nursery sites have been established. Again the nurseries reflect a range of stakeholders, being a youth group (home based care volunteers), a community garden, a clinic and a school for handicapped children. The nurseries have already successfully grown wild edible plants and conventional seedlings for sale to community members. Nutrition Training Officer. A nutrition training officer, employed by CINDI, works closely with the agricultural coordinator, employed by NRI. This allows for a more holistic approach to nutrition where project participants are given support in the agronomic aspects of both conventional and traditional food production as well as being trained on the importance of nutrition, the food groups and demonstrations of appropriate methods of food preparation to ensure that maximum nutrients are retained in the food. Promotional Activities In order to gear up and spread the concept of wild edible plant cultivation, a variety of promotional activities have been undertaken during the course of the African Roots Project, including articles on the use and benefits of traditional crops in various periodicals in Zulu language (which turned out to be really effective in raising the profile of these plants), the organisation of workshops and provision of presentations on nutrition, health and wild edible plants, and the production of a series of posters related to the nutrition, health and HIV/AIDS (by CINDI): the first poster highlights the use of indigenous medicinal plants to help the sick e.g. to treat skin disorders associated with HIV/AIDS; the second poster outlines the importance of vegetables and the micronutrients they provide and the third poster tells about the African Roots Project and is called Imifino (wild plants).

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LESSONS LEARNT Access to land and water In Pietermaritzburg the land constraint is much less than in other large urban centres in South Africa. Individual households in most cases have some land around their houses available for cultivation. Security of tenure in some places does, however, limit longer term investment in agricultural production. Where there are land and fencing problems, schools, clinic and community hall sites can be used to produce crops since almost all of them have unused land that is well fenced. South Africa is a water scarce country. Every effort should be made to make the most efficient use of water possible. Rain water harvesting is encouraged at all project sites through mulching, swales and rainwater tanks. Rainwater harvesting tanks are underutilised in the Msunduzi Municipality, particularly in the context of low cost housing. While it is recognised that there are limited budgets in such developments, the provision of tanks provide available water with no overhead costs, the only cost being the capital costs of the infrastructure. In addition, storage of rainwater can mitigate flood peaks, and the associated damage, than can result from high density residential areas. A cost-benefit analysis of implementing rainwater harvesting in tanks would, in the authors opinion, probably demonstrate benefits that outweigh the capital costs associated with installing the tanks. Also the use of household grey water has to be stimulated. Production aspects The approach of the African Roots Project is to engage with groups that are already producing crops. This criterion ensures that there is an existing interest in agriculture and support can then build on existing skills and focus on imparting new knowledge and ideas.

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Wild edible plants grow easily in most soil conditions. Many of them are considered agricultural weeds and are removed from crop lands when in fact they make use of soil nutrients more efficiently and provide more nutrition in many cases. They can also be harvested regularly while the conventional crops are growing. Take cabbage, for example. For three months or more, weeds are removed from the garden and discarded so that the cabbage can be harvested once and eaten in one or more days, depending on the size of the family or group. Traditional wild plants (Imifino) can be harvested daily from 3 weeks after germination and eaten while the other crops are growing. This represents a significant labour saving as the weeds are put to productive use. During the course of the project, a significant increase in the number of home based care volunteers, assisting with the production of vegetables, has been noted which is encouraging. While this does assist with labour required, innovative use of machinery needs to be encouraged. Land preparation is always problematic with illness affecting productivity. However, private tractors are expensive to hire and those provided by local government and agriculture never seem to be available. This is often compounded by the small size of many of the gardens. A possible solution to this is to establish community contractors with hand held machine driven rotovators who could service small gardens. These would have to be subsidised. Trench beds are hard work initially, but pay dividends in the long term. Collection of traditional seeds is very easy if local people are encouraged to do it themselves. Propagation of traditional crops in the nurseries is essential. Few are available in the commercial nurseries. This can be done easily provided it is the right planting season. Planting traditional crops in winter causes plants to flower quickly before leaf growth. Organic fertilization is suitable for the production of traditional vegetables. Actually most of traditional crops grow on their own where kraal manure is as animals graze these plants. One technique to grow traditional crops is to simply prepare your plot, broadcast kraal manure and wait for about a week for germination of different types of traditional plant seedlings (e.g. amaranths, lamb-quarters, blackjack etc.) Most traditional crops do well in spring, summer and autumn when there is sufficient rain and high temperatures. Companion planting of exotic and indigenous crops works very well. Traditional crops are harvested from 2-3 weeks after germination for about 6 months unlike most exotic crops that take longer time before they are harvested and most of them are harvested once. People know how to harvest traditional crops. They do not pull out the whole plant but they harvest the lower leaves of the different crops. They mix them when cooking to improve their taste, volume and range of nutrients. Very few of the traditional crops can be eaten raw. The use of traditional crops can very easily be made into a self sustaining system; the seeds are easily harvested, and can easily be germinated (many of them grow like weeds). They can be grown in poor soils and do not require fertiliser or pesticides. There are income generation opportunities from the sales of traditional crops such as wild mustard and amaranths.

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Organisational and institutional aspects The following aspects are important for success in urban agriculture projects: Good leadership of the group An existing interest in growing/agriculture A healthy mix of young and mature people Good representation by women in the group Support and encouragement on the ground from a support agency (Provincial Government, Local Government, Councillors, Traditional Leaders, CBOs or NGOs) Training re. appropriate crop selection and crop production techniques The Agricultural Coordinator and the Nutrition Training Officer working together has yielded many benefits and the whole value chain from propagation to cooking is addressed to promote enhanced nutrition of project participants. Peri urban and rural project sites have been more successful and productive than intra urban project sites. This seems related to the experience that in more urban locations people are less inclined to engage in crop production with enthusiasm but see it more as a temporal activity until something better comes along, such as formal employment. We also encountered limited interest from the youth and youth groups. There are exceptions here committed youth organisations do demonstrate success in crop production. The involvement of youth groups, People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), school children, clinic volunteers, traditional and elected leaders in the promotion and the production of traditional crops is critical and should be supported by all stakeholder groups. Every school, clinic, church and community centre should have food gardens as site from which community members can learn, be encouraged and mentored. It is important to develop partnerships with local and provincial government, NGOs and CBOs to ensure upscaling and long term success of projects and to disseminate the results. Provincial and Local Government have an important role to play: Department of Health can offer clinic sites to be used for traditional crop production, can educate their staff about the importance of traditional crops and involve Community Health Workers and home based care volunteers to educate beneficiaries about the benefits of traditional crops and encourage their clients to produce and eat traditional crops. The Department of Agriculture can train its technicians on the value of traditional crops and their production techniques and provide extension support services and assist in up scaling the project. The Department of Education can include urban agriculture and the importance of traditional crops in relation to HIV/AIDS in its syllabus as part of outcomes based education (OBE) and motivate schools to educate children about the importance of traditional crops. The Municipality and Traditional Leaders can allocate land for urban agriculture projects, encourage the communities -especially OVC and PLWHA- to produce and consume traditional crops; NGOs can assist and empower farming groups to lobby for land and favourable policy and provide them with training and inputs The following factors will enhance sustainability of the urban agriculture projects promoting the use of traditional plants: Land use planning which views agriculture as an integral component of the urban natural resources system. Appropriate and wise use of agricultural inputs Access to adequate supplies of land and water

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Access to locally propagated seeds and seedlings Proper UA health hazard mitigation programmes Good and accessible markets for agricultural produce Processing of traditional crops to add value Good training programs designed to build capacity and empower women, youth, PLWHA by government organisations, CBOs and NGOs The presence of a positive and supportive urban agriculture policy

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3.11 IMPROVING URBAN LIVELIHOODS PROJECT, ITDG - SOUTHERN AFRICA Noah Sigauke ITDG Southern Africa Harare, Zimbabwe INTRODUCTION TO ITDG AND THE IUL-PROJECT Intermediate Technology Development Group (ITDG) is an international NGO headquartered in UK with other offices in Peru, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sudan, Kenya and Zimbabwe. ITDG was founded in 1966 by EF Schumacher, author of Small is Beautiful. ITDGs international strategy, named Knowledge, Impact, Influence, has four aims: 1. Reducing Vulnerability: to strengthen the ability of poor women and men to use technology to cope with threats to their livelihoods from natural disasters, environmental degradation and civil conflict. 2. Making markets work for poor people: to enable poor women and men to use technologies effectively in systems of production, processing and marketing to build secure livelihoods. 3. Improving access to infrastructure services: to improve the access of poor women and men to locally managed infrastructure services. 4. Responding to new technologies: to enable poor women and men to assess and respond to the challenges of new technologies and to develop and adopt applications that improve their livelihoods. ITDG works with small-scale producer communities to demonstrate practical answers to poverty. We see technology as a vital contributor to peoples livelihoods. In Zimbabwe, ITDG Southern Africa is currently implementing a project entitled Improving Urban Livelihoods (IUL). The overall objective of the project is to improve the livelihoods of poor men and women. The project commenced in April 2002 and is scheduled to end in March 2006. The project site is Epworth (an informal settlement located 12km south east of Harare). At present, the project is giving support to 5 market gardening groups with in total 50 participants (of which 32 females) in addition to activities with other community organisations in the areas of shelter, enterprise development and revolving fund management. With the gardening projects, the IUL project is focusing on income generation, nutrition and health improvement with the intention: To provide herbal medicine and promoting the use of medicinal herbs in HIVAIDS mitigation as an alternative therapy to treatment of HIV-related opportunistic infections. To reduce the impact of malnutrition on children and lactating mothers To supplement and improve household nutrition To provide an alternative source of income for participating groups A number of activities have been carried out as part of capacity building of these groups, including:

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Training for transformation: all new groups were first motivated to viewing themselves as the key agents in changing and improving their livelihoods. The training also equipped group members with key leadership skills to resolve conflicts and other group dynamics Training and advisory support in relevant technical skills in urban agriculture and seedling production. Gender awareness: Group members were exposed to gender awareness trainings with a view to sensitise them on their new roles (especially given that most of them had both men and women). Basic business planning: To ensure that the groups had adequate business skills all groups were trained in record keeping (sales and production), loss and profit calculation and marketing strategy. It is important to note that business trainings remain ongoing throughout the course of the project through refresher courses Specialised Technical training in HIV/AIDS and Herbal treatment was organised for 10 members of Just Youth at Fambidzanayi Permaculture Training Centre in Harare. Training focused on some of the key HIV related illnesses and the corresponding herbal treatment. Some of the key identified diseases afflicting the community include diarrhoea, skin rush, headaches, TB and STDs. The training included the processing and administering of medicinal herbs.

photos: fresh (left) and dried (right) herbal medicines

The IUL Project also introduced ecological sanitation in Epworth (where there are few sanitation facilities) to improve sanitation and promote the use of eco-fert and humanure in urban and peri-urban agriculture. In this regard, 37 community members were trained in ecological sanitation technology and its use. This culminated in the construction of four ecological sanitation toilet blocks, which are already in use at Epworth Polyclinic and Makomo primary school. The trainings were preceded by an exposure visit to Marondera where the ecological sanitation technology was already in use. RESULTS OBTAINED Economic Empowerment The projects are providing a crucial source of livelihood for the groups who previously had no source of income. The project is also providing employment to the more than

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30 members of JUST YOUTH group, and their immediate families. The herbal garden has more than 60 species of fully-grown herbs, which the group is currently harvesting and processing. Once processed the herbs are sold to HIV, AIDS and TB patients including malnourished lactating mothers and children at the local Polyclinic. The group is generating between USD500-USD600 from processing and selling of herbs. The other groups Kubatana and Kubatsirana who are producing vegetables are currently realising incomes of between USD400-USD500 per month. With this income they are able to meet their basic needs such as food and school fees for children. Improved nutrition for the disadvantaged groups The cooperatives engaged in gardening have set aside fields where they are growing vegetables specifically for orphaned households in the community. In addition garden projects are working closely with the school feeding programmes where they are providing vegetables as supplementary food for malnourished pupils. The pupils under the programme include those in grade 1 to 7. At present there are three schools under the programme, which include Batanai, Chizungu and Makomo. On average each school has about 150 pupils under the feeding programme. The feeding programme is currently being coordinated under the District Aids Committee (DAC) with funding from the University of Zimbabwe Collaborative Health Council and University of California. Through the implementation of Permaculture work the majority of the marginalized people in Epworth are benefiting from access to low cost effective herbal medicine. In addition communities are cutting down on medical expenses through the use of herbs. Many people are now having herbal corners in their vegetable gardens. The herbs have proved useful in Epworth where access to ARV drugs remains unaffordable given that for a patient to get drugs they need to under go a CD4 count which costs around USD571 (a cost beyond the reach of the poor peri-urban settlers in Epworth) LESSONS LEARNT Lobbying to enhance access to Land and Water An crucial activity of the IUL project are the efforts that were undertaken to get access to land tenure for both productive and/or residential purposes for the 5 project groups. ITDG secured temporary plot titles for three of the groups while two other groups had been assisted by PLAN International another NGO which use to work in Epworth. It is important to note that the temporary tenure rights have remained in place even after the recent Clean Up Operation implemented by the Government of Zimbabwe In addition to plot titles the project successfully lobbied the Epworth Local Board to provide a location for the herbal processing centre of the Just Youth Group. The local Epworth Clinic allowed this permaculture group to operate from the clinic, where they are carrying out health awareness programmes on herbal medicine in terms of its use and medicinal value (in addition to HIV-AIDS awareness raising campaigns). Lack of sustainable water sources and bylaws restricting water use for urban agriculture and high water charges are often hindering the implementation of urban agriculture projects. Therefore, it would be prudent for organisations that seek to practice urban agriculture to have a borehole or protected well and drip kits to ensure viability. In the groups ITDG has been working funding has been mainly restricted to

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installation of irrigation infrastructure (purchasing of pumps, pipes and materials for water tank) and capacity building programmes (see below). Continuous capacity development Sharing and strengthening of technical skills continue to be a priority for the CBOs under the project. To this end the project facilitated capacity building of the market gardening groups in Epworth through exchange visits to CBOs carrying out herbal and market gardening projects in other informal settlements like Mabvuku and Dziwarasekwa. In addition 37 community members were taken on an exposure visit to Marondera where they were introduced to ecological sanitation technology.

Detail of herbal garden Youth Group

Production aspects Residues of agro-chemicals stress the body and usually lead to many infections such as diarrhoea and intestinal problems (hence the reason for this project not to use them in a project involving HIV-AIDS infected people with malfunctioning immune systems). Therefore, the IUL project promotes Permaculture, which involves the use of natural methods to improve soil fertility and crop production. It is an approach to agricultural production that stresses improvement and preservation of land while increasing productivity and decreasing dependency on external inputs. Under this concept crops are grown without using fertilisers and chemical pesticides, which go into crops and remain there after harvesting. The Permaculture concept does not require big pieces of land to implement, which makes it suitable in urban areas where land is scarce. Through this method you can grow a variety of different vegetables, herbs and trees in the same garden (Agro-forestry). Organisational and institutional aspects Stakeholder partnership is critical for the success of micro-farming and fight against HIV-AIDS and volunteer groups play a pivotal role in the fight against HIV-AIDS. The following stakeholders are critical and should be part of the programme: Local leadership, Local Authority, Community clinic and Local NGOs working on awareness raising in the area of HIV-AIDS.

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Volunteers through community based organisations have demonstrated their capacity to manage viable and sustainable small enterprises that generate new income streams and contribute to household food security The best methodology for the transfer of appropriate technologies in peri-urban communities is through vehicles such as community-based organisations. These act as the catalysts for the implementation of successful interventions. The dissemination of appropriate technologies to communities is best applied using practical and participatory approaches. Herbal medicine is crucial in alleviating HIV related illness especially in peri-urban settlements where access to ARVs still remains a challenge The community groups recommend that these efforts should be scaled-up.

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3.12 HIV-AIDS PROGRAMME OF CATHOLIC AIDS ACTION Godwin Chisenga CATHOLIC AIDS ACTION (CAA) Windhoek, Namibia INTRODUCTION TO CATHOLIC AIDS ACTION AND ITS PROGRAMME Catholic AIDS Action (CAA) was founded in 1998 as Namibias first church-based response to the countrys HIV/AIDS pandemic. Its Mission statement reads as follows: Acting in the Spirit of Christ CAA challenges the AIDS pandemic in Namibia with the courage to fight and the strength to care for the benefit of all. CAA is one of the largest NGOs in Namibia. It has fourteen field offices throughout the country and one national central office in Windhoek. There are five members of the Board of Trustees, presided over by the Most Reverend Liborius Nashenda, Archbishop of Windhoek. There are five senior management staff at national office, and five senior managers in the field for a total of 74 paid staff members. CAA provides services to all people without discrimination of any sort. In pursuing justice and empowerment through holistic spirituality CAA builds on Roman Catholic affiliated groups, other institutions and local communities to inspire and support programs of HIV and AIDS prevention, care and support to adults and children affected by and infected with HIV or AIDS. Within the arena of home based care and community mobilization and support, CAA has over 1,500 active volunteers nation-wide in 9 of the countrys political regions. During 2004, these volunteers gave care to over 4,600 clients living with AIDS or HIV. At the same time, 198 peer educators completed 278 courses reaching 6,011 youth. CAAs registry of orphans currently contains over 17,700 children. Three New Start VCT centres, operated by Catholic AIDS Action provided 3,274 tests during 2004. CAA has used a publication known as Health Eating in a number of local languages as a way of promoting Home gardens, Community gardens and/or institutional gardens. After the first publication Catholic AIDS Action is considering another publication about growing indigenous vegetables in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture specifically to help with kitchen/domestic gardens, and therefore will be useful in urban areas. CAA does not have agricultural expertise; however, it does have access to groups of people for whom food security is a priority. Therefore Catholic AIDS Action tries to focus on partnership work, whereby it links the community/volunteer/caregiver groups to the agricultural experts and other specialised NGOs in the filed. In the last few months, CAA linked one of its volunteer groups with the Ministry of Agriculture STEAR Project (Supporting the Transition of Extension and Research), which has sustainable development as a primary focus and particular funding for income generating projects linked to HIV. In 2004/5 the Ministry decided to simplify the criteria for HIV based IGA proposals and took some of the emphasis away with regard to profitability, business plans etc. They also very significantly allowed for applications to be forwarded to them in local language and ensure that their agricultural officers would assist community-based groups in preparing their

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proposals. This allowed Catholic AIDS Action to confidently link CAA volunteer groups with the Ministry of Agriculture. However, other barriers in the relationship with STEAR persist: Many agricultural officers do not feel comfortable working in the area of HIV and AIDS, as they did not feel that they were knowledgeable enough. Some community based groups in the area of HIV do not feel comfortable in their links with Ministry of Agriculture as their technical knowledge of agricultural issues was not always that evident. The Catholic AIDS Action volunteer groups that have shown interest and initiative are from the following regions: North West, North East and Caprivi Regions. The main reasons for these regions to have a keen interest are probably because of the availability of water, which is a very scarce resource in Namibia of which most part is desert.

LESSONS LEARNT CAA volunteer group vegetable garden projects, linked to the Roman Catholic Church that in some cases provided land, have faced many problems, especially lack of fencing (leading to damages by animals or theft) and poor access to water and insufficient watering during hot seasons or other times when people are busy (e.g. ploughing in December). Some vegetable gardens in Caprivi and North West ceased because of water problems (which is an acute problem for whole country). Groups would like to receive more support on how to manage themselves, how to develop rules and procedures, how to develop proposals and business plans, as well as technical guidance on agricultural/food growing issues. Defining group rules is very important. Some groups had major conflicts about how to split profits (whether that is food or money) as some members claimed that others were not putting in adequate effort to the project. Catholic AIDS Action's role is to support the group in its development as a group, assist them in preventing and managing conflict. Regarding the technical issues like irrigation, where to get seed, etc. CAA can not do much since its staff simply has had no training in urban micro-farming. Therefore, Catholic AIDS Actions seeks to link the interested CAA volunteer/community groups with the Ministry of Agriculture and other NGOs who specialise in this kind of business and to support these groups in their development without taking over the management of the farming side of the work.

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However, recognising the importance of food production in relation to HIV and AIDS and the numerous clients that CAA serve, it is of utmost importance that CAA learns new skills in order that in a few years it can report that groups are productive and clear about how much food goes to: a. Children b. Adults living with HIV c. Volunteers/caregivers. We also hope that the volunteer groups by then would have ensured their own sustainability in that grants will not be repeated, so that they may need a balance between using profit to continue the project and using food grown to feed a, b and c above. It is for this reason that CAA is sending a representative to this important workshop/tour to learn on how other organisations are dealing with this issue. In the hope that CAA can implement some of the experiences learned at this workshop.

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3.13 COMMUNITY SCHOOL BASED URBAN AGRICULTURE PROJECT OF PCI Joseph Tembo PROJECT CONCERN INTERNATIONAL ZAMBIA (PCI) Lusaka, Zambia INTRODUCTION TO PCI-ZAMBIA AND ITS ACTIVITIES Project Concern International (PCI) is an international not for profit organization dedicated to saving the lives of children and families by preventing disease and providing access to clean water and nutritious food. PCIs office in Zambia is one of 11 PCI offices around the world. Together, our mission is to prevent disease, improve community health and promote sustainable development. PCI is involved in improving livelihoods of communities and their health status. Its programme has the following components: HIV/AIDS prevention, (capacity building for) Home Based Care, Positive Living With Aids-ART, OVC nutrition and education, community school based nutrition and agriculture programme. The community based agriculture programme is designed to expand number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Zambia that have access to quality services through sustainable, community-based programs that effectively reduce their vulnerability. In 2003, PCI launched the first major school feeding program in urban Lusaka, Zambia. The program has rapidly evolved from an emergency response to the countrys food crisis into a long-term approach for meeting the most critical needs of orphans and vulnerable children. PCI Zambia has been providing support to urban vulnerable community schools and households with orphans and vulnerable children through the Community School Feeding Project. There are currently 122 sites (either community schools/drop in centres/residential centres) providing education, food, recreation, life skills and HIV/AIDS education and psychosocial support to 70,000 children every school day. Currently, the project is being funded through the United Nations World Food Programme and USAID as part of the urban intervention initiative which also includes monitoring of behaviour change in community programmes. As part of PCIs exit strategy for this project it was proposed that a School Garden Project is introduced in at least 60% of the beneficiary sites as a pilot phase. Community schools do not have the capacity to mobilise resources to continue with the feeding programme, which has seen improved nutrition status in children and their households and those affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Through this initiative, extreme vulnerable community families have benefited in receiving food rations as supplement just to improve on the household nutrition levels. Which means that with the exit of the programme would have a knock-on effect to the community as a whole. The aim of the School Garden project is to empower site management (community schools) with resources (from production to marketing of produce) to manage their own school income earning projects (IGAs) and the feeding programmes respectively. The potential output benefits from the project will include: Provision of agricultural knowledge to pupils for increased productivity.

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Facilitation/formation of village level organizations (e.g. cooperatives). Improving effectiveness and relevance of general education through integration of practical skills in addition to theory. Improving nutritional status of by providing supplementary enriched school meals produced by the schools. Facilitate spread of agricultural technology by using community school production units as demonstration sites.

To establish the actual requirements for the school gardening project to commence a needs assessment was conducted in October 2003. The following are the findings from the survey: Access to extension services was three times higher in rural schools (75%) than compared to urban schools (28.6%) There were different approaches to conducting agricultural activities in the schools: a) Low level gardening b) Intensive agricultural production and skills training, c) Integrated Community Schools and womens group. Most popular crops identified by the community schools included Chinese cabbage, rape, tomatoes and onions followed by carrots, fruits, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, egg plant, green pepper, beans maize, okra and mushrooms Schools also favoured animal keeping for both food and income generation, especially poultry keeping and pig keeping followed by goats and rabbits. Community schools identified need for support in the following specific areas: * Input support: seeds fertilizers, pesticides and another agro-chemicals* Technical back stopping (manpower to advise during production process* Information on production technology (in the form of pamphlets, information packs and manuals to be used as guides).

The project provides the following support to the selected community schools that are to benefit from the programme: group mobilisation, capacity building (management skills, technical skills), technical assistance in crop production and animal husbandry infrastructure support, A total of 27 community schools have been identified for the project on the basis of a participatory assessment -including community school teachers, leaders and government officials from relevant sectors (such as the ministries of Agriculture and Cooperatives, Health and Community development) of the following selection criteria:

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availability of adequate land and ownership, availability of water sources for irrigation, availability of labour and Identified markets. A final role-out assessment is currently under way in a few additional fields that were seen lacking in previous assessment (psycho-social; gender; environment) LESSONS LEARNT Lessons learnt during the pilot phase to-date were as follows: Organisational issues The economic hardships, together with illnesses and death due to HIV-AIDS, have brought poverty and misery in the communities which increasingly depend on a few healthy members for its development. The community school children have similar conditionality which has led them to be at these community schools. These children are mostly orphans whose parents or guardians died from HIV/AIDS. The orphans are usually traumatised with different experiences and hence the environment they grow up in. Some children have both parents and guardians with HIV/AIDS. And as we identify these households the project has set aside family rations to assist in the food supplements at homesteads through the Home based care programme support which also encourages the patients to administer ART and TB treatments. The children are encouraged to continue education by placing them to the community schools through the child school placement programme. Most community organisations participating in the project are loosely organized groups consisting for over 80 % of poor households with poor managerial skills (leadership, record keeping). Apart from the school student labour force -who are the main custodians of the projects- it is the community contribution and participation to labour which will see the success of the development programme. CBOs and other organisations are considered as partners to the programme and therefore support in terms of labour is part of the contribution. Other members of the community could contribute voluntarily. The community is encouraged to be involved in the activities as they take up part ownership of the community school projects. The community groups still need continued sensitization on gender and the behavioural changes needed in order to yield positive results, since men tend to be more on the receiving side, whereas the women are expected to do all the production work to earn the income for the household. Access to land and Water Most of the community schools own some land. Peri-urban and rural schools own larger portions of communally owned land than community schools in urban areas. The latter therefore are more restricted in the types of agriculture they can engage in. Most of them focus on poultry and gardening activities. About 70% out of the community schools assessed have available water sources, such as boreholes, wells and streams. Water is very critical for agricultural production both in crop production as well as poultry and livestock production. Rain fall in these areas is erratic and unreliable. Crops as fresh vegetables require adequate water supply to produce quality crops for markets that would give a good price (chain shops or super markets). That is why availability of water resources at the community schools was made one of the selection criteria. Through the partnership with UNICEF about 11 schools had boreholes installed to remove the scaling water and sanitation

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problems. The project intends to provide small scale irrigation facilities as part of the community level infrastructure and provide technical and extension support on irrigation and water utilisation. Production issues - Integrated farming The mix of crops grown and animals reared should be adequate for income generating as well as for enhancing food security and proper nutrition. Combining livestock with production of fresh vegetables savings can be realized on the cost of production. The animal manure can replace costly chemical fertilizers; poultry droppings act as supplement to livestock feed and are also good for soil fertility. The excess and wastes from the fruit and vegetable production can be used for livestock feeding. Institutional Aspects Urban agriculture projects that target good health and community development require good cooperation and coordination between various organisations with a mandate in food security and nutrition, home based care, ARTs and food supplements to families with HIV/AIDS patients, etcetera. With figures of 5 out of 10 pregnant women are positive with the HIV/AIDS virus. This clearly shows that there is need for all players in the fight of HIV/AIDS and other stakeholders to combine forces and overcome the pandemic. However, all too often still Government and NGO interventions duplicate or distort each others development efforts and their development approaches are often conflicting (e.g. on this issue of subsidies, handouts and commercial services) Many groups experienced problems with late delivery of inputs and therefore their planting does not synchronize well with the agriculture calendar leading to lower yields. Establishment of partnerships and good coordination with Cooperatives, Government and NGOs may assure timely delivery of the inputs needed. Marketing of surpluses is often hampered by gaps in technical and market information, production of uneconomic quantities and lack of adequate marketing channels. Many groups encountered problems to increase production due to lack of access to reliable sources of credit and/or high interest rates discouraging investment. The programme seeks to attract more support from financial houses to provide the required financial support or credit to the community initiatives. HIV-AIDS The community school programme has to spear head a number of forums that will bring together stakeholders in order to identify their specific roles in awareness creation and providing services to OVCs and those affected by HIV/AIDS including the distribution of ARVs in the communities. There is need to improve/increase the reach in disseminating of HIV/AIDS and other IEC materials, if we are to succeed in reducing the spread of the pandemic and those affected. Sustainability and Upscaling Schools realise that they have very little or no support to expect from organisations that are designed to provide support. The community school agriculture based programmes provide a shinning hope and encourage operating efficiently and effectively. As the schools are empowered to generate income, the community as whole shall be stimulated to equally engage in projects that will earn them a better living.

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A process of mapping the community schools is vital as we need to track and monitor progression and performance of these schools. This shall also assist in the information dissemination to stakeholders and other international partners, clearly showing the impact of the support; were more support is required; and those that have graduated. Schools that reflect potential in the project management of the IGAs will be given the opportunity to increase their funding allocation as this will encourage a positive impact on the income generation and also speed up the emulation process to other community school, as model schools. The initiative also shall attract other spheres of the economy to take up the challenge of investing in the Community schools as they are a registered institution to do business with. The possibilities are many as long as school management remains consistent and focused on attaining economic sense out of the IGAs and ploughing into the business. PCI intends to bring this initiative to other areas which would be operating under programmes with similar goals, with pilot school gardens in the first area providing a model for the other schools in other districts.

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3.14 URBAN AGRICULTURE SURVEYS BY NCST IN KENYA John O. Onyatta NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY (NCST) Nairobi, Kenya INTRODUCTION The National Council for Science and Technology (NCST) is a statutory institution of the Government of Kenya, under the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, established in July 1977. NCST is the national focal point for Science and Technology policies and its mission is to innovatively integrate science and technology into national development. In addition to generation of policies, NCST promotes activities that facilitate development of those aspects of S & T that, as yet, have not received adequate attention. It appraises new or emerging scientific and technological issues and advises the government accordingly. The NCST recognized the role of urban and peri-urban agriculture in food security and provision of nutrition. In Kenya, farming in cities and towns is increasingly gaining significance. A large amount of food is produced in and around urban areas but this is not properly planned or regulated due to lack of policy on urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) (Onyatta and Omoto, 2004). A study carried by Lee-Smith indicated that almost two thirds of urban households grow part of their food, while 29% grew these crops within the urban area in which they live (Lee-Smith et.al., 1987). Due to rapid urbanization and increasing poverty, aggravated by the HIV-AIDS epidemic, urban households are turning to urban and peri-urban agriculture as important means of providing food and income. Farming is conducted in all kinds of open public places, namely; along riverbanks, roads railway lines, under power lines and on reclaimed wetlands. Kales, tomatoes, cabbages and spinach were widely grown crops by farmers in Nairobi through irrigation. Urban livestock farmers in Nairobi preferred poultry followed by goats and then cattle (Ishani et al., 2002). The legal situation on urban agriculture is unclear with most urban dwellers assuming it is illegal. However, a close look at the Local Government and Public Health Acts, as well as the City by-laws, indicates that urban farming may be practiced under certain restrictions. Government Policy documents have not included UPA, as a means of addressing food security in urban areas (GoK, 2001; GoK, 2002; GoK, 2003). The recent Government Strategy for Revitalizing Agriculture (GoK, 2004) which is a national policy, aimed at achieving a progressive reduction in unemployment, poverty and addressing food security, UPA was not mentioned. However, urban and peri-urban micro-farming has potential in providing food for the urban areas, employment, income generation and environmental management. The increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS in urban centres has resulted in loss of productive agricultural personnel and manual labour force for substantial farming knowledge and diversion of resources to the treatment of disease. The income of HIV/AIDS affected households has been critically minimized and they are in need of nutritious food. Urban agriculture could play a role in alleviating hunger and malnutrition among HIV/AIDS affected persons in the urban areas. In Kenya, the adult HIV prevalence stands at about 10.2% with an estimated 2.2 million people

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living with HIV/AIDS (ICASA meeting, 2003). The urban areas are the most affected by HIV/AIDS scourge with a prevalence of 35% among pregnant women. Against this background the NCST decided to conduct, in cooperation with the Directorate of Research Development of the Ministry of Education Science and Technology, baseline surveys in selected cities in Kenya. The overall objective of the survey was to document the current status of urban agriculture in the selected cities and to obtain information needed for policy formulation in addressing food security in urban centres. The major cities targeted were Kisumu and Mombassa. These cities were chosen because most studies on urban agriculture that have been conducted so far were implemented in Nairobi, while the situation in other main cities remained uncovered. Kisumu city has recorded one of the highest levels of absolute poverty (63%) compared to other cities (GoK 1997) and is also one of the urban areas that is seriously affected by HIV/AIDS. The level of absolute poverty in Mombassa was reported as 38% (GoK, 1997). Kisumu City Council has integrated urban agriculture into City Development Strategy. Urban agriculture is considered as an important means of providing cheap, fresh and nutritious food for the urban consumers and also as a non-market access to food for the urban poor. With support of Lake Victoria Region Local Authorities Cooperation (LVRLAC) an urban gardening and composting demonstration plot was established in the city, where a variety of vegetables including traditional ones are grown on the demonstration plot. The City Council is working with urban farmer groups in the informal settlements to demonstrate to the residents in the area the technologies for composting and safe methods for growing vegetables and other crops. This is one way to disseminate safe ways of conducting urban agriculture. The urban farmers have shown interest in the farming methods at the Kisumu City Council demonstration site. Kisumu City Council Departments are also working in collaboration with other stakeholders including NGOs, and tree nurseries operators, traders of agro-forestry products and the management of Kisumus open air market.

Mixed cropping (left) and varies crops in pot (right)

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The survey conducted in Mombasa revealed that urban agriculture is widely practiced. Horticulture is widely carried out by the Asian communities in home gardens and peri-urban open field plots for domestic consumption and generation of income from market sales. Some of these vegetables are grown under irrigation. Although use of sewage for farming is highly discouraged, some cases have been reported. Balcony farming was also common especially among women in the island. Groups in Mombassa and Kisumu preferred to have a mix of crops mainly vegetables and tree fruits. Livestock farming in Mombasa included poultry, ostrich, quails, dairy cattle and crocodile. Poultry farming is widespread because it has a ready market in hotels and restaurants. In case of dairy farmers, cases of pesticide residues in milk were reported in 1997 indicating a possibility of pesticide use in the urban farming systems. There were cases of intensive use of available backyards where livestock (especially diary cattle or goat) was kept and on one side of the backyard, vegetables were grown. The animals were a source of manure for the crops. The raw milk market witnessed in the urban areas provides a number of poor consumers with affordable nutrition, which would decline if it were not available. Apart from the local groups, urban farming was being practiced in schools and G.K. prisons at Shimo la Tewa in Mobasa. The organizations involved in urban agriculture that were surveyed included, community groups, home gardens/kitchen gardens, and individuals. Our observations indicated that individuals on the backyards and home gardens were more organized and were using clean methods of urban farming. The community groups using public land need more training on the use of appropriate technologies and safe ways of urban farming. The groups using open spaces were also not sure of the land availability. Restrictions in labour availability for farming or other productivities were observed during the survey especially where the households were involved in other income generating activities or if some of the family members were ailing. Some NGOs are targeting the urban farmer groups to provide seeds and tools, training on improved production technologies and other services. Despite the lack of policy on urban farming, the Ministry of Agriculture is providing e extension services to some groups of urban micro farmers in Mombassa, including the Tudor General Self Help Group that operates in the informal settlement along the ocean on a land that belongs to the Kenya Ports Authority. The group consists of 18 members, of which 8 are females and 10 are males. Farming activities include growing of vegetables, cowpeas and fruit trees for domestic consumption and to generate income. They are also using sacks filled with soil and compost manure to grow vegetables. Water from the underground springs is used to irrigate the land and compost manure is used to improve the soil fertility. They are able to meet their nutrition requirements from the farms. The study revealed that land was a major constraint in urban farming in Mombassa. The harsh weather conditions in the City are another constraint to urban farming. Other problems encountered by the urban farming groups (like the Tudor Self Help Group) include: lack of funding, pests, lack of farm tools, theft of the produce and lack of training on appropriate methods for safe farming.

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Compost (left) and home plot irrigated with household wastewater

LESSONS LEARNT Legalisation The surveys indicate that a main constraint to urban farming is the absence, inadequacy and/or inconsistency in policies and legislation framework regarding urban agriculture, often leading to harassment of urban farmers from local officers. The surveys conducted indicated that urban agriculture would gain success and significance especially where adequate policies were developed, creating an enabling environment for urban agriculture. It is therefore important that the legal situation of urban agriculture is made clear and that urban agriculture is incorporated into city land use planning. Access to land and water The lack of land and water for food production is a major problem for the urban farmers as revealed in the surveys conducted. Land grabbing by the rich is a common feature. The urban farmers use any available open space along roads, railway lines, under power lines etc. which exposes them to certain dangers. In the cities, even where water is available, it is never enough for domestic use and some parts of the city can be without water for weeks. Water use is therefore restricted and in some parts water it is not accessible. This has resulted in the use of untreated sewage water by farmers in some parts of Nairobi and Kisumu. Other groups use water from springs to water their crops. Use of grey water from the kitchen is common among those practicing home gardens. For organizations wishing to set up urban agriculture projects, they should consider the issues of water and the UPA policies on land use. Health and nutrition aspects Urban agriculture provides cheap, fresh and nutritious food. But especially among community groups farming on public land there is often little regard to health risks associated with urban agriculture due to lack of training on health issues and lack of access to water. The use of untreated sewage leads to damages to the sewage network and free flowing raw sewage that forms a risk for peoples health. Also the products of sewage irrigated crops may be harmful if vegetables are not properly washed and cooked.

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Technology development and extension Service provision to urban farmers is still limited. NCST, in collaboration with other institutions, is looking at ways of disseminating the available technologies that could assist the urban farmers in boosting their production. Through data collection we will quantify all the technical constraints facing urban micro-farmers in order to assist them. We intend to collaborate with the Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries Development, Urban harvest, Local Authorities and other stakeholders. NCST and the Directorate of Research Development participate in the Nairobi and Environs Food Security, Agriculture and Livestock Forum (NEFSALF). This is a forum with actors from the community, government and market sectors, in order to promote cooperation around city and environs food security, agriculture and livestock keeping matters. Institutional aspects The surveys indicate that urban agriculture programmes require the participation of a variety of institutions and adequate institutional arrangements to facilitate urban agriculture. Further, the Surveys indicate that at present institutional arrangements are inadequate which limits research, documentation and information sharing and limits the provision of adequate services to urban farmers. In the proposal that we have formulated for Nairobi City (titled Strengthening urban food security in Nairobi City through improved food supply and distribution systems), the following major institutions are involved: Directorate of Research Development, Nairobi City Council, CGIAR-Urban Harvest, Provincial Agricultural Office, Provincial Livestock and Fisheries Development, Department of Urban Development, Ministry of Local Government, Family concern and Kenya Green Towns Partnership Association
References GoK (1997) Economic Survey. Central Bureau of Statistics, Ministry of Planning and National Development. GoK (2001) Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper for the Period 2001 2004, Ministry of Finance and Planning, Nairobi. GoK (2002) National Development Plan for the Period 2002 2008, Ministry of Finance and Planning. GoK (2003) Economic Recovery Strategy for Wealth and Employment Creation: 2003- Ministry of Planning and National Development, Nairobi. GoK (2004) Ministry of Agriculture 2004. Revitalizing Agriculture. 2004 2014. ICASA (2003) International Conference on AIDS and Sexually Transmitted diseases in Africa, Nairobi, Kenya. ISHANI Z., P.K. GATHURU AND L. DAVINDER (2002). Scooping study of urban and per-urban poor livestock keepers in Nairobi. Mazingira Institute. LEE SMITH, D. M. MANUNDU, L. DAVINDER AND P.K. GATHURU (1987). Urban Food Production and the cooking fuel situation in urban Kenya. Mazingira Institute. NCST (2004) NCST Newsletter. Issue No.1 November 2004. ONYATTA J.O. AND W.O. OMOTO (2004). Potential for urban and peri-urban agriculture to create employment and reduce poverty. Proceedings of the stakeholder workshop on urban and periurban agriculture policy. Organized by Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, Urban Harvest-CIP and the International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.

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3.15 STUDIES AND PILOT PROJECTS ON URBAN AGRICULTURE BY UNAM Adedayo Ogunmokun UNIVERSITY OF NAMIBIA NORTHERN CAMPUS Oshakati, Namibia. INTRODUCTION TO UNAM AND THE STUDIES AND PILOT PROJECTS The University of Namibia (UNAM) was established in 1992 and is responsible for conventional face-to-face undergraduate and postgraduate education as well as distance education at the undergraduate level throughout the country. The institutions strategic objectives emphasise its commitment to expanding access to higher education and lifelong learning opportunities. The University of Namibia fulfils its mandate through 7 Faculties including The Faculty of Agriculture and Natural resources, 4 Campuses including the Northern Campus and four Centres including the Multidisciplinary Research and Consultancy Centre. UNAM has recently conducted a number of case studies and pilot projects: Study: Assessment of production possibilities and constraints in peri-urban vegetable production FAO funded a survey on peri-urban agriculture in Windhoek and Oshakati (two of the principal towns in Namibia). The overall objective of the study was to assess the potential contribution of peri-urban vegetable production to income generation and improvement of nutrition status of poor households in 2 selected cities and municipalities in Namibia. The research showed that urban and peri-urban agriculture is practised by over 70% of the residents ((Dima et al., 2000 and Ogunmokun et al., 2002). Over twenty-three types of vegetables and fruit trees are grown on tiny plots, but the main ones are maize, beans, tomatoes, pumpkin, watermelon, sweet potatoes and pepper. The household members consume most of the produce and this contributes to the improvement of their nutrition. Many producers are willing to expand their plots if they are assisted with some inputs, whilst those with no gardens have expressed interest to start vegetable gardens, if they are provided with space and initial capital. Existing marketing outlets are limited to the locality. Most vegetable production takes place during the summer rains supplemented by water from the municipal water taps, which have now become very expensive. Animal production is limited to small stock and poultry, while fishing is only a seasonal activity. The absence of policy on urban and peri-urban agriculture is seen as a serious constraint towards its intensification and development. Pilot project: Small scale agriculture with digested solid waste and waste water The main objective of this pilot project, sponsored by the European Union, was to expand vegetable farming in urban and peri-urban areas through interdisciplinary research on the use of digested solid waste and waste water in peri-urban vegetable production to improve the standard of living in Goreangab location (an informal settlement of Windhoek). A mason and some artisans were trained in the construction and maintenance of the Integrated Biogas Systems while the community members received training in the management of the system and in vegetable production. Due to delays suffered from non-cooperation of Windhoek Municipality in the initial stages of the project, there was no adequate time to generate enough data to reach concrete conclusions on the efficiency of the use of Integrated Biogas System for peri-urban vegetable production. Moreover, the cost of building the biogas system

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was higher than previously anticipated and beyond the means of the targeted community members. This affected the proposed transfer of the technology to other communities. Despite these problems, the introduction of the integrated biogas system yielded positive results (Ogunmokun A. A, Mwandemele O. D. and Mubiana. F., 2002) including: Provision of irrigation water and digested organic manure for the production of vegetable and fruit tree, leading to improved household nutritional status and the provision of income through the sale of excess vegetable products. Provision of biogas that is used for cooking thereby reducing deforestation of the locality and the pollution of the nearby Goreangab Dam. Enhancing understanding and appreciation among the officials of Windhoek Municipality of the concept of urban vegetable production and its benefits of poverty alleviation within the informal settlements Creation of awareness and interest in Integrated Biogas System among the community members and relevant Ministries Study: Impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural production, household food security and nutritional status This study is part of an FAO Integrated Support to Sustainable Development and Food Security Programme (IP) regional initiative involving Namibia, Uganda and Zambia and was sponsored by the Norwegian Government through FAO. The aim of the initiative was to gather disaggregated quantitative and qualitative information on the impacts that HIV/AIDS has on agricultural production and food security within the broader context of other constraints. The main findings of this study can be summarized as follows (Ogunmokun, 2003): Loss of agricultural knowledge: HIV/AIDS has contributed to a loss of knowledge in crop management, pest control, soil fertility, crop and produce storage, freshwater fisheries, forest products, and traditional livestock management. The lack of knowledge is affecting the uptake of improved farming practices. Labour patterns: Among HIV/AIDS effects on labour allocation is the loss of labour due to illness or death and the out migration of youths from the farm to look for waged labour. The pandemic has also contributed to some changes in gender roles and relations with women spending more time looking after the sick, and less time on their productive activities especially those related to farming. Household finances: The reduced availability of household labour, declining crop productivity and yields, sale or loss of assets, and increasing demands on household financial resources are all contributing to greater poverty. This has implications on food security and nutrition, peoples susceptibility to HIV/AIDS, and communities resilience to the negative impacts of other phenomena. Household food security and nutrition: Households recognize the importance of good nutrition for the sick and the young, but poverty and increased numbers of dependants are preventing them from obtaining appropriate foods. Households access to food is negatively affected by reduced labour availability (and the resultant declines in crop areas cultivated and crop yields), declining household income bases and the effects of asset loss. Consequently, the most vulnerable groups (orphan-headed and female-headed households) reported that they had to decrease their number of meals, often consumed inadequate amounts of key foods and food groups (such as starchy staples, animal products, legumes, fruits and vegetables), and at times had an insufficient amount of food for the entire household. Forty three percent of all households in the survey

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sample stated that they had experienced food shortages during the month prior to the survey. Widow- and orphan-headed households were less able to cope, with a high proportion of 63% and 55% of these households respectively reporting a food shortage. Affected households increased food insecurity is forcing them to depend more on relatives for help, and this is damaging their sense of dignity and self-respect. Based on this study, appropriate response strategies and activities were developed, one of which is described below.

Pilot project: Farmer Field and Life Schools as a response strategy to HIV-AIDS AIDS orphans and female-headed households are among the poorest-of-the-poor within Namibia and efforts to help them are difficult. At a minimum, these children and households need targeted and concentrated assistance to achieve any measure of increased year-round food security and increased household income. As a response to the growing number of orphans and widows, MPC (Multi Purpose Consultancy) and other partners -with technical advice of UNAM in horticulture and irrigation, technical backstopping from FAO, feeding scheme from WFP and sponsored by the Finnish Embassy in Namibia- established two pilot Farmer Field and Life School (FFLS) projects (one junior and one adult) in the Endola area of Ohangwena. The junior FFLS is designed specifically for orphans and vulnerable children (OVC; in particular the HIV/AIDS orphans), and the adult FFLS, is designed to target poor and vulnerable adults (widows and female-headed households) affected by HIV/AIDS. Twenty four facilitators (extension workers, teachers, social animators, civil society volunteers) who were trained over a period of 9 days were used to implement the FFLS projects. Thirty orphans and vulnerable children between 1218 years of age and thirty widows were trained for a period of 6 months in agricultural (field preparation, sowing and transplanting, weeding, irrigation, pest control, utilization and conservation of available resources, utilization and processing of food crops, harvesting, and storage and marketing) and life skills (Interpersonal skills in teamwork, communication, human relations and social interaction; entrepreneurial skills). The curriculum has a practical agricultural bias, covering both traditional and modern agricultural practices.

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The following are the positive and visible outcomes of both FFLS projects in Endola. Enhancement of the link between education and agriculture to promote holistic education for rural children and vulnerable adults. Competent and assertive agricultural and life skills among vulnerable youths and adults. Improved learning processes and outcomes in adult educational programmes. The importance of agriculture and its contribution to personal well-being, nutrition and food security was well demonstrated. LESSONS LEARNT Lack of an adequate policy on urban agriculture From the experience gained in these projects, the main factor that strongly influences the success of urban agriculture projects that aim to positively influence nutrition and income situation in households affected by HIV/AIDS is the absence of a policy on urban agriculture in Namibia. This lack of policy (and therefore lack of recognition/acceptance of urban agriculture by government and municipal officials) constrains the development and intensification of urban agriculture. In the case of project 2 described above, it took the Windhoek Municipality two years to accept the implementation of the project within its boundaries. The absence of policy also meant that urban producers neither get technical advice from extension officers nor get considered for financial and other support usually availed to rural producers. Therefore, the production of vegetables and fruits fit for human consumption cannot be assured. Access to land and water Most urban agriculture-taking place in Namibia is carried out in the backyards with very few carried out in urban open spaces. Due to lack of policy on urban agriculture, the municipalities have no areas demarcated for urban agriculture. Consequently, those who use open spaces for urban agriculture do so illegally, although the municipal officers rarely trouble them. However, animal husbandry within urban boundaries is very strictly controlled and in fact discouraged. While few chickens may be kept for some time for home consumption, municipal officials would impound other animals found within the municipal boundaries. The non-allocation of land for urban agriculture makes it difficult, if not nearly impossible, for prospective urban farming projects to start. However, Municipal officers, due to their sensitivity to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, may now be willing to allocate land in the fringes of their boundaries for peri- urban agriculture projects. Being the driest country in sub-Saharan Africa, water is the main limiting factor to any form of land husbandry in Namibia. Water for agricultural purposes has the least priority in Namibia compared to water for human consumption and for industrial purposes. Even within the allocation of water for agriculture, water for irrigation is rated much lower than water for animal consumption. Meanwhile, water is the most important input in urban agriculture in Namibia. The most common source of water for urban farming is rainwater sometimes supplemented by tap water. In Namibia, rainwater is very limited (30-550 mm per year) unreliable and falls within a relatively short period (late November-early March). The cost of tap water is high (over US$ 1/m3) and this might affect the success or failure of urban farming projects for alleviating the nutrition and income plights of HIV/AIDS affected families. The studies show that water is expensive compared to the returns from urban agriculture.

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Any organization venturing into any urban agriculture project in Namibia should first ensure that there would be a reliable and cheap source of water for the project. This will require serious negotiations with the Municipalities on availing land close to the municipal wastewater recycle plants for the project. Another solution may be to grow high value crops, which can then be sold for cash that will pay for the water and other inputs as well as generate some income. Some of the projects considered ways of making water more available to urban farmers such as rainwater harvesting, reuse of wastewater and use of water from rivers and canal (there is a 160km long water canal running through many of the towns in north central regions of Namibia where nearly half of the population lives). Water harvesting for individual garden projects require the purchase of water tanks costing between US$ 50-US$500 for unit ranging from 1m3 to 10m3. This initial cost is well beyond the means of most urban farmers except with external funding. Some municipalities (especially Windhoek) recycle their wastewater and make them available at cheap rates for watering grass and flowers but not for agriculture purposes. The water recycling method using the integrated biogas digested (described above) is also very expensive and beyond the means of most individual households. Results from this project, however, indicated that the products from the digesters are safe for human consumption (a major fear of many people involved in the projects). An irrigation method that was found simple, affordable and effective is the Family Drip System (FDS). This system was piloted at UNAM and is found not only to be efficient in applying water but also to be cost effective. Water is collected in a raised drum and is conveyed through PVC lateral pipes to simple drippers. This method covers twice the area that is normally covered by surface irrigation methods. The FDS is used for irrigation of small & medium plots, backyard gardens etc from 100 m to 2000 m. The system has been used for irrigation of vegetables, orchards, fruit trees, row crops and greenhouses. The FDS, being gravity-based, does not require any energy source for its operation and it is suitable for all types of soils, climates, and water sources and on flat land or slight slopes. The cost of this system is about US$ 200 per 1000 m2. The system was also introduced to the JFFLS plot at Endola and it is working perfectly.

Reduction of labour requirements

Most urban agriculturalists rely on their own labour to perform agriculture activities. However, households affected by HIV/AIDS spend more time looking after the sick

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and less time on their productive activities, especially on urban agriculture. In some cases, older children are used to take care of their siblings and to help in urban farming, sometimes to the detriment of their schooling. In many cases the urban gardens were completely ignored or abandoned. There are two possible approaches to reduce the effects of the loss of labour in affected households. One approach is to make use of labour efficient/labour saving agricultural practices and the second one is to encourage cooperation among urban farmers through cooperatives and support groups. There are already many HIV/AIDS support-groups and organisations formed to offer other psychosocial support to affected members. By pooling their labour and other resources together, members involved in such projects would be able to carry the labour requirements of the farming when some other members are sick or indisposed. The right mix of crops, trees and animals The model developed by FAO and used in the Junior FFLS in Endola contains: Staples (traditional millet, sorghum, maize, sweet potatoes) to fill the stomach The Vegetable garden (beans, carrots, tomatoes, green pepper and spinach) and Fruit trees (pawpaw, granadilla and guava, aloe) to provide a healthy growth Medicinal plants (garlic and other herbs) to boost the immune system A chicken house to raise indigenous chickens for egg production and as supplementary for income generation. Alternatively: goat or rabbit keeping These range of crops and animals result in production of food products that can guarantee balanced diet and improved nutrition. The diversification of enterprise to include chicken, goat or rabbit keeping can be used to expand the base of income generation. Another enterprise that could be considered for diversification of urban agriculture is aquaculture. The market potential for fish is good and it has high nutritional value. Wherever water is available, aquaculture can be easily combined with horticultural production in an integrated system. Institutional aspects For the full potential of urban agriculture to be realised, there is need for government departments, the municipalities and the private sector to be involved. The government and the municipalities can provide a conducive policy environment that encourages the producers to grow high value vegetables, fruits, poultry and small stock using sustainable and environmentally friendly technologies. The policy should embody an allocation of responsibilities amongst the concerned authorities in respect to legal recognition of urban and peri-urban agriculture, guidelines on the correct husbandry practices as well as the protection of the environment for sustainable production. Any successful project should aim at fully utilising existing structures and institutions. There are several Municipal departments such as the Urban Planning, Social Welfare, Water Affairs, and AIDS Coordinating Committee etc that should be involved in drafting policies and laws to promote urban agriculture as well as providing resources such as land, water etc for the success of the projects. Also inputs from several Ministries are required: the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (providing extension technicians to conduct training on various livestock & crop production activities to urban producers groups and HIV-Aids affected families; nutrition and food security monitoring), the Ministry of Health and Social Services (provision of training on HIV/AIDS issues and provision of affordable health care services), the Ministry of Women Affairs, Child Welfare and Gender (provision of training on gender issues and assistance in the selection of project participants).

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Non-Governmental Organisations (like Africare, AIDS Law Unit, Namibia Red Cross Society and Catholic AIDS Action) can provide HIV/AIDS affected households with counselling services and home-based care, organisational support to farming groups, technical training, and so forth. They should be seen as active partners in any project activities. Community Based Organisations (e.g. LILONGO EPARU, TKMOAS, Namibian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NNP+) and OMWENE TULENGENE) can contribute by providing home based care to infected and affected HIV/AIDS households and awareness creation and advocacy on how urban agriculture can positively improve the health, nutrition and financial status of HIV/AIDS affected households. Educational Institutions (University of Namibia and Agricultural Colleges) can provide technical backstopping and training in agricultural production and food processing through their community development programmes. International Organisations (e.g. FAO, WFP, UNDP, UNAIDS, WHO) can provide their international backing and ability to attract funds. Public and Private Financial Institutions (like Agribank) can provide financial backing in terms of grants and soft loans and supplementary funding for agricultural projects with HIV/AIDS affected communities. Ensuring sustainability The sustainability of urban agriculture projects can therefore be defined as the ability of the projects to keep going continuously without failing for as long as they are needed. This implies the ability to institutionalise the whole idea of urban farming and sustain it with appropriate funds in order to meet the nutrition and food security demand of HIV/AIDS affected households now and in the future. All the stakeholders identified above need to work jointly and for common purpose under the framework of existing structures. One such structure that could be used in Namibia is the Food Security and Nutrition Secretariat in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry, which already coordinates food security and nutrition issues in conjunction with other relevant stakeholders. The sustainability of the field approach should take into account the economic, ecological and social dimensions. This means that the ability to produce sufficient, affordable, quality food, while protecting the environment and biodiversity and ensuring that farming is economically viable and contributes to the well being of the HIV/AIDS affected households. A major limitation to any urban agriculture project aimed at generating income is the lack of proper market structures to market the produce from the farms. An HIV/AIDS group in Odibo (Northern Namibia) started producing vegetables, but there was no market for the surplus, so the garden failed. Of joint importance to marketing as limitations for generating income are inadequate processing and storage of the excess produce. Processing and storage of the produce can result in properly packaged nutritious food that can be helpful to HIV/AIDS patients, babies and elderly people; and can keep for long and be marketable at the local shops. So, an effective way to upscale production of urban agriculture projects is to introduce proper market structures as well as promote proper storage, grading and packaging of produce. Of course this, and other strategies aimed at up scaling urban agriculture, will work only if and when the concept of urban agriculture has been institutionalized and recognized by the government in form of policy.
References DIMA S. J., A. A. OGUNMOKUN: AND T. NANTANGA (2002) The status of urban and Peri-urban agriculture in Windhoek and Oshakati Namibia. ftp://ftp.fao.org/sd/sdw/sdww/nam_periurban_02.pdf MULTI PURPOSE CONSULTANCY (2005) Meeting the challenge of HIV/AIDS on rural livelihoods in Namibia. Report submitted to the Embassy of Finland, Windhoek Namibia. Feb. 2005. OGUNMOKUN A. A.; O. D. MWANDEMELE AND S. J. DIMA (2000): Use of Recycled waste water from st biogas digesters for vegetable production in the Goreangab Dam Area of Windhoek Municipality. 1

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WARFSA/WaterNet Symposium on Sustainable Use of Water Resources: Advances in Education and st nd research. Maputo, Mozambique, 1 - 2 Nov. 2000. OGUNMOKUN: A. A., S. J. DIMA AND T. NANTANGA (2002) How much farming is taking place in urban areas? Presented at the conference on Towards a civil and caring society on 17-19 June 2002 at the University of Namibia, Northern Campus OGUNMOKUN A. A, MWANDEMELE O. D. AND MUBIANA. F. (2002) The use of biogas as alternative fuel source in the Goreangab Dam Area of Windhoek, Namibia. Presented at the Regional Workshop on the Renewable Energy and its applications for the Rural Development, at the Ministry of Mines & Energy, Windhoek, Namibia, 18th-19th July 2002. OGUNMOKUN A. A. (2003) Impact of HIV/AIDS on agricultural production, household food security and nutritional status in Ohangwena Region of Namibia. Report submitted to FAO Rome. ftp://ftp.fao.org/sd/SDW/SDWW/namibia_hiv_aids_survey_2003.pdf

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3.16. POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION BY MOA BOTSWANA


D.L. Keboneilwe and M.E. Madisa MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE BOTSWANA Gabarone, Botswana INTRODUCTION The Ministry of Agriculture of Botswana is currently coordinating Urban and Periurban Agriculture initiatives, in line with its main policy objective of food security. As the country is faced with various challenges of rapid urbanization, declining economy, growing urban poverty and HIV/AIDS, urban agriculture has become increasingly relevant for the country. So far few studies have been carried out on urban agriculture. Mosha (2001) and Byerley (1996) indicate that urban agriculture is not employed in Botswana in a scale comparable to other developing countries. However, there are indications that urban agriculture is growing and is contributing considerably to income generation, employment creation and poverty alleviation (Hovorka 2004). The policy interest on urban agriculture was necessitated by the following: Rapid urbanization. The recent Population and Housing Census Report indicate that the urban population now stands at 52% (CSO, 2001). Growing urban unemployment that stands at 21 % (GoB/UNDP, 2002) Growing urban poverty. The current national situation with respect to poverty is that about 36.6% of the population is living below the poverty datum line (UNDP, 2002). Whist the 1997 Botswana Institute for Development and Policy Analysis Poverty report showed urban poverty to be lower than rural poverty, a recent report by UNDP on poverty indicated that urban poverty was now on the increase (ibid.) HIV/AIDS. The HIV/AIDS pandemic poses a huge challenge for the nation at large. Botswana is among the Southern African Countries which are hard-hit by the HIV/AIDS pandemic with about 17% of its population infected (CSO 2002). Furthermore an estimated 35.8% incidence of HIV/AIDS in the productive age group i.e. 15-49 years has been noted by the UNDP, 2002 report. The government of Botswana approach to tackling the HIV/AIDS pandemic is multisectoral, with the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) in the forefront on issues of food security, nutrition and poverty alleviation. Within MOA is an HIV/AIDS Coordinating Unit has been set up to ensure that HIV-AIDS issues are mainstreamed in the agricultural sector. Policy development on urban agriculture Such socio-economic and demographic trends have prompted the government to explore Urban and Peri-urban Agriculture (UPA). The idea is to come up with a Policy on UPA as it has been recognized through research and various consultative workshops that it has the potential to contribute to the enhancement of household food security, improvement in household nutrition, income generation, creation of employment, poverty alleviation, waste management and beautification and greening of cities & towns. MOA has put together a multi-sectoral and multi-disciplinary taskforce to push for the development and inclusion of UPA in National Development Planning processes. The policy statements that indicate commitment to UPA has already been included in the current National Development Plan. The Taskforce that comprises of

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various stakeholders from both central and local government, NGOs and private sector was set up in 2001, immediately after the first national workshop on UPA was held. Two more consultative workshops were held in 2003 and 2005 to consolidate issues on the development of the UPA policy. The UPA initiative has also been officially launched by the Minister of Agriculture in 2004. It was deemed necessary to launch the initiative in recognition of the fact that UPA is already in progress. It was also meant to raise awareness and show stakeholders that MOA is committed to the UPA initiative. A draft working paper on UPA has been development and is yet to be finalized and be considered by the Ministry of Agriculture Policy Advisory Committee. Support at project level The MOA is implementing certain projects which are geared at meeting the food and nutrition objectives that also takes into consideration the HIV/AIDS. These include: Having demonstration gardens in offices as a way of encouraging communities to develop backyard gardening Producing booklets for vegetation production to guide individual families and communities on how to produce vegetables Provision of formal and informal training in agricultural training centres Provision of technical assistance on production and marketing aspects of home and community gardens to individuals, families and communities, 4Byouth groups (in or out of school), women groups, clinics and home based care groups Building partnerships with NGOS and private sector on implementing urban agriculture. The Department of Crop Production and Forestry (DCPF) together with Never Ending Gardens, a faith based organization from the USA, implement a partnership project and completed planting 6500 vegetables plots in homes of disadvantaged households in Gaborone. LESSONS LEARNT The experiences gained by the MOA indicate that for the successful implementation of urban agriculture policies and projects it is important that: Participatory approaches are applied in the planning, implementation and monitoring of these policies and projects Costs and benefits of urban agriculture projects should be shared by all stakeholders involved in these projects De-stigmatise urban agriculture projects by making them as open as possible to anyone interested in improving their nutrition. The draft Policy Paper has chosen to use this strategy in order to ensure that UPA catches on without being stigmatized and/or associated with HIV/AIDS. We recommend these as the basic principles or essential components to be considered when coming up with such projects.
References BIDPA (1997). Study of Poverty and Poverty Alleviation in Botswana. Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, Gaborone. BYERLEY, A. (1996). Urban Agriculture in Botswana: A Preliminary Investigation of Extent, Issues and Potential. Working Paper 307. Uppsala, Sweden: Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, International Rural Development Centre. GOB/CSO (2002). Agricultural Statistical Report: 1998. GOB/CSO (2001): 2001 Population and Housing Census. Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Gaborone. GOB/CSO (2000). Statistical Bulletin. March 2000 Volume 25 No.1

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GOB/MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND DEVELOPMENT PLANNING (2001). Annual Economic Report. Gaborone. GOB/UNDP (2002). Botswana Poverty Reduction Strategy Report, Gaborone. GOB/MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE (1991). National Policy on Agricultural Development. Gaborone. HOVORKA A. J. (2004). Commercial Urban Agriculture in greater Gaborone: Form & Function, Challenges & Prospects. Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies. MOSHA A.C. Urban Agriculture in Botswana: Challenges and Prospects (2001). Published in Proceedings of the National Workshop on Peri-Urban Agriculture. Eds. Keboneilwe & Hovorka.

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3.17 SEZENI FOOD GARDEN PROJECT, ART OF LIVING FOUN DATION Nyameka Ndashe ART OF LIVING FOUNDATION Cape Town, South Africa INTRODUCTION TO ART OF LIVING FOUNDATION AND THE SEZENI PROJECT Art of Living (AOL) is an international NGO represented in 140 countries throughout the world. Since 2002 AOL is registered as a Non Profit and Public Benefit Organization in South Africa. Art of Living implements programmes that eliminate stress, create a sense of belonging and restore human values such as compassion, non violence, generosity and an ethic of service and caring for all lives. AOL implements innovative projects relating to health, education, sustainable development and conflict resolution. AOL is run almost exclusively by dedicated volunteers. The Sezeni Food Garden Project in Silver City was started in September 2004 and was initiated by the volunteer Nyameka Ndashe, who after having received basic training in food gardens was inspired to start a community food garden in her own neighbourhood Silver City in order to feed the hungry people in her community. As an AIDS orphan, activist and caregiver, she was motivated to help those who were malnourished and having to take strong medication on empty stomachs. The project has been initiated from grassroots level by mobilizing a small group of volunteers and making door to door visits to people that are living with HIV/AIDS assisting them to care for the sick while raising their awareness on the importance of good nutrition and the potential of having a food garden. The primary objective is to create food gardens as local centres for skills development & learning regarding urban agriculture and establish group food gardens in order to uplift communities, challenged by HIV-Aids, unemployment & poverty. Next to food crops, also indigenous flowers, plants and herbs are grown. The food gardens will: Enhance awareness and empowerment to those affected & infected with HIV/AIDS Improve diets and reduce poverty Enhance quality of life of those affected or infected with HIV / AIDS Enhance support from local service providers, NGOs, local & National Government Land was obtained from the Municipality (total 3 hectares in several large plots). Through effective lobbing the support was obtained of the Department of Agriculture that supplied seeds and an application for a container (soup kitchen), water tanks and piping for rainwater collection and irrigation, etcetera is in process. Permaculture provided training on organic farming practices and Art for Living supported organisational development and management skills development. Other organisations supported with fencing materials and compost or manure.

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The training includes -next to gardening, nutrition education and other skills development (e.g. broidery)- also a relaxing therapy, named Breath Water Sound, as many poor HIV-infected participants are heavily stressed and the breathing therapy -as well as the food gardening- empowers individuals to take responsibility for themselves and ensure a healthy diet by cultivating fresh food. The increasing level of energy within the individuals taking part in the gardening groups, is then utilised to uplift the environment around them

LESSONS LEARNT Up to date 3 community gardens have been established that are all producing organic food to feed those that are hungry in her community. The food produced is used by the participating families and given for free to those households in the community that cannot afford to pay and sold to others for a nominal amount, thereby creating funds that continue to enable her to buy seed for her gardens. The gardens serve as a place of learning for all those who have an interest in fresh food. It forms as a platform to uplift the community and to enhance the quality of life for those living with HIV/AIDS. In our approach the basis of each urban agriculture project is the development of each individual. The spark may be there in these communities to undertake food garden projects, however they do not have the level of energy that it takes to see these projects through. Breath Water Sound is a key component and essential tool to bring about the transformation within each individual. The focus of the project with regards to HIV / AIDS is that we focus on the health & development of the individual, rather than the illness. The following benefits have been reported through food gardens in conjunction with Breath Water Sound therapy: Increase in Energy Improved sleeping patterns & mood elevation Decrease in depression Reduction of Stress ( Trigger for opportunistic infections ) Strengthened Immunity ( CD4 Count increases ) Improved overall health & well being Positive Outlook on life

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We have a mixture of people with positive & negative HIV status working on the project. This ensures, that the persons that are in good health condition, can support the project, when others are too weak to work in the gardens. The project ensures that the food is distributed to the weakest first and then to the affected families, and finally to community / market. Breath Water Sound again, is a valuable tool, to increase the level of energy of those infected and affected by HIV /AIDS. Production aspects Important crops for HIV-infected persons are spinach & garlic since people suffering with AIDS have a natural craving for spinach & garlic. It satisfies their nutritional needs and is readily available, easy to grow and continues to provide over a period of time. Garlic is useful for mouth & throat thrush. Aloe is another local plant that is extremely useful for skin problems. The introduction of herbs is important in order to treat day to day ailments. Gradually we will introduce organic farming and permaculture techniques. Organizational aspects Community Gardens are often plagued by local politics around land issues and theft of vegetables. It is essential that everyone in the community is on board, supporting the food garden initiative. This can sometimes be a lengthy process; however it is better to have this in place, than experience problems later on down the line. All people working in the community garden should also be encouraged to initiate small gardens in their own homes. This has already started in the Silver City area. A main obstacle in community gardening is the mind set of the poor and HIV-infected people. People in impoverished environments are often looking for quick results and are often not thinking in the direction of food gardening. The community members view gardens as low rank employment. The provision of Breath Water Sound in families affected & infected by HIV, will go along way in getting individuals to take responsibility for themselves and their communities, as well as increasing capacity for developing food gardens, especially when the families are also being educated regarding the value of food gardens & proper nutrition in supporting HIV AIDS affected families, which is essential. Those community members that have a genuine interest to work with food gardens are in the best position to motivate and train the other families to develop food garden projects. The training provided through the food gardens should not be limited to gardening alone but offer various skills development programmes, so that everyone in the community find something of their own interest within the framework of the garden.

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3.18 FALSE BAY HOSPITAL COMMUNITY GARDEN Wendy Crawford and Karen Jordi FALSE BAY HOSPITAL GARDEN PROJECT TEAM Cape Town, South Africa INTRODUCTION False Bay Hospital (FBH) in Fish Hoek, Cape Town, has allocated 2ha of the grounds as a gesture of social capital investment. The allocated ground is being developed as a Community Garden using the organic and sustainable approach of Permaculture methods. The aim is to create a sustainable and productive model of urban agriculture that can support poverty alleviation by addressing the issues of food insecurity, health and empowerment through skills development. A Non-Profit Organization is in the process of being established formally, to administer the project and the Project Team will be formally appointed when the NPO is registered. There are two core components to this project: The development of a Community Garden. A variety of edible flora will be grown including herbs, vegetables and fruit. During the development process, the first yield will support household food security for the gardeners and their families and the second yield will be purchased by the False Bay Hospital for use in the hospital kitchen. Over time the mature garden will become a commercially viable market garden supporting the hospital and local community. Total growing area of 5,400 m2 comprising 30 allotments (30m long x 10m wide) separated by hedges (approx. 1m) for windbreaks. Each allotment will have six beds (1m wide) separated by paths (0.5m wide). A no-dig method is used to build the beds upon the ground without disturbing the soil and compost and mulch are used to raise the beds. Two circular beds have been developed and planted with a selection of vegetables and herbs applying companion planting and succession to encourage bio-diversity and natural pest control. Average lifecycle per allotment is 90 -105 days. Recycled water from the hospital autoclave and rain water collected from the hospital roofs into a retention pond will be used in the garden for gravity fed drip irrigation. The organic matter in the soil is increased to build soil life and increase soil fertility, by production of compost on site using locally available/grown resources, earthworm composting of organic kitchen waste (hospital kitchen & neighbouring residents) and production of organic liquid fertilizer with ingredients grown in the garden. Also mulching is applied to keep the soil covered which prevents water evaporation and to enhance humus content and encourage micro-organisms. Multi-cultural groups will gather in the garden to share in learning, skillsdevelopment, capacity building and research. Trainee-gardeners will work in the garden under the supervision of the garden manager. A total of 20 gardeners (male & female) will participate in the production activities under the guidance of a Garden Manager. It is not possible at this stage to project the number of households/persons that will be indirectly involved (e.g. consumers of products, producers of inputs e.g. compost, etc.). The Dept. of Agriculture in the Western Cape (LandCare division) has supported

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infrastructure development by installing fencing and gates, and providing water tanks and pipes for recycling water from the hospital autoclave, the gravity fed drip irrigation system, tools and a wooden office/store. The development of a Training Programme, which will have an annual intake of 10 people running over two years. It will be a parallel process to the community garden empowering the gardeners by equipping them with skills and practical experience in urban gardening. When the gardeners leave the garden at the end of the two year period they will be able to implement these skills in their communities. As they become more self-sufficient, they will be empowered to teach others to become self-reliant too. The training programme will be compliant with the South African Qualifications Association (SAQA). The process to develop the training programme will be managed by the Project Team and training will be offered by registered facilitators. The Garden Manager will supervise and monitor the practical implementation of the theoretical lessons. The 2-year training programme will be offered free of charge to the trainee-gardeners. Traineegardeners will work in the garden to gain practical experience. Second year trainee-gardeners will mentor first year trainee-gardeners

LESSONS LEARNT The success of the False Bay Hospital Community Garden project will depend largely on the ability: To attract additional funding to cover the costs of completion of the garden infrastructure, setting up the training programme and paying the project team To secure effective planning and management by the project team To obtain active community participation in the garden development and training programme and wider social development To develop adequate business models and marketing strategies/plans In order to replicate this model on a wider scale it is important to enhance: Awareness and commitment from government to tackles the issues of poverty and HIV/AIDS in South Africa Commitment and vision from civil society organizations

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A willingness from the Minister of Health to embrace the role that urban food production can play in HIV/AIDS mitigation programmes The mandatory inclusion of social objectives as per the King Report for businesses according to the new BEE Plan Enhance acceptance of the Urban Agricultural Policy for the Western Cape and its inclusion into the Integrated Development Plan of Cape Town

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3.19 EMERGING FARMERS PROJECTS, WES-KAAP UBUNTU FARMERS UNION Ann September Wes-Kaap Ubuntu Farmers Union (WEKUFU) Cape Town, South Africa INTRODUCTION TO WEKUFU WEKUFU is not for profit farmers organization established in 2002. The mission of WEKUFU is to develop a strong, democratic capable of representing, promoting and supporting the interests of the emerging, previously disadvantaged farmers and addressing the imbalances of the past. Its main objectives are to assist the establishment of local farmers associations & groups, to train members on organizational systems and procedures, to co-ordinate the setting up of savings and credit schemes, to resolve problems and conflicts, to negotiate on behalf of its members in order to remove constraints in terms of land, water, financial and other resource issues and to assist emerging farmers with Phase 1 of the Land Reform process and act as observer during further phases. WEKUFU receives funding from the European Union, the Belgium Government and the Department of Social Services and Poverty alleviation. Members pay membership fees which are kept at a minimum WEKUFU has initiated with different parties in March 2005 a process, to establish as a pilot in the West Coast District Municipal Area, two clusters of emerging small producer groups who have gained access to land in one form or another (Pelrivat and Klaver projects). These two projects were started in March 2005 and scheduled for completion for both these projects is 31 May, 2006. The Pelrivat project is being implemented in the south of the West Coast. Beneficiaries here already have gained access to land and water and the main challenge for these producers is their lack of basic capacity and reduced access to relevant support structures for development. In the northern part of the West Coast, where the Klawer project is in progress, there are the added difficulties concerning access to land and water WEKUFU is negotiating with large commercial farmers and is elaborating with the District office for the Department of Social Services on a plan to acquire land and to establish food gardens in this area for growing vegetables. The purpose of the trial program with the 2 clusters is: a. to build the capacity of the local producers in production of foodstuffs through improved structures of community co-operatives, b. to develop the health and wealth of local communities, including households affected by HIV/Aids, who are dependent on agricultural production for their food and income. A project team has been established to manage the two projects simultaneously. The entire project has been divided into three phases: Phase 1 Planning stage: Consultation with Beneficiaries and Role players, Drawing up of Business Plans, Soil Sampling, Market Scooping, etcetera Phase 2 Preparing stage: Establishment of Mechanisation centre, Preparations for the formation of Co-operatives; Training of participants; Negotiations with markets; Planting preparations

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Phase 3 - Implementation stage: Start up of co-operatives; Planting and growing of vegetables; Harvesting and supplying the market With help of the Department of Agriculture we managed to do soil analysis as a basis for planning the most optimal use of the land available. We also take into account the advice of the HIV/Aids network regarding nutritious crops for people living with HIVAIDS. On behalf of its members, WEKUFU buys inputs and feed in bulk. In this way we secure the best prices for our members. To make tools and equipment accessible for those who need it, we have established mechanization centres with the support of municipalities in specific areas. Our current cluster projects make provision for tools and other equipment to be shared amongst members. LESSONS LEARNT WEKUFU has experienced that for urban agriculture projects to be successful it is important to: To assist members in the lobby for access to land and water for agriculture. WEKUFU members partner with churches, municipalities and other institutions to gain access to land for the purposes of establishing food gardens or other micro farming projects. In the past we lobbied government, and will continue to do so, to provide land. In some cases we negotiate with commercial farmers to make land available in some form or enter into BEE partnerships with our members. In some areas where WEKUFU is active, creating access to water is a major issue. Often our members have to resolve to water saving measures such as channelling kitchen and bath water into tanks from where it is used for irrigation. Methods for retaining moisture in the ground are also being employed. In areas where there are limited quantities of water, members are also focusing on the production of meat which requires less water then the production of vegetables. Ensure participation, capacity building and planning for sustainability Beneficiaries and those affected should be consulted during the planning phase of a project for subsequent implementation. Capacity building through training should be conducted once such needs have been identified. Planning for sustainability needs to be of a high priority and adequate mentoring should be provided once funding has been procured. To ensure sustainability, our members have access to our services and assistance on a permanent basis. We have dedicated field workers in the different municipal areas to service people in those areas. Mentoring is provided continuously even if projects are concluded. Because WEKUFU choose not to provide assistance in the form of cash to beneficiaries, we have eliminated much of the problems generally associated with providing such a service. Instead, funding is utilized to establish an infrastructure, acquire inputs, tools and equipment as inexpensive as possible, etcetera. Establish strategic and active partnerships. This positively influences the implementation of projects and helps to ensure sustainability of such projects. Developing and encouraging working partnerships with departments and organizations across all sectors, has proven to be of great value to this organization as well as to its members. WEKUFU managed to align itself with the following organizations: Dept. Social services and Poverty alleviation provides funding, Dept. Agriculture and Land affairs regularly assist with technical support, Municipalities have provided much of the land we acquired in the past; Agribusiness sectors supplies inputs, feed etc, at reduced prices; HIV/Aids action

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groups partner with us in the planning and implementation of projects to address the issues of nutrition and income in the larger community; with Surplus Peoples Project (SPP) we undertake collective action and share resources; Goedgedacht Agricultural Resource Centre (GARC) consistently share their technical knowledge and experience to the benefit of our members; West Coast Community Foundation (WCCF) provides much needed capacity building for the organisation; Other civil society organizations ensure a market for our produce.

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3.20 URBAN GARDENING PILOT PROJECT OF AMICAALL-MBABANE Sebenzile Nxumalo, AMICAALL Mbabane, Swaziland INTRODUCTION The city of Mbabane has a population of about 57,992 people of which 43% is young people within the age bracket 15-34 years. (CSO, 1997) The city is divided into 12 wards, which comprise of formal and informal settlements. Informal settlements tend to be densely populated. It being the countrys administrative city, most of the governmental and none governmental organizations are housed in Mbabane and many people migrate to this city in search for jobs. The migration contributes to the spread of HIV infection, poverty, prostitution, malnutrition, homelessness and overcrowding. Seeing the threat of HIV/AIDS to the urban population African mayors formed an Alliance to deal with HIV/AIDS issues within municipalities, known as the Alliance of Mayors Initiative for Community Action on AIDS at the local level (AMICAALL). The Swaziland AMICAALL programme was formally launched in August 2005. AMICAALLs mission is to improve the capacity of local government and urban communities to identify and resolve problems associated with the HIV/AIDS epidemic and to mobilize a comprehensive, community based, effective and sustainable multisectoral urban response for the reduction of infection and effects of the epidemic on urban residents and As part of these efforts AMICAALL-Swaziland implemented an urban gardening pilot project, with the following objectives 1. To promote trench gardening as a strategy for urban food security 2. To mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on vulnerable families 3. To promote consumption of micro nutrients A total of six families were identified in Emncitsini area, is a mountainous informal settlement in the outskirts of the Municipal Council of Mbabane. Selected families were those, which either had an elderly person as the breadwinner, child headed or where the breadwinner was sick. These were poverty stricken families, due to inability to provide for self as a result of the reasons highlighted above. A radio show was conducted to sensitize targeted population and local authorities and a series of informal meetings were convened for target families and project partners, including as consultation meeting with the community HIV/AIDS team where volunteers from the community were identified. This was done to ensure continuation and sustainability of the project, post implementation by the change group. A two day training on trench gardening was provided to the beneficiaries and seedlings were procured with funding from UNDP. HIV-AIDS Community volunteers provided digging tools and manpower to dig the trenches and planting of seedlings.

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To ensure follow up at community level, the community action committees and the health motivator were entrusted with follow up visits to the project site and monitoring progress. LESSONS LEARNT The project was well received by target population and other stakeholders as a mitigation strategy. There is need to designate a full time coordinator for this kind of projects to ensure sustainability and support from the Municipal Council. Urban agriculture needs to be institutionalized within Municipal council to ensure access to resources such as a budget line for urban farming projects. There is need to network with the Ministry of Agriculture and cooperatives so as to ensure technical support. A two day training is too short and the participating families and community development officers lacked sufficient farming skills and knowledge. Due to illness some participating families did not have a person who could look after the garden; hence its viability is at stake. More group solidarity and mutual assistance is needed. Other problems encountered are: Lack of water to water the garden, chickens from neighbouring homes entered the gardens and spoiled the plants (and hence the need to provide fencing for the gardens)

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4. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS The participants in the Study visit on Urban Micro-farming and HIV-AIDS analyzed the experiences gained in the programmes and projects implemented by each of them, during the field visits as well as during meetings. They came to the following conclusions and recommendations. CONCLUSIONS A. Lessons learnt regarding food security, nutrition and HIV-AIDS 1. Adequate nutrition cannot cure HIV-infection, but can enhance life expectancy and the quality of life of HIV-infected persons substantially. Balanced diets are essential to maintain body weight and muscle tissue, replace lost vitamins and minerals, strengthen the immune system and thereby reduce the susceptibility to opportunistic infections and enhance the ability to fight such infections (e.g. diarrhoea, TB, respiratory infections), improve the response to treatment and delay the onset of full blown AIDS. The first thing families affected by HIV-AIDS in low income neighbourhoods ask for is always food, rather than medicines, counselling or care. 2. However, strange enough, food is rarely made the focus of HIV-AIDS mitigation programmes and many HIV-affected households find it difficult to follow the nutrition recommendations provided to them due to lack of access to fresh nutritious food. 3. Where food aid is used to supplement the diets of HIV-infected persons, the personnel involved rapidly recognise that this is not a sustainable solution and that a more structural solution is needed to ensure access of HIV-infected families to nutritious food and income. Local food production projects can generate both requirements. Such projects are especially effective during the early stages of HIV-infection before developing into stages requiring antiretroviral treatment (ARVs). 4. Adequate nutrition is also essential to optimize the benefits of ARVtreatment: the ARVs are more effective if the treated persons are well nourished which is normally not the case in low income neighbourhoods. It is like building a house. If you have a roof but there are no walls and no foundation, the house is not very useful. If you include drug therapy but you do not have adequate nutritious food, you will not be able to fight the infection17. ARVs may even be harmful to undernourished people. Hence, food and nutrition programmes are all the more important with the increasing access to ARV-treatment in developing countries. B. Lessons learnt regarding the impacts of urban gardening projects 1. Urban micro-farming projects have shown the following positive impacts:
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a. Higher food intake and better diets; improved health, better resistance against opportunistic infections, more physical activity, better response to treatment and delayed full blown AIDS b. Savings on food expenditures and complementary income c. Improved quality of life, less stress, more self esteem, d. Social benefits: enhanced community building and social inclusion; enhanced skills development and problem solving capacity; enhanced income earning capacity; social and ecological education of young people; reduction of crime and drug abuse e. Improved urban living climate: enhanced recycling, cleaning up derelict areas, city greening, more shade, less dust, savings on food transport and energy costs 2. The experiences of the participants and projects visited indicate that the social and nutritional impacts of community micro-farming initiatives can be greatly enhanced by: a. Realizing a strong coordination between conventional HIV-AIDS programmes (often larger scale with many health workers and home care volunteers working assisting the HIV-affected households) and CSOs and CBOs promoting urban micro-gardening (often with limited staff and resources and mainly focussing on assisting groups and providing social and technical training) b. Encouraging community centres, schools, churches and other CBOs in low income neighbourhoods to run supply centres c. Using existing institutional and community gardens as a demonstration garden, training centre and seed production and distribution unit. d. Making a systematic effort to promote home gardening (small plot, container gardening, raising small animals, mushrooms in barn or cellar, etcetera) e. Paying more attention to scale and the creation of larger allotment gardens especially close to very dense shanty towns with little possibilities for home gardens (e.g. in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, the Municipality created a 20 ha allotment garden with 1000 allotments for families with low income and HIV problems, which is provided with the recycled water of the municipal treatment plant). C. Lessons learnt regarding the resources needed for urban micro farming 1. No large tracts of land are needed for successful urban micro-farming. 20 m2 of land per family already improves nutrition substantially, with 150 m2 a family can provide most of its vegetables year round and with 500 m2, a substantial complementary income for the family can be generated (next to feeding the family) 2. Use of available micro-spaces for herbs and food production at household level has to be promoted as much as possible prior to lobbying for land with government and other institutions 3. Many community groups have been successfully acquiring access to land by approaching local councils (public land), or by acquiring land leases from local schools, hospitals, clinics, community centres, etcetera. 4. However, access to public and private land for micro-farming (especially close to low income neighbourhoods) has to be enhanced, security of land use has to be improved and a more systematic approach seems to be

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required (see recommendations below) 5. Next to land, irrigation water and fencing are essential investments for most micro-farming projects. Often micro-farming groups initially receive access to water through local schools, churches, clinics etcetera. However, this often leads in later stages to discussions on the price of the water. Investments in water harvesting infrastructure (gutters for rain water collection from roofs, drains for street storm water diversion into gardens, water tanks) or wells/boreholes or supply of water from other sources at a subsidised rate are needed in order to reduce use of drinking water and related costs. Water saving irrigation (drum, bottle and drip irrigation) and cultivation practices (ridging, mulching, no till, use of compost and teas, etcetera) can reduce water needs substantially. 6. Emerging micro-farming community groups in low income neighbourhoods also need initial provision of inputs (especially seeds and compost) and simple tools preferably in the form of a group revolving fund. Such supply can be realised through supply centres initiated by CSOs in the city. 7. Resource needs can be reduced by: a. Keeping technologies as simple as possible in the beginning (survival level) b. Using all available local sources to the maximum e.g. sourcing of inexpensive second hand tools and equipment and composting of urban organic wastes, get help in the form of transport (composted wastes) c. Training the group in growing their own seed and seedlings in seed beds and simple nurseries and the creation of seed banks and sharing seeds through networks d. Encouraging to barter agricultural products for labour, manure, compost etcetera 8. No single institution can carry the burden of financing all investments needed and providing the required technical and socio-organizational guidance: a well coordinated multi-stakeholder approach with public-privatecommunity partnerships, joint planning and shared budgeting is required (e.g. CSO or CBO: awareness raising, group building, action planning, lobbying, monitoring, problem solving and technical training; Min of Health: promotion of food production through health workers, HIV-AIDS and nutrition training, link with home based care, etcetera; Municipal Council: provision of land, fencing, water harvesting infrastructure or well; Dept. of Agriculture: provision of irrigation pipes and pumps, seeds and seedlings, animals, training of government extension officers in urban micro farming; Dept. of Education: inclusion of nutrition and gardening in the school curricula; Dept. of Planning: inclusion of UA in land use zoning and of home gardens in design of new neighbourhoods) 9. From the start of the community micro-farming activity mobilisation of group resources and savings has to be built in as a routine to develop feelings of ownerships, group discipline and accumulate some money for investments needed next season (seed, compost, etcetera) and to develop the infrastructure further. Emerging micro-farmers at survival level require a high level of subsidy in the provision of the basic infrastructure and inputs required. Also, to boost the step from one level of the development continuum to the next level,

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e.g. from survival level to subsistence, or from subsistence to livelihood level, requires substantial external input. However, the level of group savings and reinvestments should increase gradually. Financial institutions to be encouraged to provide for savings and credit schemes for/with urban farmers. D. Lessons learnt regarding community participation, organisational types of micro-farming, group building and training 1. Important steps in the development of a community micro-farming project are: Collection of available information with regards to: Policy and legislation issues regarding urban agriculture; Nature and essential characteristics of the target community, their livelihood strategies and needs; Existing farming practices and challenges; Nature and operations of the community structures Identification of institutional and local stakeholders and available resources and potential sources Sensitization of local politicians on the benefits of urban agriculture a/o in the light of the campaign against the HIV-AIDS epidemic, a/o by presentation of statistics and facts on urban agriculture in collaboration with research institutes and participation of politicians in forums and field visits Get approval and support of -and work through- existing local organizational and leadership structures; avoid conflict Careful identification and mobilization of the beneficiaries; Start small with good people; Group formation and social skills development; for existing groups: define criteria for providing technical and financial support (e.g. access to land and water with written approval of the owner; quality of leadership, etcetera) Establishment of demonstration sites; Technical training in food production in combination with nutrition, cooking and HIV/AIDS training Assist the community groups in resource mobilisation (local, with institutions and enterprises) Provision of starter packages to the beneficiaries; Establishment of basic monitoring and evaluation systems: joint definition of evaluation criteria for each stage of the development continuum; training in record keeping Mentorship programme: during one to two years a facilitator should periodically visit the groups and assist them in problem solving, conflict management, strategic planning, how to learn from their actions and the problems encountered and provide follow up training. However, facilitators should take care to prevent dependency of the group and they should understand well the requirements of each stage of the development continuum. Design of outreach and multiplication strategies; Upscaling of microfarming 2. Communities are willing to work hard to provide food to HIV/AIDS infected and affected community members as long as they receive a subsidy to cover their costs. Participants normally provide their labour for free with the hope for future subsidies, food and income.

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3. In order to prevent stigma and to overcome the problems related to the limitations of HIV-infected persons to provide their labour on a regularly basis, it is recommended that beneficiaries work in groups & share labour and that microfarming groups are open and accessible to all poor and vulnerable households in the neighbourhood, rather than restricted to HIV-infected households only. Also having a good mixture of older people (wiser, more staying power) and younger people (more innovative and working power) is important. The experience gained also indicates that it is important that groups continuously seek to include new members (to be able to overcome the problems related with high mobility and disease and death of group members). However, incoming members should be willing to work in the community garden and establish their own home garden (no free riders). A small membership registration fee is recommendable. It is recommended that the volunteers (often from HIV affected families themselves) to take part as a member in one of the groups that they are assisting, so that they share in the produce and receive an incentive for their work in that way. Since many urban people, especially male adolescents, have a negative attitude towards farm work, it is important not just to promote plot gardening (with strong association with traditional field farming) but to involve the youth in more modern types of micro-farming: mushroom growing, organic hydroponics, growing and processing medicinal herbs, vermiculture, aquaculture, raising small animals, etcetera) as well as in non-farming activities related with the garden centre like running a soup kitchen, a visitors service and restaurant, arranging for marketing and transport, waste collection and production of compost, etcetera. In this way the garden will become a vibrant centre of a variety of agriculture related, food and income earning activities for people with varying interests 4. Important reasons for failure of community micro farming projects are the following: a. Apathy and mentality (dependency, money for work) of the poor and HIVaffected families involved b. Local politics interfering in the group c. Lack of democracy and group management skills; dominating leaders d. Underdeveloped group cohesion, lack of group rules and discipline e. High mobility f. Group conflicts e.g. on leadership, tenure issues, distribution of costs (notably labour) and benefits g. Service providers and donor agencies that force the groups to formalise at a moment these are not yet ready for it. Such service providers and donor agencies apparently have little understanding of the various stages of the development continuum. h. Lack of farming knowledge and skills i. Lack of organisational, technical or financial support From the above it may be clear that many reasons for failure have to do with the socio-organizational aspects of these projects. This is why community groups that engage in farming need to be well trained and guided not only in the technical aspects but especially in group building and socio-organizational skills: overcoming apathy, creation of a spirit of community cooperation and volunteerism, mobilization of savings, group building, joint decision making and action planning, conflict management, record keeping, resource mobilisation and accounting, lobbying and advocacy, Horizontal action learning. Training should

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be undertaken after analysing the available skills in the groups/community and should build on such strengths and fill gaps. In the initial stages the group should avoid appointing formal office bearers and committees but rather work with plenary management involving all members in the decision making and implementation of group decisions through mandated groups. Volunteers should be servant leaders not decision makers. The inclusion of celebration (ilima) type of activities is very important for group building. It is also very important to develop linkages between groups engaged in microfarming so that they can learn from each other (horizontal action learning) and can develop partnerships (joint buying of inputs or selling of surpluses, joint lobbying, etcetera) Formalization and registration of community groups may enhance the access of the group to resources (e.g. subsidies). 5. Home gardens have a number of advantages for the HIV affected families over community gardens or institutional gardens: close by the home so more easy to protect from thieves; less time involved in travelling; farming activities can be performed at the moments that this is most convenient for the family and farming activities can be more easily combined with household chores, resting, etc; the family can grow the crops and raise the animals that they prefer. Storm water harvesting and reuse of household waste and grey water can easily be practiced. However, amounts of food produced often are limited due to the often limited amount of space available for farming activities around the homes in low income neighbourhoods, although with techniques as trench bed gardening, use of vertical spaces, container farming, hydroponics, etcetera good results can be achieved and an essential contribution to family diet and herbal medication can be achieved. An important disadvantage of home gardens for the participating HIV affected families is that there is less support from other families in moments of illness and chances of problems with non farming neighbours are higher in dense neighbourhoods. Through supply centres (organised by community centres, schools or other CSOs) seed and seedlings of selected crops, herbs and trees and basic tools can be supplied at low cost to large numbers of households in the most endangered communities. CSOs working in that area can supply training to the households lacking basic gardening skills. Once the HIV affected families have been trained in the skills needed and supplied with the required inputs and technical guidance, the home based microfarming activities often take off rapidly and are maintained well since the time investment is directly benefiting that same household. 6. Community driven gardens have stronger social benefits Allotment gardening is of practiced by people that do not have a home yard and have jointly been able to get access to a piece of land that is subdivided in small plots of a size sufficiently large to provide a substantial part of the family food needs. They will work their individual plot and thus maintain relative freedom as regards when to work their garden, choice of crops, etcetera. The allotment garden contributes to community building and the individual gardeners can expect more support from fellow gardeners in critical periods. The garden organisation also makes it easier to jointly buy tools and inputs at cheaper rates and to market surpluses.

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One of the disadvantages of the allotment garden for the HIV-infected household may be that they have to invest time and money in meetings and in maintaining the joint infrastructure of the allotment garden. The allotment garden may also need more investment in fencing, irrigation infrastructure, sheds, etcetera which makes it more difficult to get started and enhances the dependency on external sources of funding. Moreover, the management of the garden requires some group discipline and adherence to jointly agreed rules regarding e.g. participation in garden maintenance, soil/water management, use of chemicals, etcetera. Communal gardening refers to a group of people in similar conditions (women, orphans, PLAW, vulnerable households) that support each other in a joint farming undertaking that they individually are not able to implement. The group undertaking has a high therapeutical and instructional value for the participants. The group farming activity may yield food that is shared or wholly or partly sold to generate income. A disadvantage of this type of micro-farming may be the high requirements its poses on group management and group cohesion, setting and maintaining clear rules regarding participation in the work and the sharing in the costs and benefits. This is more strongly so, when the farming activity has a stronger commercial character. 7. Institutional driven gardens are managed by an institution (clinic, hospital, community centre, prison) often to serve their own clients (HIV patients, school children, poor or HIV affected families in the neighbourhood, prisoners, etcetera) Institutional driven gardens can spark enthusiasm for food growing in the community by demonstrating the results of such activities and offer a space for training and instruction. The institutional gardens also may be used as seed and seedlings production unit for distribution to families with the aim to stimulate home gardens (e.g. school children taking home the seeds to plant in containers and home plots) Institutional driven gardens often lack continuity due to the dependence on a few motivated staff of the institution (which have their holidays or move to other jobs). Also community participation and feelings of community ownership are much less, sometimes also due to low trust of the people in the institution concerned. Institutional driven gardens require a paid caretaker in order to ensure proper management and maintenance. E. Lessons learnt regarding appropriate technologies for urban micro-farming 1. Technologies recommended for urban micro-farming with/for HIV-Aids affected families (especially at the lower levels of the development continuum) should be easy to manage, low cost, labour saving and space saving. Some labour saving technologies are: trench gardens (once established), no till, water harvesting and drip irrigation, fast maturing plants (like indigenous plants), plants that allow continuous harvesting, etcetera. Some space saving technologies include multi-storey gardens, use of roofs and window sills (e.g. vines, medicinal herbs), cellars and barns (e.g. mushrooms, vermiculture), hanging bags and baskets, containers, green walls, tower gardening in crates, aqua trap, zero grazing units (o/a dairy), tire systems (poultry o/a) 2. Ideally the gardens should include a mix of crops: energy giving crops (e.g. potatoes and sweet potatoes), high protein crops (e.g. legumes), micro nutrient rich crops (e.g. green leafy vegetables, yellow and orange fruits), medicinal herbs (e.g. garlic, sour fig, dandelion, ginger, lemon grass),

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perennial (fruits, nuts, fodder, mulch, nutrients) and animals (fish, eggs, poultry meat, etc for protein and micro nutrients). It is important to incorporate indigenous crops (wild edible plants= imifino = traditional crops like black jack, amaranth, spider weed, cowpeas, orange fleshed sweet potato, lambs quarter, calabash, wild mustard, quick weed, etcetera, as a complement to conventional crops, since these are nutritious, easy to grow, also in marginal soils since they make more efficient use of soil nutrients and in low rainfall conditions. The crop can be harvested daily from three onwards during 4-6 months, in a period while the conventional crops are still growing. Hardly any weeding. 3. Soil fertility management is crucial to urban gardening taking into account the limited spaces available (hence need for intensive land use) and the often degraded and compacted urban soils. Double digging, trench gardening, sheet and common mulching, composting, vermiculture, use of grey water from households (including nutrients) are some of the recommended technologies 4. Since HIV-Aids affected people may be negatively affected by traces of chemical fertilizers and pesticides all urban micro-farming with /for HIVinfected people should be organic 5. In the experience of the participants the initial training in intensive microfarming will have a duration of 5 -12 days (depending the degree of farming experience of the participants and whether the training focuses on gardening only or includes animal husbandry). The follow up training requires a minimum of 12-18 monthly visits of to 1 day each. 6. Main subjects to include in technical training of urban micro-farmers are: A. For gardens: Planning and implementing a vegetable gardening project; organisation of resources and getting started; setting up and managing a group; project planning; working with money Maximum production in minimum space using very little water and all available resources (low input gardening); Planning a vegetable garden; choosing the site, laying out the garden for maximum production Properties of good soils; Soil preparation: single and double digging, trenching, Successful sowing of seed, seed-saving, thinning and transplanting; Simple plant propagation techniques Vegetable types, and their specific needs; including indigenous crops Planting techniques interplanting, succession planting, companion planting and crop rotation; Seasonal planting Protection of the garden wind, sun, heat and cold, pests, theft Growing vegetables in containers Basic garden maintenance watering, mulching, weeding, transplanting Controlling pests without poisons Fertilising the natural way; organic fertilisers and teas; mulching, compostmaking from urban organic wastes, vermiculture Harvesting and what to do with the harvest (processing, storage, proper cooking for health; marketing)

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Keeping garden records Dealing with problems experienced

in gardens - problem soils; sinking beds; unhealthy plants; pests and pest control; people problems B. for animal keeping A similar list could be prepared for keeping of animals (that preferably should be confined and stable fed). However, due to scarcity of time we could not do that during the workshop. C. General Nutrition and Basic Health and Sanitation education with a focus on HIV/AIDS, including a/o: special eating needs for people living with HIV-Aids, special needs of patients with ARVs, additional nutrition needs of pregnant and lactating women and infant feeding choices to reduce mother-child transfer; use of medicinal herbs and other local remedies for frequent health problems; promotion of key foods and nutrients; changing dietary and food preparation habits; promotion of water and food hygiene; additional feeding after infection to compensate food losses, positive living, amongst others All technical (agricultural) training should be combined with training on the above mentioned health and nutrition aspects for optimal effect.

Training in waste recycling (for income, irrigation water and nutrients) Training regarding potential health risks associated with urban farming and how to prevent these: food hygiene, simple treatment of household wastewater, proper animal waste management, proper water storage practices, etcetera F. Lessons learnt regarding Monitoring and Evaluation of Micro-farming projects
1. Monitoring and Evaluation activities have to be built in all microfarming projects. M and E is first and for all an important tool for action learning and decision making in the micro-farming groups but also generates data that are of high relevance for policy makers and funding organizations. Participatory definition of monitoring and impact evaluation criteria (e.g. frequency of meals; income; weight; costs, etcetera), establishment of a basic monitoring system, training in simple record keeping and evaluation methods has to be part of the training of each micro-farming group. 2. The evaluation criteria have to be well adapted to each stage of the development continuum (Survival. Subsistence, Livelihood, Commercial) 3. Documentation, systematization and dissemination of the lessons learnt in successful urban agriculture programmes in relation to HIVAids is urgently needed. This includes the analysis of the impacts of urban micro-farming on nutrition, health, income of HIV-infected persons and their families and related social costs and benefits of urban micro farming. G. Lessons learnt regarding main constraints for urban micro-farming 1. Important constraints encountered by the urban micro-farmers are:

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lack of adequate policies, regulations and programmes on urban agriculture due to lack of understanding of the impacts of urban agriculture among policy makers leading to a negative attitude towards urban agriculture, overemphasis of the associated risks and underestimation of the positive impacts of UA Limited access to land of water and high insecurity of land/water use Lack of external technical and financial support Lack of cooperation and coordination between national and local Government and Civil Society Organisations Lack of attention for the food security and nutrition components of HIV-AIDS programmes

RECOMMENDATIONS TO POLICY MAKERS 1. Central Government to put in place a Policy framework that recognises and supports urban agriculture as a distinct land use option in urban areas (by formulation of new or review of existing policies and regulations) 2. Municipal authorities to develop, in consultation with Civil Society, appropriate guidelines to govern the conduct and practices of Urban Agriculture as a sustainable approach to meeting the food and nutritional requirements for the urban poor, taking lessons from existing civil society UA projects. 3. Institutionalisation of urban farming in the Municipalities, e.g. by Strengthening the mandate of the Municipalities regarding agricultural activities in the Municipal area Creation of a interdepartmental office for urban agriculture and food security that stimulates and coordinates urban food production initiatives and land allocation, in close cooperation with community and farmer organizations Promoting integration of urban agriculture projects in relevant sectoral budgets (agriculture, education, health) 4. Strongly enhance public private cooperation in the design and implementation of urban food production and nutrition projects. 5. Promotion of inclusion of local food production activities in all existing HIVAIDS programmes and application of an integrated multi-sectoral approach. 6. Support knowledge accumulation and network development a/o by: Establishing a task force and resource centre on urban agriculture and food security Funding documentation of successful projects and dissemination of lessons learnt Promotion of exchange visits especially between UA-practitioners Funding applied research on urban agriculture (see also recommendation # 9) 7. Enhance access to land for urban micro farming and security of land tenure by: Provision of low cost longer term leases of public lands to micro-farming groups

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Promotion that schools, clinics, churches and private land owners establish longer term land leases with micro-farming groups (e.g. by giving tax incentives to land owners who do so) Inclusion of home and/or community gardens in the design of new settlements and slum upgrading projects Integrating urban farming into urban development plans and land use zoning Land for urban micro-farming projects should be located close to the beneficiaries residential areas in order to minimise transport costs, time and energy, ease of monitoring & security of produce, enhance participation and to facilitate supply of fresh vegetables to the community 7. Provision of funds and materials for the development of the infrastructure for micro-farming (fencing, water harvesting and irrigation infrastructure, quality seeds and seedling, compost) 8. Establishment of an integrated water policy including water harvesting, reuse of grey water, sustainable water utilization, affordable pricing, etcetera 9. Inclusion of research on issues relating to urban agriculture technology and its impacts on health, nutrition, local economy and environment in the agenda of research institutes and universities a/o by increasing funding for such research (e.g. research on sustainable water harvesting management; on economic and social costs and benefits of UA projects, on strategies to minimalize the health risks associated with urban agriculture). Research should focus on solving key problems met by urban farmers and be participatory and action oriented. Farmer knowledge and innovations have to be taken into account. 10. Stimulation of access to credit for urban farmers e.g. by providing guarantees to micro-financing institutions. The financing institutions should link up with local savings mobilization schemes and provide matching funds to savings mobilized by the communities. 11. Enhancing access to markets a/o by provision of market information and training and supporting the establishment of local farmers markets in the low income communities. 12. Incorporating urban agriculture in educational institutions e.g. school curriculum RECOMMENDATIONS TO INTERNATIONAL FUNDING AGENCIES 1. Take a long term view re development of urban farming, food security and income-raising 2. Facilitate networking and information exchange between people/organizations on the ground involved in urban micro-farming and HIVAIDS. 3. Assist organizations of urban producers to lobby for policy change and access to land and other resources 4. Support farmer led research and technology development activities on urban micro-farming 5. Support local savings and micro-credit schemes of urban producer organizations and related financing institutions

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6. Provide international expertise to assist in the formulation of policies and strategic programmes regarding urban micro-farming and HIV AIDS at city and national level 7. Support the realization of awareness campaigns and policy seminars regarding urban micro-farming and HIV-AIDS in cities in Southern Africa in cooperation with RUAF and AMICALL 8. Provide seed funding (matching funds) for community led urban microfarming projects (incl. training workshops and follow up support, infrastructure development, etcetera) organized by the participants on the basis of the lessons learnt in this study visit 9. Support the production and publication of a manual focusing at CSOs and local farmer organizations, including: a. Guidelines regarding the formulation and implementation of urban microfarming projects focusing on mitigating the effects of the HIV-AIDS epidemic in low income neighbourhoods, b. Training materials regarding the various political and institutional, socioorganizational, technical and nutritional aspects of such projects 10. Support the organization of a second study visit in countries with different socio-economic conditions than in the Republic of South Africa (initial target countries: Uganda/Kenya) that also will serve to review the progress made by the participants in this workshop

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5. FOLLOW UP ACTONS PLANNED Towards the end of the study visit all participants developed an individual action plan describing the activities to be undertaken in their own organization and programme in order to strengthen the integration of urban micro-farming in existing HIV-AIDS programmes and enhancing the focus of existing urban agriculture programmes on HIV-AIDS affected families and communities. In six month time the organizers of the study visit will contact each of the participants to monitor progress made and to assist in overcoming problems. Participants also agreed on a number of joint follow up activities, and appointed the persons/organisations responsible for coordinating each activity, resulting in the following plan: a. Preparation of a Press release with main conclusions and recommendations of the study visit (ETC-RUAF/CTA/Abalimi) b. Establishment of a regional forum on urban agriculture and HIV-AIDS with email-list serv for ongoing exchange and cooperation on urban food production and farming and HV Aids issues (ETC Urban Agriculture: Email list serv; MoA Botswana, UNAM and Kampala City: coordination) c. Production of the proceedings on the study visit (ETC-RUAF) and its publication on CTA and RUAF websites d. Production and distribution of a multi-media DVD including a video of the micro-gardening projects visited, the presentations made by the participants and the proceedings of the workshops (CTA, ETC-RUAF) e. Preparation of a proposal and generation of funds for the production and publication of a manual on urban micro-farming and HIV-Aids (Soil for Life, Abalimi and ETC-RUAF coord., CTA, and other organisations in Editorial Committee) f. Preparation of a documentary on the urban agriculture farmers movement in South Africa (Abalimi, ETC-RUAF) g. Preparation of a proposal and generation of funds for a second group Study visit on this subject (Hosting city: Kampala) in a year from now (Kampala City Council coord.) h. Share successful micro-farming technologies; establish database (Abilimi coord.; ETC-RUAF) i. Attract seed funds for community led micro-farming projects ( j. Joint formulation of a regional support programme Gardens of Hope that will supply technical assistance to local governments, NGOs and CBOs and other organizations willing to integrate urban micro farming in their HIV-AIDS mitigation programmes and so-funding for local project initiatives on Urban Microfarming and HIV-AIDS. (ETC-RUAF coord.; Core group)

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ANNEX 1 PARTICIPANTS Participants Mr. J. Woodend Country The Netherlands Organization/function Programme officer CTA Coordinator ETC Urban Agriculture / Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (RUAF) Programme Coordinator Actionaid Social Scientist ITDG Academic Researcher UNAM Chief Operation Officer Catholic Aids Action Agricultural officer Kampala City Council - Gender and Community Services Unit Senior economist Kampala City Council -District Planning Unit Agricultural Development coordinator Maputo City Council Primary Rural Sociologist Ministry of Agriculture HIV/Aids Coordinator Mbabane City Council Chief Scientist DRD-Min of E,S&T Kenya Executive Director KAIPGG Technical Inform. & Comm. Manager Project CONCERN Int. Zambia Program manager Catholic Diocese Ndola Director Food Gardens Foundation Director Food and Trees for Africa Director of Operations Soil for Life Consultant False Bay Hospital Garden Head Sparrow Rainbow Village Trainer Co-operative & Policy Alternative Centre Programme coordinator Art of Living Foundation Project Manager Institute of Natural Resources Agricultural coordinator INR Resource mobilisation Abalimi Bezekhaya Vice Chairperson Weskaap Ubuntu Farmers Union

Mr. H. de Zeeuw Mr. M. Masoka Mr. N. Sigauke Mr. A.A. Ogunmokun Mr. G. Chisenga Ms. M.S. Azuba Mr. R. Kabuuka Mr. A. Cassamo Ms. D. Keboneilwe Ms. S. P. Nxumalo Mr. J.O. Onyatta Mr. J. Onyango Mr. J.Tembo Mr. S. Chanda Fikansa Ms. H. Pheto Ms. J. Park Ms. P. Featherstone Ms. W.L. Crawford Ms. C. McClintock Ms. C. Pendula Ms. P.N. Ndashe Mr. Jon S. Mc Cosh Mr. B. Johnson Njokwe Mr. R. Small Ms. A. M. September

The Netherlands Zimbabwe Zimbabwe Namibia Zambia Uganda Uganda Mozambique Botswana Swaziland Kenya Kenya Zambia Zambia South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa South Africa

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Annex 2 Role and main sources of protein and micro-nutrients Protein What can high-protein foods do for you? Keep your immune system functioning properly Maintain healthy skin, hair and nails Help your body produce enzymes What events can indicate a need for more high-protein foods? Muscle wasting Weight loss Fatigue and weakness Frequent infections Severe edema (fluid retention) Slow growth and development in children Excellent sources of protein include beef, lamb, soybeans, tuna and shrimp. Vitamin A What can high-vitamin A foods do for you? Preserve and improve your eyesight Help you fight off viral infections What events can indicate a need for more high-vitamin A foods? Frequent viral infections Night blindness Goose bump-like appearance of the skin Although vitamin A is found only in foods of animal origin, some fruits and vegetables contain compounds, called cartenoids, which can be converted into vitamin A by your body. Food sources of preformed vitamin A include calf liver, milk, and eggs. Very good sources of cartenoids include spinach, carrots, sweet potatoes, bell peppers and kale. Vitamin B1 (thiamin) What can foods high in vitamin B1 do for you? Maintain your energy supplies Coordinate the activity of nerves and muscles Support proper heart function What events can indicate a need for more foods high in vitamin B1? Loss of appetite "Pins and needles" sensations Feeling of numbness, especially in the legs Muscle tenderness, particularly in the calf muscles Very good sources of vitamin B1 include asparagus, romaine lettuce, mushrooms, spinach, sunflower seeds, tuna, green peas, tomatoes, eggplant and Brussels sprouts. Vitamin B2 (riboflavin) What can foods high in vitamin B2 do for you? Help protect cells from oxygen damage Support cellular energy production Maintain your supply of other B vitamins What events can indicate a need for more foods high in vitamin B2? Sensitivity to light Tearing, burning and itching in and around the eyes

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Soreness around the lips, mouth, and tongue Cracking of the skin at the corners of the mouth Peeling of the skin, particularly around the nose Excellent sources of vitamin B2 include mushrooms, calf's liver, spinach and spelt. Vitamin B3 (niacin) What can foods high in vitamin B3 do for you? Help lower cholesterol levels Stabilize your blood sugar Support genetic processes in your cells Help your body process fats What events can indicate a need for more foods high in vitamin B3? Generalized weakness or muscular weakness Lack of appetite Skin infections Digestive problems Excellent sources of vitamin B3 (niacin) include crimini mushrooms and tuna. Very good sources include salmon, chicken breast, asparagus, halibut, and venison. Vitamin B6 What can foods high in vitamin B6 do for you? Support a wide range of activities in your nervous system Promote proper breakdown of sugars and starches Help prevent homocysteine build-up in your blood What events can indicate a need for more high-vitamin B6 foods ? Fatigue or malaise Anemia Skin disorders including eczema and seborrheic dermatitis Convulsions or seizures Excellent sources of vitamin B6 include bell peppers, turnip greens, and spinach. Vitamin B11 (folate) What can high-folate foods do for you? Support red blood cell production and help prevent anemia Help prevent homocysteine build-up in your blood Support cell production, especially in your skin Allow nerves to function properly What events can indicate a need for more high-folate foods? Irritability Mental fatigue, forgetfulness, or confusion Depression Insomnia General or muscular fatigue Gingivitis or periodontal disease Excellent sources of folate include romaine lettuce, spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, calf's liver, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and lentils. Vitamin B12 What can high-vitamin B-12 foods do for you? Support production of red blood cells and prevent anemia Allow nerve cells to develop properly

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Help your cells metabolize protein, carbohydrate, and fat What events can indicate a need for more high-vitamin B-12 foods? Red or sore tongue Tingling or numbness in feet Nervousness Heart palpitations Depression Memory problems Excellent sources of vitamin B-12 include calf's liver and snapper. Vitamin C What can high-vitamin C foods do for you? Help protect cells from free radical damage Regenerate your vitamin E supplies Improve iron absorption What events can indicate a need for more high-vitamin C foods? Poor wound healing Frequent colds or infections Lung-related problems Excellent sources of vitamin C include: parsley, broccoli, bell pepper, strawberries, oranges, lemon juice, papaya, cauliflower, kale, mustard greens, and brussels sprouts. Vitamin E What can high-vitamin E foods do for you? Protect your skin from ultraviolet light Prevent cell damage from free radicals Allow your cells to communicate effectively What events can indicate a need for more high-vitamin E foods? Digestive system problems, especially malabsorption Tingling or loss of sensation in the arms, hands, legs, or feet Liver or gallbladder problems Excellent sources of vitamin E include: mustard greens, chard, sunflower seeds, and turnip greens. Very good sources include almonds and spinach. Calcium What can high-calcium foods do for you? Maintain healthy, strong bones Support proper functioning of nerves and muscles Help your blood clot What events can indicate a need for more high-calcium foods? Frequent bone fractures Muscle pain or spasms Tingling or numbness in your hands and feet Bone deformities and growth retardation in children Excellent sources of calcium include milk, yogurt, spinach, turnip greens, mustard greens, and collard greens. Iodine What can high-iodine foods do for you? Help ensure proper thyroid gland functioning Ensures the development and proper functioning of the brain and nervous system

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What events can indicate a need for more high-iodine foods? Goiter (enlargement of the thyroid gland) Fatigue Weakness Depression Weight gain Concentrated food sources of iodine include sea vegetables, yogurt, cow's milk, eggs and strawberries. Iron What can high-iron foods do for you? Enhance oxygen distribution throughout your body Keep your immune system healthy Help your body produce energy What events may indicate a need for more high-iron foods? Fatigue and weakness Decreased ability to concentrate Increased susceptibility to infections Hair loss Dizziness Headaches Brittle nails Apathy Depression Excellent food sources of iron include chard, spinach, turmeric and thyme. Magnesium What can high-magnesium foods do for you? Relax your nerves and muscles Build and strengthen bones Keep your blood circulating smoothly What events can indicate a need for more high-magnesium foods? Muscle weakness, tremor, or spasm Heart arrhythmia, irregular contraction, or increased heart rate Softening and weakening of bone Imbalanced blood sugar levels Headaches Elevated blood pressure Excellent sources of magnesium include Swiss chard and spinach. Avoid overcooking to minimize loss of magnesium. Selenium What can high-selenium foods do for you? Protect cells from free-radical damage Enable your thyroid to produce thyroid hormone Help lower your risk of joint inflammation What events can indicate a need for more high-selenium foods? Weakness or pain in the muscles Discoloration of the hair or skin Whitening of the fingernail beds Excellent sources of selenium include mushrooms, shrimp, snapper, tuna, halibut, calf's liver, and salmon.

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Zinc What can high-zinc foods do for you? Help balance blood sugar Stabilize your metabolic rate Prevent a weakened immune system Support an optimal sense of smell and taste What events can indicate a need for more high-zinc foods? Impaired sense of taste or smell Lack of appetite Depression Growth failure in children Frequent colds and infections Very good sources of zinc include: calf's liver, mushrooms and spinach. Main sources used to prepare this overview: www.whfoods.com FANTA HIV/AIDS Guide 2004 WHO/FAO (2002) Living well with Aids. A manual on nutritional care and support for people living with HIV/AIDS, FAO, Rome

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Annex 3 Nutritional characteristics of selected food products


Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Vitamin B11 (Folate)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Serving size

Magnesium

Vitamine E

Vitamin A

Selenium X X

Calcium

Protein

Iodine

KCals

Beans and legumes Black Beans (boiled) Dried Peas (boiled) Garbanzo Beans (boiled) Green Beans (boiled) Kidney Beans (boiled) Lentils (boiled) Miso (Soybean) Soybean (boiled) Tempeh (cooked) Tofu Nuts and seeds Almond Flax Seeds Melon seeds (no coat) Peanuts (roasted) Pumpkinseeds (dried) Sesame seeds Sunflower seeds (dried) Grains Buckwheat (cooked) Corn (Maize, yellow) 1 cup 1 cup 155 177 X X X X .25 cup 2 tbs. .25 cup .25 cup .25 cup .25 cup .25 cup 213 95 123 235 87 235 205 X XX XX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X X 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 oz. 1 cup 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 227 231 269 234 225 230 71 298 223 86 X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X X X X X XX X X X X X X X X X X X X X X XX X X X

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Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Vitamin B11 (Folate)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Serving size

Magnesium

Vitamine E

Vitamin A

Selenium X X X XX XX XX XX XX X XX X X X

Calcium

Protein

Iodine

KCals

Maize (white) Millet (cooked) Oats Rice Brown (cooked) Sorghum Spelt Flour Tef Wheat (cooked) Fish and seafood Dagaa (dried) Halibut (broiled, baked) Salmon (broiled, baked) Scallops (broiled, baked) Shrimps (boiled) Snapper (baked) Tuna (broiled, baked) Water Hawthorn Poultry and lean meats Beef (broiled) Calfs Liver Chicken (roasted) Lamb (roasted) Turkey (roasted)

1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 2 oz.-wt 1 cup 100 gram 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt

215 286 145 216 270 189 151 280 158 262 152 112 145 158 X

X X X X X X X X

X X X X X

X X XX XX X X X X X X X X XX XX X XX X X X X X X X X X X XX X XX X

4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt 4 oz.-wt

240 187 223 229 214 XX

X XX

X X XX X X

X X X

X XX X X X

X X

XX X X XX X

XX X

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Iron

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Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Vitamin B11 (Folate)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Serving size

Magnesium

Vitamine E

Vitamin A

Selenium X X X X

Calcium

Protein

Iodine

KCals

Venison Dairy products Cheese Eggs Hen (boiled) Milk Cow Milk Goat Yogurt Butter Ghee (clanged butter) Fruits Apple Apricots Banana Blueberries Calabash Cranberries Grapefruit Grapes Kiwi Lemons Orange Papaya Pear (bartlett)

4 oz.-wt 1 oz.-wt 1 each 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 100 gr. 100 gr. 1 each 1 each 1 each 1 cup .5 cup .5 each 1 cup 1 each .25 cup 1 each 1 each 1 each

179 72 68 155 168 155 700 885 84 17 186 81 23.3 60 62 46 15 62 118 98 X X X X X X X X X X X XX XX XX

X X XX XX XX XX X XX X X X X XX XX

X X X X X X

X X X X X X

X X

X X X

X X X X X X X X X X X

X X XX XX XX X X X X X X X

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Zinc X X

Iron

Proceedings of the study visit to Johannesburg and Cape Town, South Africa (17-25 August 2005)

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Vitamin B11 (Folate)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Serving size

Magnesium

Vitamine E

Vitamin A

Selenium X

Calcium

Protein

Iodine

KCals

Pineapple Plum Prune (dried) Raspberries Strawberries Watermelon Herbs Basil Black Jack Black Pepper Cayenne Pepper Chili Pepper (dried) Cinnamon Cloves Coriander Seeds Cumin Dill Seed Ginger Peppermint Leaves Thyme Turmeric Other Honey

1 cup 1 each .25 cup 1 cup 1 cup 1 cup 2 tsp. 2 tsp. 2 tsp. 2 tsp. 2 tsp. 1 tsp. 1 tsp. 1 oz.-wt 2 tsp. 2 tsp.

76 36.3 102 60 43 49 7 11 X 26 12 X X X X X

X X X X X X

X X X X X XX X

X X

XX X X X

X X

X X X X X X X X X X X XX XX X X X X X X X X X X X X

10 8 13 X 20 8 16 X X X X

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Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin)

Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine)

Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin)

Vitamin B1 (Thiamine)

Vitamin B11 (Folate)

Vitamin B3 (Niacin)

Serving size

Magnesium

Vitamine E

Vitamin A

Selenium

Calcium

Protein

Iodine

KCals

Moringa (leaves) Coconut oil Fish-liver oil Red Palm oil Sunflower oil 100 gr. 100 gr. 100 gr. 100 gr. 900 900 890 900

X X X X

X X

Main sources used to compose this table are: www.whfoods.com UN Nutrition Policy Paper # 20 page 31-51 FANTA HIV/AIDS Guide 2004 page 75-93

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Zinc

Iron

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