The Zest Project Report

7/31/2019 The Zest Project Report

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TH E ZEST PROJECT REPORT (Sun da y, July 10 , 20 11)

As th e ZEST (ZAN ZIBAR ENTERPRISE AND SUSTAIN ABLE TOURISM ) manage r/ coo rd inat o

th e past few m ont hs, I have engaged w ith several ZEST project net w orks of part ners by liaisiand having direct cont act w ith som e of the stakeholders, partner project fu nders, thebeneficiaries, partner netw ork pr oject coordinat ors and also pot ential organizations thinkingabout collaborat ing wit h the ZEST pro ject. I am cur rent ly wo rking w ith CARE INTL. in th eiJOCDO project headed b y W innie, to m ake an assessment on po tent ial donors, and also com iw ith t he m ost cost effective system of creating a market linkage betw een the b eneficiaries atou rism and private sector.

In Zanzibar, agriculture is by far the m ost imp ort ant source of em ploym ent. About 75% of tpopu lation benefits from revenues directly or indirectly induced from the Agricultu ral sectoThe inform ation I gathered from visiting partner project sites, suggest that , agriculturalprod uctio n is pred om inant ly subsisten ce, small scale and largely rainfed.

As result of t hat, the netw ork of partner s have collaborated in the m ost efficient and pristim anner, by involving the comm unities they w ork w ith in new pr ofit generating schemes likCom m unit y Banking, Food Processing, Hand icraft, Pott ery, M aricultur e Fish Ponds, Poultry etc.

W orking closely with t he netw ork of part ner projects, and having their full cooperation, I w

successfully able to achieve and or w ork on the follow ing: Accurate data collection , w here necessary Development of sustainable m echanism to support long term growt h Cluster creation and developm ent M arket linkage betw een the agricultural sector and to urism sector Prom otion and developm ent of Uw amw ima farm ers associat ion Ability to int eract w ith ot her cross funct ional organizations for possible futu re

collaboration Devise a long term strategy to support cont inues grow th of t he farm ers income &

sustainability M ade an assessm ent of th e econom ic imp act (inform ation directly from the

beneficiaries) Developm ent of synergies am on gst part ners, sponsors, benef iciaries and proje ct

coordinators


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Below , are profiles of som e of the net w ork of partners and w hat ha ve achievetoday a nd t he challenges they face.

U WA M W I M A

Project nam e:Uw amw ima Vegetable Producers Farmers Association

Project goal:To increase vegetable production o f t he m em bers and create a long term m arketlinkage and sust ainability

Benefits and Grow th

D IRECT BEN EFITS:

Vicobas-village com m unity banking has mo bilized comm unity savings to create a cred

schem e for the farm ers to borrow for t heir farm activities. Tw enty such banks havebeen form ed w ith a circulation capital of TZS 12.000.000 and a m em bership of over 3small ho lder farm ers. They save because th ey have the w ill and the excess.

There are meet ing sheds. There are charcoal cold stores. There is bulking, grading, stor age and group m arket ing of th e vegetables. Field extension services. Seed supp ly store. Demonstrat ion farms.

Drip irrigation Technology. Office and cold storage. Office staff and facilities.

INDIRECT BENEFITS:

M ore land is put into use. M ore food is produced. M ore groups are formed. Idling by t he yout h is scaled dow n. Bore holes are in dem and to supplem ent t he rain fed crops. The com m unity is on t he learning spree

Challenges

W ater scarcity, Financial constraints, Delayed paym ent from agents and hot els Lim ited land pieces, High transport atio n cost,


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U W Z

Project nam e:Tandarusi Handicraft Project fo r W om en w ith Disabilities

Project goal:

Strength ening the capacity of pe ople and guardians of people w ith d isabilities to participateentrepreneu rial developm ent in Urban and W est Districts, through addressing skills deficienresources and gender inequ ality.

Project objective:

Econom ic em pow erm ent fo r sm all holder peop le wit h disabilit ies handicraft p roducers th rom arket oriented hand icraft pr oduction in Urban and W est Districts of Central Unguja

Project nam e: M tende Vegetable Farming Project for People w ith Disabilities

Project goal:

Strength ening the capacity of pe ople and guardians of people w ith d isabilities to participateentrepreneu rial developm ent in M tende, t hrough addressing skills deficiency, resources andgender inequality

Project objective:

Economic emp ow erment for small holder farm ers with d isabil it ies through m arket orientedvegetable and fru it pr oduction in Sout h district of Sout h Unguja Region.

Achievem ents and Goals

These projects target specific disabled groups of people w ithin the respectivecommuni t ies

A m ajor goal of Zanzibar Association o f the Disabled is the fu ll participation of alldisabled peoples in t he m ainstream of life, particularly tho se in ru ral areas that formthe vast m ajority of th e country s disabled peoples population.

The organization s priorit y issues are education , sustainable livelihood s and hu m an

rights advo cacy. The projects have show n very significant grow th since their inception t o date. The projects have reached over 1 60 disabled peop le that are direct ly involved in th e

activities.


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The projects provide meaningful employm ent t o people w ith disabilities and otherfam ily m em bers w ho pro vide labor at various stages of produ ction and m arketing of products.

The groups w hich include disabled peop le, guardians & parent s of children w ith

disabilities and ot her fam ily mem bers has brought people w ith d isabilities together t om eet openly and work t ogether and interact w ith custom ers and com m unity mem berw hich w ere not p ossible before.

The confidence am ong t he peop le wit h disabilities involved in th ese projects isincreasing as a result of t he im pact on at titu de and behavioral change and redu ction ostigm a and discrim ination.

The econom ic im pact from the p rojects has significantly imp roved th eir standards ofliving actually transform ing their roles with in th e fam ily.

Anot her significant social im pact is the visibility of p eople w ith disabilities in the

comm unity. The products from the projects have emerged to be popular within t hecomm unity. The em erging visibility and acceptance of people w ith d isabilities canlargely be att ribu ted t o t he pro jects. Ent erpr ise activities also are directly changingcustom er s behavior tow ards people w ith disabilities


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All along w ithin Zanzibar, people w ith disabilit ies have been view ed and t reated as recipientw elfare and m ost Governm ent institu tions and civic organizations including ZanzibarAssociation of the Disabled, have focused on m edical, welfare and ot her charitableintervent ions to suppo rt p eople w ith d isabilities. This approach has left m any w ho could

participate in produ ctive activities dependent, po or and vulnerable.The em erging results from t his project pro ve that people w ith disabilities, given oppor tun itcan be econom ically active, contribut e to th e econom y and do not need h andout s.

Since povert y not on ly leads to disabilit y, but also allow s few concessions for t he need s andaspirations of people wit h disability, these projects aim t o provide role m odels of how to :

Imp rove social participation Econom ically empo w er Address gender equit y Equalize oppo rtu nities Increase visibility of peop le w ith d isabilities in societ y Build t he confidence, self-esteem , pride and overcom e discrim ination against people

w ith disabilit ies and Bring about att itudinal change by families and com m unities tow ards people w ith

disabilities.

Interaction

In th e initial stages the interaction w ith the groups w as done o n d aily basis during skills trainand project implem entation, however, after im plement ation mon itoring is done on w eeklybasis and afterw ards by the field staff. The idea is to allow t he groups operate indep endentlyw ith m ento ring done once every three m ont hs. The capacity of field staff and local volunteehas been enhanced to provide support to t he groups.

Challenges

Lack of resources (financial) by partn er organizatio n to allow reach of ot her disabledpeoples groups as well as enhancing capacity o f t he p rojects. Apart f rom these project

that h ave VSO suppo rt, there are no ot her projects that have been im plem ented bypartner organization.

M ajority of people w ith lack education and skills which m akes it difficult to initiatecomp etitive projects that can com pete in the lucrative tou rist m arket.


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ZAFFIDE

Project nam e:Developing Sm all-Scale Com m un ityM aricultureProject s in Zanzibar as anAltern ative Sustainable Livelihoo d

Project goal:

The project 's goal is to im prove t he quality of life of t he coastal comm unities in Zanzibarthro ugh small-scale m aricultu re using appropriate and sustainable culture t echnologies and tproject targets tho se poor com m unity groups wh o are already involved in m aricultureinitiatives.

Project objective:

Initially the pr oject started w ith m ud crab fattening that later extends into fish farm ing and

value addit ion t echniques. The pro ject is skills-specific and having to capacitate t he righttechnology for th ose poor com m unities who are already involved and have background onm ariculture, w ould reduce the use of resources to achieve sustainability. M oreover, the t argroups were chosen according to geographical locations that m eets the requirem ents ofestablishing m aricultu re syste m s i.e. fish pond s, crab cages.


Other com m unity grou ps around Unguja and Pem ba have expressed interests to gettr aining and engage in fish farm ing activities.

Technical trainings and capacity building for appro priate m ariculture technologies Operational/f unctional mariculture system / structures; Income p roceeds upon harvests of cultured f ish and crabs; Com m unity empow erment of taking care their environm ent (m angroves and i ts

associated resources to be specific); M onet ary benefits in term s of labor assistance in t he research; Increase of up t o 15% of prof it sharing, after th ey w ere trained to p repare the foo d fo

the fish and m ud crab

Interaction (32 hours w eekly) Personal meetings Electron ic mail Telephone conversation


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Challenges

Lim ited seed stock supply to expand t echnology especially m ud crab W eather condit ions W orking ethics, cultures and comm itm ent of comm unity groups Financial constraints (for examp le release of funds for the m ariculture activities were

hindered by t he Sector program office and heavy w ork overload to carry the t ask Transparency on comm unication and release of funds from the sector program office. The mar icultur e activit ies have been halt ed, especially th e research and crab n ursery

techniques where recom m endation for expanding m ud crab fattening is specificallyanchored

CARE INTL.

Project nam e: JOCDO and PESACA (Com m unit y Banking f or Jozani Credit and Develo pm ent )Project goal:

To imp rove t he econom ic situation of Zanzibaris on Pem ba and Un guja Islands throughim prov ed financial services, business opp ort un ities and mark et access


Significant increase in th e village savings and loan group s (audit ed q uart erly) Capacity buildin g

Financial management know ledge Ability to expand an existing small business and or start a new one M embership request in dem and Borrow ed funds put in good use Good repayment rate

Interaction W eekly personal m eetings, Weekly Telephone conversations, M ont hly group m eeting

Challenges Lack of fun ds

Brian M TourayProject M anager

Zanzibar Ente rpr ise & Sust ainab le Tour ism (ZEST)[email protected]

Documents

The Zest Project Report