Food Security and Climate Adaptation

Food Security and Climate Adaptation in Ntjanini and Sigwe communities

After three years of working in the two communities (see
Local Champions: Models for Sustainable Livelihoods), the project was able to achieve positive behavioral change visible in improved household livelihoods of the 240 beneficiaries. Further, it was noted that other households which were not targeted by the project had started on their own practicing some of the activities that were promoted by the project. However, the evaluation at the end of the project Local Champions: Models for Sustainable Livelihoods has revealed remaining challenges but also best practices that could boost the impact of the project. An example of a challenge observed is that food storage is practiced but not reaching its full potential due to low maize yields during the rainy season. Furthermore indigenous chickens destroy backyard gardens in the absence of resistant enough fencing. Hence, acknowledging the experiences shared by the beneficiaries and the reflections done by ACAT, sahee supported the idea of adding a two year consolidation phase aiming at extending the positive changes while addressing the specific challenges. Furthermore, during this phase of the project, the whole community shall be involved in elaborating a Local Adaptation Plan (LAPs), a nationally recognized instrument for empowering communities to identify and prioritize action for development and climate change adaptation, that shall be used for taking action locally as well as for facilitating cooperation with governmental actors or NGOs. The two year consolidation project shall show the potential of the Sustainable Household Model approach (see
Local Champions: Models for Sustainable Livelihoods) to be replicated or up-scaled and result in LAPs providing a base for further local, national and international development interventions.

Project site

Shiselweni Region / Ntjanini and Sigwe communities (Map)

Beneficiaries

Women: 235 benefit directly and around 2500 indirectly
Men: 5 benefit directly and around 100 indirectly
Children under age 16:1200 benefit directly and around 12000 indirectly