Quarterly Progress Report: Building Resilience in Eastern Chad (BREC)

The program's primary goal is to increase the ability of these populations to support themselves in a sustainable manner. The BREC program focuses on two main sectors: Agriculture and Food Security (AFS) and Economic Recovery and Market Systems (ERMS). In the AFS sector, the program has distributed 39.7 metric tons of peanut seeds to 794 farmer groups, with a target of 3,500 groups. The seeds were procured from suppliers in Goz Beida, and sample seeds were put to physical verification and germination tests by the National Office for Rural Development (ONDR) agronomists. The program also distributed 30 farmer toolkits, with a target of 794 groups. In the ERMS sector, the program has identified the need to train 90 women groups in the ROSCA principles, with a target of 90 groups. However, due to delays in seed distribution and procurement, the program was unable to start the ERMS activities as planned. The program also aims to support microfinance activities, with a target of 450 women receiving financial services. The BREC program has faced several challenges, including delays in seed distribution due to procurement requirements, long distances between seed stocks and target villages, and slight delays in grant approval. The program has also experienced transportation challenges due to degraded roads and heavy rainfall. Despite these challenges, the program has made progress in distributing seeds and tools to farmers' groups. The upcoming quarter will focus on continuing the distribution of rainy season inputs, conducting training for farmers' groups and women ROSCA members, and implementing System of Crop Intensification (SCI) activities. The program will also focus on transplanting millet and sorghum seedlings. The rainy season in Eastern Chad is expected to be heavy, which may pose challenges to the program's activities. The BREC program has received recognition from the Micro Credit Minister, who congratulated WCDO for its progress in sustaining women in Sila Region. The program has also received support from other partners, including UNDP, FAO, and WFP, who are satisfied with WCDO-Chad's decision to shift to Ade sub-prefecture to implement the newly OFDA-funded project. The program's collaboration and coordination efforts have been strengthened through participation in a discussion forum with a government mission, which discussed microfinance and microcredit. The program has also initiated a pilot of Systematic Crop Intensification (SCI) principles, with training to take place in the next quarter.