Quarterly Report, Jan-Mar 2015: Integrated Brakna Recovery Initiative (iBRI)

The project aims to increase agricultural production through training in various themes, including small ruminant; cattle feed, agricultural equipment, and seed fairs. It also aims to restore community assets through the beneficiaries' participation in voucher for work, cash for work, cash transfer, and savings and loan activities. During the January-March 2015 quarter, the following activities were conducted in 64 target villages: training of staff and 2 Field Agents in Savings and Internal Lending Communities (SILC) modules, monitoring SILC groups, distributing unconditional cash transfers, raising community awareness of post-harvest storage, and distributing market gardening seeds. A total of 31.2 million MRO ($107,958) was distributed to 2,400 vulnerable households. Additionally, 662 people, including 448 women and 214 men, were trained in post-harvest storage techniques, and 872 people, including 536 women and 336 men, were introduced to the feedback mechanism system. The project's main achievements during this quarter include the training of 10 project staff members and 2 new Field Agents in the 8 SILC modules, the distribution of market gardening seeds, and the second refresher training of Cohort 1 SILC Field Agents. The master farmers strategy involved training 504 farmers, including 130 men and 374 women, in conservation agriculture techniques, animal health, and cattle feeding. The master farmers were then dispatched to share their knowledge with 19 program beneficiary villages. The SILC program saw significant growth during the quarter, with 29 new groups created and the number of members increasing from 1,411 in December 2014 to 2,282 in March 2015. The groups saved an additional MRO 1,950,670 ($6,750), increasing the cumulative total to MRO 3,473,645 ($12,019). A total cumulative value of MRO 2,150,000 ($7,439) in loans was granted within 25 groups, with an average of MRO 26,875 ($93) per group. The project's success stories and lessons learned highlight the importance of information sharing and collaboration with administrative and local authorities. The USAID/OFDA-funded Integrated Brakna Recovery Initiative (iBRI) is responding to the needs of Mauritania's most vulnerable households by providing critical recovery assistance through small ruminant; cattle feed, agricultural equipment, and seed fairs, as well as various trainings on conservation agriculture techniques. The project aims to restore community assets and increase agricultural production, ultimately improving the livelihoods of the target households. The project's geographic focus is on the Brakna Sud region, Mauritania, and the timeframes for the project are from May 2014 to October 2015, with monitoring and evaluation activities conducted through January 2016 to cover the harvest period. The project's recommendations and implementation details are outlined in the project's quarterly report, which provides a comprehensive overview of the project's progress and achievements.