Zimbabwe Livestock for Accelerated Recovery and Improved Resiliency (ZRR) Quarterly Report July – September 2012

The project, implemented by Land O'Lakes International Development, was signed on May 16, 2012, with USAID's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). ZRR will provide training in livestock production, restock household herds, build community capacity in rangeland management, develop rangeland management plans, revive the livestock infrastructure, and link producers to markets. During the July-September 2012 quarter, Land O'Lakes trained a total of 717 farmers, with 572 trained on goat housing and dentition, and 145 on goat production as a business. The training informed farmers on the requirements for proper goat housing, such as ventilation, roofing, and adequate space for the goats to move freely. Farmers also improved their capacity to determine a goat's age by its teeth, an important tool for better management, particularly concerning breeding. The goat production business training concerned identifying business opportunities, seeking capital opportunities, calculating risk, persuasion, and networking, formulation of business plans, and information seeking. The project facilitated the formation of 10 goat producer groups, against the targeted five, with eight in Manicaland Province and two in Matebeleland Province. Four ZRR project staff participated in four weeks of training on Holistic Land and Livestock Management (HLLM) conducted by project partner Africa Centre for Holistic Management (ACHM). The training focused on herd management, land planning for grazing, holistic grazing planning, low-stress herding and humane handling, land monitoring, and improving crop field soils. After being trained, Land O'Lakes field staff carried out community mobilizations to roll out the rangeland management strategy so as to begin application of HLLM training. So far, 58 Community Livestock Workers (CLW) were identified for training and support, with the project aiming to train 50 CLWs. Land O'Lakes completed a needs assessment in Matabeleland South and Manicaland provinces, identifying five districts for activities, namely Mutare Rural, Makoni, Buhera, Bulilima, and Mangwe. The purpose of the assessment was to identify a potential partner of choice for the implementation of the ZRR project and administer a goat producer group assessment tool on existing producer groups. Two potential partners were identified, ICRISAT and CAT. The project has been in start-up mode, with main activities focused on procurement of all required assets and hiring of project staff. Project staff was recruited, except for one field officer, who will be hired in the coming quarter. The project is nearly fully staffed, with an Environmental Monitoring and Mitigation Plan (EMMP) completed and circulated to all project implementation staff. Land O'Lakes completed the ZRR baseline survey, which was submitted to OFDA on August 15th, 2012. The ZRR work plan, the EMMP, and the Performance Monitoring Plan (PMP) were also completed and submitted to OFDA during this quarter.