NTFP Concept Note.pdf

Concept Note

FTF Zimbabwe Forests for Resilient Ecosystems and Sustainable Trade Activity

Timeframe: 2022 - 2027

Target Population: Vulnerable communities inhabiting Natural Regions IV and V, which make up about 60 percent of the total land area of Zimbabwe and where annual rainfall is less than 650 mm , has increased food insecurity, as well1 as reduced household nutrition and income

Purpose: The FTF Zimbabwe Forests for Resilient Ecosystems and Sustainable Trade activity aims to improve the resilience of vulnerable and marginalized communities (particularly women and youth) through increased incomes and strengthened environmental stewardship from the commercialization of non-timber forest products in Zimbabwe. This will contribute to achieving USAID/Zimbabwe’s Economic Growth and Humanitarian Assistance and Resilience Development Objective: Increased resilience of targeted vulnerable populations through Sub-purpose 1.1: Livelihood opportunities and incomes expanded; Sub-purpose 1.2: Community coping capacity increased; and Sub-purpose 1.3: Nutrition outcomes improved. Under the draft Mission CDCS, it will also contribute to the three Development Objectives (DOs): DO 1 - the ability of Zimbabweans to sustainably adapt, mitigate and recover from shocks and stressors strengthened; DO 2 - Youth productively contribute to Zimbabwe’s development progress; and DO 3 - Good governance at all levels and across key sectors improved.

As a community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) activity, the Activity will support Agency climate change adaptation, resilience, private sector engagement, and biodiversity objectives by partnering with communities in the semi-dry Natural Regions IV and V of the country where non-timber forest products (NTFPs) have been shown to have significant advantages over traditional agriculture and horticulture in terms of drought resistance and productivity (Annexes 1 & 2). Natural Regions IV and V make up about 60 percent of the total land area of Zimbabwe where annual rainfall is less than 650 mm with frequent seasonal2 droughts, erratic rainfall and severe dry spells resulting in low agricultural production and productivity, leading to significant food insecurity, as well as reduced household nutrition and income.

Therefore, U.S. government interventions in Zimbabwe will support both agricultural and environmental objectives that would positively impact climate change adaptation, sustainable forestry, biodiversity protection, and the mitigation of human-wildlife conflict. Investment in non-timber forest products (NTFPs) offers the potential to ameliorate the decline of Zimbabwe’s food, forests, and biodiversity while supporting private sector-led growth and generating economic opportunities for rural communities, including disadvantaged groups such as youth and women.

2 https://www.fao.org/3/a0395e/a0395e06.htm

1 https://www.fao.org/3/a0395e/a0395e06.htm

Background: Zimbabwe’s self-reliance and the resilience of its people depend on the productivity of its natural resources, principally land, water, and fauna. Yet Zimbabwe’s agricultural production, forests, and biodiversity are in steep decline due to climate events (such as the 2019 Tropical Cyclone Idai that caused catastrophic damage and a humanitarian crisis in Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi), increased poverty, population growth, poor land use planning, and weak governance. The decline in agricultural production, especially in Natural Regions IV and V (which make up about 60 percent of the total land area and where annual rainfall is less than 650 mm , with frequent seasonal droughts, erratic rainfall, and severe dry3 spells) has exacerbated food insecurity and reduced household nutrition and income.

Of the nearly 6,000 species of indigenous plants found in the country, some 900 of them have traditional use as food, cosmetics or medicine within these two Natural Regions and are supplementary sources of income for 60 - 70 percent of rural households who live there . The4

NTFPs provide food, medicinal, cosmetic, and ornamental products. These products include fruits and nuts, medicinal plants, resins, essences, barks and fibres such as bamboo, rattans, and palms and grasses. As native species, NTFPs are well adapted to the Zimbabwean climate and are more resilient to changing weather patterns than non-native tree/crop species. NTFPs also create strong incentives for forest conservation, protecting biodiversity. Intact forests in turn provide ecosystem's services, such as water filtration and storage, and slope stabilization to reduce landslide risk. These support climate adaptation and resilience. The plantations have been shown to reduce incidences of human-wildlife conflicts versus traditional Zimbabwean farming crops such as maize or melons. NTFPs offer the potential for market-led approaches to boost resilience through income generation and by reducing negative environmental impacts. For example, return on investment (mainly return on labour) is much higher than from any of the major cash crops. For example, in Mutoko and Mudzi districts, it is USD 62.80 for Mobola seed and USD 14.08 for Sour Plum compared to 1.68 for groundnuts, which is the major cash earner in the two districts.

With the growing awareness of the nutritional and health benefits that NTFPs offer, there has been an increased demand to commercialize. For example, baobab fruit has been granted a novel foods clearance by the EU and can be exported from Zimbabwe. There are also several companies in Zimbabwe and in the region that buy and process NTFPs, and are ready to offer markets to rural producers . Most of these markets are in the early phase and can offer long-term5 incomes to producers if resources are managed responsibly. However, the potential to commercialize has consequences not only on resource demand, but also on its supply chain organization and product quality. Donors and development partners’ efforts in the 1990s focused more on promoting NTFPs for supporting livelihoods for subsistence but the recent increase in demand and popularity supports the focus on commercialization of these products. Research shows that 80 percent of community members involved in the NTFP business are women, thereby creating income generation opportunities for their households.

5 Final NTFP Assessment Report (December 2021)

4 Final NTFP Assessment Report (December 2021).

3 https://www.fao.org/3/a0395e/a0395e06.htm https://drive.google.com/file/d/1eUwIzMUaDs2yg8TkZDSI3ZwxaY99IsOC/view?usp=sharing

According to findings from a previous Mission and EU co-funded three-year activity (October 2011 – December 2014) on NTFPs , a two-week consultation with key stakeholders in6

November 2021, an NTFP assessment report of December 2021 and a desk research, Chipinge,7

Chimanimani and Chiredzi districts are endowed with baobab trees that grow naturally on communal and resettlement land with a smaller portion growing on private land. Mudzi and Mutoko districts in Mashonaland East are new baobab producing areas while Chivi, Mwenezi and Zaka districts are endowed with marula trees. Herbal teas such as Makoni and Zumbani (Lippia) are found in Nyanga and Makoni districts of Manicaland. There is a significant volume of mopane trees in Gwanda, Matobo, Beitbridge, Bulilima and Mangwe districts of Matabeleland South, Insiza and some parts of Matabeleland North. Beekeeping and honey production is in abundance in Murehwa and Marondera in Mashonaland East, in Chimanimani in Manicaland province, and Hurungwe in Mashonaland West. There are also pockets of wild plums, wild8 melons and mobola plums (hacha) in Hwange, Mudzi and Mutoko .9

Other lessons learned from the previous three-year award that was co-funded by the Mission and the EU included:

• Smallholder farmers can produce products that are highly competitive locally, regionally and internationally if provided adequate training, linkages and resources;

• Collection and processing of products are time-consuming hence the need to devise and improve the processing techniques so as to quicken the process;

• Participation of more private sector companies should be encouraged;

• Commercialization of the products will significantly increase household incomes thereby improving the livelihoods, resilience and living standards of the communities, especially of women and youth;

• Fairtrade certification will result in fair and stable prices, as well as enabling farmers or producer groups to receive premium prices for quality products; and

• The number of participants from the community is often low but increases when the communities realise the financial gains.

Challenges: Challenges with NTFPs include:

• Lack of technologies for harvesting, collecting, storing and processing of fruits have resulted in poor quality of products;

• There is a potential of over exploitation due to poor natural resources management practices;

• Inappropriate packaging and labelling inhibits premium pricing for the products;

• Poor community negotiation skills with the private sector results in exploitation of the local communities and create resentments;

9 Bio Innovation Zimbabwe, Local plants for global markets presentation, November 2021

8 HWA, BIZ, Inclusive PPA – Business Model for Developing Underutilized Plants to improve Food security in Zimbabwe, October 2011 – December 2014 Final Narrative Report, 2014

7 Final NTFP Assessment Report (December 2021).

6 NTFP Program Final Evaluation Report.docx.pdf https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vHiigkmZsnkve9zer44swGFoGg1FcvI5/view?usp=sharing

• Some communities often renege on contractual agreements with marketers in order to secure better offers from middlemen who are not consistent patrons, thereby discouraging further investments by marketers who are more consistent;

• Delay in payments by marketers for commodities supplied demotivates local communities;

• Strong competition from neighbouring Southern African countries distract external investors in the sector e.g. honey in Zambia is USD 0.70 per kilo but is USD 3.0 in Zimbabwe. These huge pricing gaps impact both international and domestic sales of these products and in some cases, these products are imported from neighboring countries for sales and consumption.

• The operation of the non-timber forest products value chain is not demand driven, but is exploited based on availability and exigency for supplemental income, which impacts quality and quantity of supplies, thereby reducing the income generation potential of the producers;

• Lack of capacity building of value chain actors from production, collection, harvesting, transportation, storage and processing of the products results in poor quantity and quality that do not meet market demands;

• Inadequate accessibility and adaptability of low-cost technologies increases labor costs, which demotivates women and youth;

• Inadequate capacity building of community groups (particularly women and youth) in governance inhibits the sustainability of the groups to negotiate contract terms with local and international marketers;

• Poor biodiversity conservation practices increase negative climate change impacts, and increase human-wildlife conflicts;

• During the November - February cropping season, communities are more focused on crop production than on non-timber forest products

Activity Goal and Development Hypothesis

The goal of the Activity is to improve the resilience of vulnerable and marginalized communities (particularly women and youth) through increased household incomes and strengthened environmental stewardship from the commercialization of non-timber forest products in Zimbabwe

Therefore, If the capacity building of NTFP value chain actors significantly increases commercialization of the products, and private sector investments in appropriate infrastructure results in sustainable production and processing of quality products that meet the stringent market requirements, and vulnerable communities are able to sustainably manage and have equitable access to NTFP resources, then the resulting increased production, productivity and premium prices will increase household income, improve household nutrition and resilience, improve the sustainability of NTFPs, and contribute to environmental conservation.

When frequent seasonal droughts, erratic rainfall, and severe dry spells occur, which result in crop failure and/or livestock losses, the commercialization of the NTFP will enable vulnerable households to have alternative livelihoods to procure food for the households and purchase agricultural inputs such as seeds, calves, and fertilizers for the next cropping season.

Geographical Coverage: The coverage of the Activity will be demand-driven, based on consultations with the local and international marketers who are expected to procure these products on a competitive basis. Based on these consultations, NTFPs with the most market demand will be selected and the Activity will operate in those communities where these selected products can be best commercialized.

Risks and assumptions critical to this activity

Risks:

• Incidences of COVID-19 variant outbreaks, limiting in-country travels and disrupting demand and supply in the global markets;

• Pesticides and heavy metal from agricultural and mining activities contaminating NTFPs;

• Instability in the country following the run up to, during and after 2023 local and national elections;

• Local regulations and Nagoya protocol ;10

• Unreliable supply of NTFPs due to low productivity caused by poor production practices, and also as a result of inefficient transportation and processing methods; and

• Over-exploitation of non-timber forest trees due to increased profits from the commercialization of NTFPs.

Assumptions:

• Commitment of the private sector to contribute matching funds for implementation of the

Activity;

• Availability and adaptability of low-cost technologies for production, harvesting, processing, storage and transportation of NTFPs;

• Different non-timber forest products have different production cycles that would provide sources of income throughout the year; and

• Increased afforestation and reforestation with non-timber forest trees to replace old trees or increase the number of productive trees will prevent over-exploitation.

Activity Objectives and Outcomes Increased production and supply of non-timber forest products: The Activity will engage with local and international marketers to build the capacity of value chain actors who are members of the vulnerable communities, including youth and women, to acquire skills and knowledge that will enable them to increase production and productivity of and sustainably manage NTFPs. The capacity building efforts will be through a market facilitation approach that will ensure the sustainability of interventions and expand the reach of the Activity. Processors, transporters, and warehouse operators will also be enabled to acquire the skills and knowledge for the processing, storage and transportation of products that meet international market requirements. The use of low-cost technologies will also be promoted for adoption towards enabling the participation of both women and youth. The Activity will also promote improved nutrition through two nutrition

10 The three objectives of the protocol are the conservation of biological diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilisation of genetic resources. Zimbabwe rectified the protocol in 2017.

pathways of production for consumption and production for increased household income for purchase of nutritious foods.

The outcome of the interventions will be increased production efficiency that reduces costs, making the products more competitive in regional and international markets; increased production scale and quality to meet the domestic and international market requirements;

increased employment opportunities especially for the most vulnerable, during the off-season agricultural period of March - October; and increased household income and nutrition as a result of the increased supply and quality of, and income from, NTFPs. Beneficiaries of other Mission-funded activities (Offices of Humanitarian Assistance & Resilience, Health, Population & Nutrition, and Democracy & Governance) will be positively impacted by this Activity.

Increased investments by local, regional, and international marketers: The Activity will partner with local, regional, and international marketers to invest in the communities and on infrastructure that will ensure supply of quality products that meet international standards.

Selected NTFPs will be demand-driven based on analyses of assessment reports that have been funded by the Mission and provided by stakeholders, and on consultations with local and international marketers in order to ensure that the target NTFP products are readily accepted in international markets and command premium prices. Target districts will be those districts where the NTFPs of most commercial value are of harvestable commercial quantities.

Local and international marketers will be expected to match USAID funding as they will also be beneficiaries of the commercialization of the NTFPs. They will also facilitate capacity building on certification, traceability and strengthening access benefit sharing, which will increase the value and acceptability of the products in local and international markets.

The outcome of these interventions will be strengthened resilience of vulnerable and marginalized communities (particularly women and youth) through increased access to low-cost technologies and infrastructure, and increased employment opportunities, which will enable them to adapt to, recover from and mitigate shocks and stresses. Researches have shown that 80 percent of the community members involved in NTFPs business are women. Youth will also be incentivized through the introduction of low-cost technologies.

Improved Natural Resource Management: The Activity will build the capacity of communities (particularly women and youth) on improved natural resource management practices that promote biodiversity, support climate adaptation, and reduce human-wildlife conflicts through increased reforestation, afforestation, and sustainable forest management practices. Afforestation and reforestation with non-timber trees will reduce or prevent emission of greenhouse gases, desertification, and recharge groundwater supplies by increasing infiltration thereby storing and filtering drinking water, increasing water quality and quantity for millions of people. Climate trends in Zimbabwe are negatively impacting erosion and landslides. Therefore, improved natural resource management from this Activity will help mitigate these climate change risks by increasing the ‘binding capacity’ of the soil, and reducing soil erosion from surface water runoff.

These interventions will also provide tree shade, biodiversity habitat, and perspiration to produce cooling effects during extreme weather. Focus will also be on new technologies and renewable energies to promote more energy-efficient operations as well as changing beneficiary behavior on sustainable natural resource management.

Communities will be provided resources and training to adopt practices that prevent human-wildlife conflicts. The Activity will also facilitate the establishment of community groups, and promote social cohesion building within them towards preventing communal conflicts and ensuring that Activity interventions “do no harm” within the communities. Local and international marketers will be engaged to support these natural resource management, biodiversity, and social cohesion measures as these will enable the continued supply of quality NTFPs that meet international market requirements.

The outcome of the interventions will be a significant reduction in human-wildlife conflicts as a result of improved afforestation and reforestation of non-timber trees, improved harvesting, processing, storage, and transportation of the produce and products, and reduced encroachment on wildlife habitat, homesteads and farms. There will also be an increased number of healthy non-timber forests that will ensure sustainable supply of NTFPs.

Activity Startup: The Activity is anticipated to be awarded by August 2022. Activity design will be in partnership with local and international marketers, and with the local communities to ensure that the scope of the Activity is inclusive of everyone in the communities. A mapping exercise will also be undertaken to identify other donor-funded NTFP activities, which will be engaged with for collaboration and coordination to leverage resources. The consultation with these partners and the design of the Activity will be completed by March 2022.

Resources: The total estimated cost of the Activity is USD 13.0 million. A matching fund from the local, regional and international marketers is anticipated. As the Activity will target NTFPs that are demand driven and aimed to meet international market requirements in quality and quantity, which will significantly benefit the marketers, it is expected that they will individually and/or collectively be willing to match USAID funding for the Activity.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning: In line with the Guidance on RCF Measurement, the Activity’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) approach will monitor progress towards resilience outcomes. This includes collecting data on beneficiaries’ resilience capacities, shocks and coping strategies, and the resources leveraged by the Activity. In addition, the MEL approach will collect data on the production and supply of NTFPs, changes in the country’s NTFP supply to the international markets, and the sustainability of the interventions. The Activity will adopt collaborating, learning, and adopting (CLA) approach to ensure that interventions that are successful are scaled up, and those that are not are modified, or dropped.

GIS data will be collected to provide information on locations of beneficiary, non-timber forest trees, value chain actors and marketers towards ensuring linkages between market actors and value chain actors in an efficient, effective and productive manner. Note that the beneficiaries of the Activity will include those of other Mission technical offices who live within the coverage area of Natural Regions IV and V. Based on the Mission Gender and Youth analyses, the Activity MEL Plan will include youth and gender indicators that will measure changes in the ability of youth and women to access productive economic resources. Appropriate indicators will also be disaggregated by sex and age. Success stories and lessons learned will be widely disseminated to facilitate collaboration and leveraging of resources with other donor agencies and organizations.

Illustrative indicators include:

• EG.3-2 Number of individuals participating in USG food security programs

• EG.3.1-14 Value of new USG commitments and private sector investment leveraged by the USG to support food security and nutrition

• EG.3.2-24 Number of individuals in the agriculture system who have applied improved management practices or technologies with USG assistance

• EG.11-1 Number of people trained in climate change adaptation supported by USG assistance

• EG.11-4 Amount of investment mobilized (in USD) for climate change adaptation as supported by USG assistance

• RESIL-1 Number of host government or community-derived risk management plans formally proposed, adopted, implemented or institutionalized with USG assistance

• Number of natural resource management plans developed

• Number of people with improved economic benefits derived from sustainable natural resource management and/ or biodiversity conservation as a result of U.S. Government assistance

• Percent of revenue from conservancy activities going to communities

• YOUTH-3 Percentage of participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources who are youth (15-29)

• GNDR-2 Percentage of female participants in USG-assisted programs designed to increase access to productive economic resources

Locally Led Development: The Activity will emphasize local capacity development approaches where local actors including communities and the private sector are empowered to lead priority-setting, decision-making, management, measurement, and other processes through which development assistance contributes toward improving systems and outcomes for development.

Local actors will be actively consulted in determining appropriate interventions to be developed and strengthened in line with the commercialization of the NTFPs. In addition to increasing resilience and incomes, this Activity will also strengthen the capacity of local actors to manage their environment and natural resources in line with the Agency’s draft Local Capacity Development Policy.

ANNEXES

Annex 1: Description of the Natural regions of Zimbabwe

Natural

Region

Area

(000 ha)

% of total land area

Annual rainfall Farming Systems

(mm)

I 613 1.56 > 1 000. Rain in all months of the year, relatively low temperatures

Suitable for dairy farming forestry, tea, coffee, fruit, beef and maize production

II 7 343 18.68 700-1 050. Rainfall confined to summer

Suitable for intensive farming, based on maize, tobacco, cotton and livestock

III 6 855 17.43 500-800. Relatively high temperatures and infrequent, heavy falls of rain, and subject to seasonal droughts and severe mid-season dry spells

Semi-intensive farming region.

Suitable for livestock production, together with production of fodder crops and cash crops under good farm management

IV 13 010

33.03 450-650. Rainfall subject to frequent seasonal droughts and severe dry spells during the rainy season

Semi-extensive region. Suitable for farm systems based on livestock and resistant fodder crops. Forestry, wildlife/tourism

V 10 288 26.2 < 450. Very erratic rainfall.

Northern low veldt may have more rain but the topography and soils are poor

Extensive farming region.

Suitable for extensive cattle ranching. Zambezi Valley is infested with tsetse fly. Forestry, wildlife/tourism

Source: Adapted from Moyo, 2000; Vincent and Thomas, 1961.

Annex 2: Natural regions of Zimbabwe