“Soil in a Box” gardens for fisherfolk households – fase 1

             
Location:                   Shores of Lake Victoria, Mpigi district, Nkozi, Mawokota South Constituency, Uganda

Project leadtime:     1 year

Requestor:                Richard Bbaale on behalf of Supporting Orphans And Vulnerable For Better Health, Education And Nutrition (SOVHEN)

Description of the project:

COVID-19 has forced fisherfolk households to reduce the number of meals they eat a day. 
The fisherfolk households will start and maintain a ‘Soil in a box’: this garden is unique, with a vertical design and vermin-composting system which converts 9 square feet into 36 square feet of farming space capable of growing up to 200 plants per season, such as tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes.
This project will be implemented in 2 phases.

Objectives:

• these Soil in a box gardens will avail the fisherfolk households with nutritious food and helps in combating the problem of chronic malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency.
• and can help create women entrepreneurs, because it gives them a chance to generate their own income.

Beneficiaries:

• Phase 1: 20 fisherfolk households
• Phase 2: 30 fisherfolk households

Budget:

Phase 1: 12.161.600 Uganda Shillings (+/- 2764 €)
Phase 2: 18.242.400 Uganda Shillings (+/- 4146 €)

Risks:

No major risks as Soil in a Box” garden can’t be washed away by the rains, running floods etc.

Attached documents:

Detailed budget, photos

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Follow-up of the project

Date:                    28th February 2021
 
Name project:       “Soil in a Box” Gardens - Phase 1

General status:

20 fisherfolk child headed households living with HIV/AIDS received a portable “Soil in a Box” micro-vertical garden to reduce, Post COVID-19, chronic malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency. A full Soil in a Box” wooden treated garden has 7 trays and each tray has 12 holes. This accommodates about 200 plants per season (mostly vegetables and Irish potatoes). And, at the center of this garden is a column-like vermicomposting chamber which converts waste to compost manure. We breed and place worms, which feed on organic matter to produce high quality fertilizer making the farm self-fertilizing.

Progress since last status report:

A: Assembly of 20 “Soil in a Box” gardens: 100% complete
B: Planting: 100% complete

Ongoing:
B: Planting
C: Earthworm breeding vermiculture
D: (“Soil in a Box” gardens) Maintenance
E: Agricultural Extension Services

Financial status: 

No Financial Distress-Phase 1:
Amount in Euros 2.764 €: was sufficient enough to honor project financial obligations as per the project budget allocations.

Problems/concerns:

no

Attached documents:

Photos, receipts

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Follow-up may 2021

General status:

30 fisherfolk households living with HIV/AIDS received a portable “Soil in a Box” micro-vertical garden to reduce, Post COVID-19, chronic malnutrition and micro-nutrient deficiency.
Surprising outcomes from Phase 1: 20 households are reporting as result of “Soil in a Box” Gardens: a transition from a single meal per day to 2 or more meals a day.

Progress since last status report:

A: Assembly 30 fisherfolk households (“Soil in a Box” gardens) (100% complete
B: Planting 30 fisherfolk households (“Soil in a Box” gardens) (100% complete)
Ongoing
C: Earthworm breeding vermiculture
D: Maintenance
E: Agricultural Extension Services

Financial status: 

No financial stress – phase 2:
Amount in Euros 4.146 € was sufficient enough to honor project financial obligations as per the project budget allocations.

Problems/concerns:

• heavy non-stop-rains ravaged various feeder roads affecting the project movement of our goods and services. The transport fares have more than doubled since the onset of the rain season because of the bad roads.  They have developed huge potholes and have become impassable.
• every week each household harvests about 5 kilograms of (Cruciferous vegetables and Irish potatoes) which, if not totally dried within 24 hours would acquire mold and lose their nutrients. When dried the plants could be milled.

Attached documents:

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EXTENSION 2021

Name project:          “Soil in a Box” gardens for fisherfolk households – extension
                                     
Location:                   Shores of Lake Victoria, Mpigi district, Nkozi, Mawokota South Constituency, Uganda

Requestor:                Richard Bbaale on behalf of Supporting Orphans And Vulnerable For Better Health, Education And Nutrition (SOVHEN)

Description of the project:

With the purchase of a dewatering and grinding machine, the vegetables and potatoes, yield from the vertical vegetable gardens, can be dried, ground and packed.

Beneficiaries:

About 50 fishing families will jointly use the machine to make and sell bakery products, bread and biscuits.

Budget:

9766 €

Risks:

No risks

Attached documents:

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Follow-up october 2021

General status:

The machine is fully assembled and operational. The dryer or dehydrating machine is customized with other value addition sections including weighing and washing, peeling and slicing, parboiling and milling, sieving and packaging and is powered by harvest waste with the help of solar energy to dry in in typically 7 hours irrespective of whether it is raining or shinning.
The dryer consists of 80 trays with the capacity to take in between 100-150kg of fresh material and which when dried and milled can give output of between 30-50kg a day.

Progress since last status report:

• 50 households, as a cooperative, are using the machine in shifts.
• once the products meet the requirements of the UGANDA NATIONAL BUREAU OF STANDARDS CERTIFICATION SCHEME they are allowed on the market.
• with the output of machine, between 30-50kg a day, the households make bakery products, biscuits and bread, as food supplement and source of vitamins, as well as porridge and meal flour as nutritional supplement for malnourish.

Financial status: 

The amount in € 9,766 was sufficient for the purchase of the machine and accessories.

Problems/concerns:

All the products produced by the 50 Fisherfolk’s Households cooperative, must be certified by the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) before they are allowed on the market.

Attached documents:

Photos and receipts

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EXTENSION 2022

Name project:    “Soil in a Box” gardens for fisherfolk households – extension 2
                            (infrastructure)

Location:             Shores of Lake Victoria, Mpigi district, Nkozi, Mawokota South Constituency, Uganda

Requester:          Richard Bbaale on behalf of Supporting Orphans And Vulnerable For Better Health, Education And Nutrition (SOVHEN)

Description of the project:

In order to obtain the UNBS certificate, the infrastructure must be adapted in accordance with the guidelines, i.e. an upgrade of the processing infrastructure that is housed in waste materials from iron sheet to a reasonably well-built permanent structure with storage (of raw materials and finished products) and good sanitation. and waste treatment facilities.

Beneficiaries:

The cooperative production and food processing facility of the 50 fishing households.

Budget:

19.767,44 €

Risks:

No risks

Attached documents:

Floor plans of the building, budget

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Follow-up may 2022

Date:                    3st May 2022
 
Name project:       “Soil in a Box” Gardens (Extension 2)

General status:

20 unskilled, voluntary manual workers work in shifts of 2 (6 hours) per day. The skilled craftsmen on site who provide volunteer labor and services are from our dedicated team (architect, site manager, masons, carpenter, welder, plasterer, roofer, electrician, plumber). Donated goods (meal packs) come from the "Soil in a Box" gardens - and SOVHEN management provides both accommodation and medical insurance in and from our health center.

Progress since last status report:

Phase 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 completed since 23th March.
Despite the on and off rains, we are working day and night. 
phase 7 : plinth wall plate beam  (100% complete)
phase 8 : roof work (100% complete)

ongoing
phase 4 : ground floor slab
phase 9 : plastering inside
phase 10 : floor screeding
phase 11: plastering outside
phase 12 -fixtures, fittings and fasteners

Financial status: 

Currently prices are sky high in Uganda. The prices of building materials such as cement has increased by 14.2% while some steel bars have gone up by as much as 26.2%. If we are to go on, our project financial obligations as per the project budget allocations will not be sufficient.

Problems/concerns:

we want to hold on the ongoing phases and we resume at another time-during a deflation period. The problem is that nobody can predict with certainty when prices will go back to normal.

Attached documents:

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Follow-up october 2022

Date:                    31st October 2022
 
Name project:       “Soil in a Box” Gardens (Extension 2B - infrastructure)

General status:

The infrastructure is 100% complete. This was possible thanks to the work of 20 unskilled, manual workers from the community who voluntarily in 2 shifts per day (digging, cleaning, catering, carrying and lifting).
18 skilled craftspeople offered voluntary labor and services (architect, site engineer, bricklayers, carpenter, welding fabricator, plasterers, roofers, electrician, plumber.)   
Donated goods (Meal Packs) at the site for unskilled and skilled workers were from the “Soil in a Box” Gardens and SOVHEN management offered both accommodation and medical Insurance.

Progress since last status report:

Due to the stagflation situation, there were no activities during the period 4th May -12th July 2022.
Activities resumed on 13/7/2022 for finishing the last 5 phases:

phase 4: ground floor slab (100% complete)
phase 9: plastering inside (100% complete)
phase 10: floor screeding (100% complete)
phase 11: plastering outside (100% complete)
phase 12: fixtures, fittings and fasteners (100% complete)

End of October the building was completed.

Financial status:

The extra allocated budget was fully spent on the finishing of the building.

Problems/concerns: none

Attached documents (pictures, receipts…):

Photos and receipts

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