Chemicals

Project Summary The objective of this project is to set up an educational farm for street children using sustainable and organic agricultural practices in the area of St Pierre, Mauritius. There are currently very few programs addressing the issues and needs of street children in Mauritius. Twenty-three street youth have already been selected for the first year. They are out of school, unskilled and illiterate; live in conditions of extreme poverty and promiscuity without any supervision or guidance; are vulnerable to many social ills. By giving them an alternative to the streets, this project will lead to the reduction of the street frequency, decrease of the delinquency rate, increase in self-esteem, sense of responsibility and discipline among the beneficiaries while increasing their sense of environmental stewardship. Furthermore, this project will link with similar projects and organizations practicing small-scale organic farming. The project activities will consist in setting up the farm and the farm infrastructure, training staff and youth to sustainable agricultural techniques through a partnership with relevant organisations. The training will then be replicated every year with a new batch of twenty to twenty five students. They will have been trained and have developed income-generating activities, opening new professional opportunities. By carrying activities such as cultivating vegetables or taking care of farm animals, students will have an opportunity to connect or reconnect with their natural environment and the production of food, instilling stewardship of the environment and increased respect for self and others. The farm will be open to the public and thus the general public and school children invited will be able to witness the inner workings of a farm, while learning about the issue of street children and how they may benefit from such programs. By selling products of the farm, the project is set a long-term self-financing programme, which ensures sustainability of the project and the potential positive impacts on street youth nationwide. Furthermore, this project will address issues of environmental injustice and access to pesticide and chemical-free food, by promoting organic agriculture, dissemination of lessons learned in selected communities where SAFIRE regularly intervenes, and creation of a national network of non-governmental organizations practicing small scale organic farming. The need for such a network is becoming apparent with the proliferation of small projects linking the development of organic agriculture projects with poverty alleviation and support of vulnerable groups. Such a network is required to share lessons learned, but also to consolidate and grow an organic seed bank to support such projects. As such, it addresses the pressing issue of food security, in a Small Island Developing State where the majority of food is being imported. This project will link with existing projects funded by the GEF SGP, namely Empowering School Dropouts in Sustainable Agriculture carried out by Maison Familiale Rurale du Nord and Empowering Intellectually Disabled Workers in Sustainable Agriculture implemented by the Association pour les Parents d Enfants Indadapt s de l Ile Maurice, under Operational Phase 4. This project addresses two out of the six thematic areas of the GEF Country Programme Strategy, namely Resource Management and POPS and Chemicals by promoting sustainable agricultural practices, SGP OP5 Immediate Objective 6 Maintain or improve flow of agro-ecosystem and forest ecosystem services to sustain livelihoods of local communities and SGP 05 Immediate Objective 9 Promote and support phase out of POPS and chemicals of global concern at the community level . Indeed, all the skills, improvement and adjustments learned during the first twelve months will allow us to develop training sessions for the communities where the children come from, and exchange of experiences and lessons learned will be carried out through the national network of NGOs practicing small-scale organic farming. Most importantly, this project addresses cross-cutting issues by giving street children the opportunity to have access to informal education, train them in sustainable and organic agricultural techniques and finally encourage the social inclusion of a marginalised population often victim of stigmatization. 1.2 Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the project SAFIRE is a local Mauritian non-governmental organization (NGO), duly registered at the Registrar of Associations under number 9278, whose mission is to provide psychosocial support to children in street situation with the aim of facilitating their integration into society. Since its inception in 2006 SAFIRE has been supporting 230 children in street situation. SAFIRE is a member of international network: Consortium for Street Children. SAFIRE employs street educators who work with children and youth on numerous activities in the villages and cities of Baie du Tombeau, Bambous, Beau Vallon, Bel Air Caroline, Camp Levieux, Port-Louis, Riambel and Triolet. Interventions and projects are adapted to the specific needs of the target population in each city/village/neighbourhood, as some social ailments may be more pressing in one area more than another. Currently SAFIRE is undergoing the following projects: 1. Manufacturing of Christmas market gift items. For the past three years, children with whom SAFIRE works have cr

Mauritius