Environmental policy and administrative management

The aim of the project is to have more young people involved in sustainable agriculture and to have them more actively engaged in environmental conservation. The 4-H leaders and clubites have always been interested in developing agricultural projects at school and at home, however they usually lack the necessary skills, materials, technical support, and/or secure space to have successful long term projects. The clubs/clubites usually have difficulties in purchasing seedlings, compost, animals etc. for their projects due to lack of finance. Over the years 4-H clubs in the southern district have had the least agricultural projects and products displayed at their District exhibitions. This and other reasons prove that the southern district is one of the areas in Dominica where a greater concentration needs to be placed on agriculture and environmental conservation, and this can be done through Best Practices in sustainable agriculture. Within the district the Bagatelle 4-H club has always been different with its vegetable gardens and animal rearing projects- they have had rabbit, goat and poultry rearing projects. Presently they are focussing on poultry and vegetables therefore they have been identified as the main production site to provide training, compost and seedlings to the other clubs in the southern district and other areas as the project grows. The available agricultural plot (approx. 1 acre of fertile land) would be ideal to create a model agricultural plot for the 4-H programme. It is partly fenced and would therefore need to be a more secure area. The present poultry rearing project can be upgraded. Presently 100 broilers are housed in a 25ftx12ft pen which could accommodate 200 birds, however that the building is in need of repairs. The production of vegetable seedlings and compost would be the other main projects. They have been producing a wide variety of vegetables but require a shade house, agricultural tools and other inputs. A composting shed would create a controlled area for production of compost for the vegetable production and for distribution/sale to others. * The five (5) other junior 4-H clubs based in the southern district have always had difficulties which prevent them from having successful agricultural projects. Through this project each club would receive-: -fencing material for part or full fencing of a suitable area on their respective school grounds for vegetable production - Garden tools -vegetable seeds and seedling trays. *EC$6,000 is being requested from GEF/SGP; however contributions from the schools, communities and the Government will be utilized throughout the project. 1.2 Organizational Background and Capacity to implement the project 4-H is an international organisation which started in the United States as Young Farmers Clubs. In the Caribbean Jamaica and Trinidad have the largest membership however The Dominica 4-H Clubs are regarded as one of the most active in the region,4-H was introduced to Dominica in the early 1970 s. The 4-H Local Leaders Association comprises volunteers (mainly teachers) who are the main adult leaders of the 60 4-H clubs operating at primary and secondary schools, and on community level all over Dominica. The main focus of the 4-H programme is agriculture (plant and animal rearing); citizenship, local craft production, additionally agro-processing, and environmental projects are also popular among the 4-H clubs. The Association meets approximately 6 times annually for national or district leaders meetings, to evaluate past activities, for training, and to plan for upcoming projects. With assistance from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth Affairs through the Youth Development Division, the club leaders are trained in leadership skills, project identification, development and implementation. An allocation of approximately $40,000 from the National budget is for 4-h club work. The 4-H slogan Learning by Doing encourages the effective utilization of land surrounding the school buildings and other available areas at home and in the wider community. From the club projects seedlings and other supplies are usually distributed to individual clubites for them to develop home-based projects. The 4-H Local Leaders Association comprises volunteers (mainly teachers) who are the main adult leaders of the 60 4-H clubs operating at primary and secondary schools, and on community level all over Dominica. The main focus of the 4-H programme is agriculture (plant and animal rearing); citizenship, local craft, agro-processing, and environmental projects are also popular among the 4-H clubs. The Association meets approximately 6 times annually for national or district leaders meetings, to evaluate past activities, for training, and to plan for upcoming projects. With assistance from the Ministry of Culture Youth through the Youth Development Division the club leaders are trained in leadership skills, project identification, development and implementation. An allocation of approximately $60,000 from the national budget supports 4-H training, projects and other 4-H activities. The 4-H slogan Learning by Doing 4-H encourages the effective utilization of land surrounding the school buildings and other available areas at home and in the wider community. From the club projects seedlings and other supplies are usually distributed to individual clubites for them to develop home-based projects. The Local Leaders with the support of the Youth Development

Dominica