PROJECT BACKGROUND:
- Background to ‘The Practice of Conflict Sensitivity Project-concept to Impact’ :
The project “The practice of conflict sensitivity – concept to impact” is intended to strengthen the practice of conflict sensitivity throughout and beyond a broad consortium of humanitarian, peace-building and multi-mandate development NGOs.
The project aims to ensure greater impact of development and humanitarian assistance through improved and more widespread mainstreaming of conflict sensitive approaches. The purpose is to improve policies and practices that support Conflict Sensitive Approaches (CSA), across a broad network of NGOs, local partners and donor agencies.
The project will complement efforts by DFID to promote conflict sensitivity and envisages working in partnership with DFID on some advocacy activities. It will harness collective experience from development, multi-mandate and peace-building NGOs to document best practice in CSA, build capacity at institutional and field levels, share learning across broad networks and influence policies and practices of donors and other NGOs.
Project Objectives:
The project purpose is to improve policies and practices that support CSA across a broad network of NGOs, local partners and donor agencies.
Project key outcomes:
- Shared understanding of CSA across a network of international and local development, humanitarian and peace building organizations;
- Lessons and recommendations for mainstreaming effective CSA across a range of contexts and sectors disseminated to policy-makers, donors and practitioners;
- Strengthened expertise and capacity amongst member organizations and civil society partners to institutionalize and implement CSA, at HQ and local levels.
The project will contribute to better programming on the ground, whilst stimulating organizational change within consortium partners, and generating learning and practical recommendations to promote mainstreaming of conflict-sensitivity across a wide network of policy-makers and practitioners.[1]
What is the CSA pilot project all about?– Conservation Agricultural Project (CAP)
The goal of this three-year project is to introduce innovative agricultural practices that are more productive and more environmentally sustainable, benefiting 11,000 people, including all land users and marginalized groups, in 40 communities in Koinadugu district. This will be achieved through three specific objectives shown below with their correspondent outputs.
Objective 1: Increase the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices by 11,000 people in 40 communities in order to increase productivity and incomes through environmentally friendly use of land.
- Output 1.1: Expose 3000 farmers to conservation farming practices through establishment of 40 demonstration plots;
- Output 1.2: Improve animal husbandry through access to veterinary services for 120 livestock farmers and animal feed, establishment of 20 fish ponds, and improvement of beekeeping practices for 20 farmers.
Objective 2: Improve the social and economic position of women and other marginalized groups (e.g. youth) by fully and directly involving them in agricultural development.
- Output 2.1: Assist 40 women’s groups in the establishment of profitable fruit and vegetable processing enterprises;
- Output 2.2: Assist 500 youth (members of FFS and VSLA) in getting sustainable access to the inputs and technical skills necessary to increase agricultural productivity and value addition.
Objective 3: Establish land use agreements for marginalized groups, including women, livestock farmers, immigrants and youth
- Output 3.1: Improve long term access to land for women and other marginalized groups
- Output 3.2: Prevent and mitigate land conflicts related to gender and ethnicity
The project implementation methodology is built on the platform of the existing CARE Sierra Leone projects and lessons learned. It will use the following strategies to achieve impact: 1) promoting conservation agriculture (CA) techniques; 2) encouraging agricultural production diversification; 3) economically empowering women; 4)improving access to land for women and other marginalized groups; and 5) preventing and mitigating land conflicts.The project will be implemented by a team comprising staff from CARE and Future In Our Hands (FIOH), with ad-hoc technical assistance in innovative practices (conservation techniques, livestock, fish farming, beekeeping and land access) provided by Agro Eco and Wageningen University.
FIOH is an indigenous Non-Governmental Organization with its main office in Makeni (Bombali district) and sub-offices in Kabala town (Koinadugu District) and Mile 91 (Tonkolili District). It was established in 1993 as an offshoot of what was formerly the Yoni Farmers’ Union. It has continued to build partnerships and linkages with a variety of local and international organizations and is currently implementing three projects (Livelihoods, Expansion and Assets Development (LEAD) propram, Villages Savings and Loans (VSL) project and War-Wounded and Amputee Community Support (WWACS) project with CARE in Koinadugu and Bombali Districts.
The total budget of this project is about USD $1,724,479 covering a period of three years.
Opening Session:
Participants were welcomed to the workshop following the registration process and briefings on housekeeping issues by the CARE Team who played host to partners and beneficiaries . The CSA project Coordinator Fred Goba, re-echoed the purpose of the training as an exercise aimed at building the capacity of partners of consortium members on one hand and that of developing skills on how conflict sensitivity approaches can be applied during the project implementation phase.
Self-Introductions:
Participants introduced themselves using the format below:
Who am I?
Which organization or project do I work for?
What is my key responsibility?
Who is one of my expectations of this workshop?
Quote Of The Day
The following quote was discussed in relation to our pilot project:
“ If you don’t look
You don’t know
If you don’t know
You don’t look”
Expectations of Participants:
Responding to the question, what is or are your expectations of this workshop?Participants stated the following expectations although they were ambitious considering that it was only a day’s workshop:
(i)To get a clear understanding of the concept of ‘Conflict Sensitivity’ and the various components of CSA
(ii)To acquire conflict analysis skills
(iii)To understand what has changed in the CAP Project after the initial analysis
(iv)To identify causes of conflict in the CAP project
(v)To acquire conflict management skills
(vi)To know how to work in a conflict environment
(vii)To know how to manage a project cycle in a conflict sensitive way
(viii) To develop skills of managing conflict between animal and crop farmers.
Objectives of the workshop:
•To have a clear understanding of the CSA concepts
•To improve the CS of selected consortium partner projects
•To ensure high professional standards and good practice
To improve policies and practices that support CSA within the organisation
To identify how CS is applied during project implementation phase.
Getting to Understand Conflict Sensitivity Approaches:
WHAT IS CONFLICT SENSITIVITY?
Conflict sensitivity is the ability to:
Understand the context in which you operate
Understand the interaction between your intervention and the context
Acting upon the understanding of this interaction, in order to minimize negative impacts and maximize positive impacts.
COUNTRY SPECIFIC DEFINITION
As a consortium, a working definition has been developed relating to the country specific context as defined below:
“A conflict sensitive approach involves gaining a sound understanding(through conflict analysis)of the two-way interactions between activities and context and acting to minimise negative impacts and maximise positive impacts of interventions on conflict, within an organisation's given priorities/objectives(mandate).”(CSA Consortium, Sierra Leone).
CAUSES OF TENSIONS IN THE PROJECT ENVIRONMENT:
The participants identified the following as possible causes of tensions in the project environment:
Lack of understanding of the focus of the project or partner organisation’s mission.
Individual differences
Different priorities and interests
Unequal power relations
Lack of confidence and trust among group members
Lack of unity and cooperation among group members
Demonstration of dishonesty among team members
Ineffective communication and language barrier.
Theorizing Conflict concepts
Conflict Sensitivity is Based on the hypothesis that:
Any initiative conducted in a conflict-affected area will interact with that conflict.
Such interaction will have consequences that may have positive or negative effects on that conflict.
All interventions be they Humanitarian, Developmental or Peace building in a conflict context, have some kind of interaction with that context.
COMMUNITY RELATIONS THEORY:
-Conflict is caused by ongoing mistrust and hostility between different groups within a community. This could be minimised by Improvingcommunication, tolerance, understanding & acceptance of diversity in the community.
PRINCIPLED NEGOTIATION THEORY:
- Conflict is caused by incompatible positions during negotiation process. A possible management strategy would require parties to the negotiation to be able to negotiate on the basis of their interests rather than fixed positions as this approach will facilitate mutual gain for all parties.
HUMAN NEEDS THEORY:
- Conflict is caused by unmet or frustrated basic human needs. To minimise such tensions, the challenge would be that of identifying unmet needs and generatingoptions for meeting those needs.
IDENTITY THEORY:
- Conflict is caused by feelings of threatened identity, hence, recognising the core identity needs,threats and fears of all parties, would a possible way of managing such tensions.
INTERCULTURAL MISCOMMUNICATION THEORY
- Conflict is caused by incompatibilities between different cultural communication styles. It is therefore important that partners increase the conflicting parties’ knowledge of each other’s culture and also to reduce negative stereotypes they have of each other realising that individual differences do exist.
CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION THEORY
- Conflict is caused by real problems of inequality & injustice expressed. To minimise such problems, it is critical that we develop processes and systems that promote empowerment, justice, peace, forgiveness, reconciliation & recognition in our communities.
COMPONENTS OF CSA
Using a case study approach, participants discussed a case set in Kayonkoya Village in Koinadugu District to identify the key components of a conflict being: the causes, actors profile ( context) and the interventions.
CONFLCIT ANALYSIS
A short definition of the concept – conflict analysis was discussed as: ‘conflict analysis is a practical process of examining and understanding the reality of the conflict from a variety of perspectives: (policy, programme, gender, culture, religion, self-interests etc.)this understanding then forms the basis on which strategies can be developed and actions planned.’ ( Identification of key players in the conflict, root causes, effects and possible interventions to minimise the negative impacts of the intervention.
Using the Conflict Tree and The Onion as two common conflict analysis tools a simulation exercise was conducted to facilitate participants hands on in acquiring skills for analysing their given contexts. The Conflict tree helped them to identify, the root causes, The Core Problem and the effects that have resulted from the problem ,while the onion helped participants to better understand the notion of ‘group think’ as individual members of the groups often take their own positions with different interests and varying needs.
WHY DO WE NEED TO ANALYSE CONFLICT?
•To understand the background and history of the situation as well as current events
•To identify all the key actors involved in the conflict
•To identify factors and trends that underpin conflict
•To learn from failures as well as successes
•To know more about how various actors relate to each other
REVIEW OF PILOT PROJECT CONTEXT ANALYSIS-KEY FINDINGS
This session gave an opportunity to the participants to share some of the key findings from the previous project context analysis.
Causes of conflict in the project locations These conclusions were reached following a study of four chiefdoms in the Koinadugu district that most tensions in the project environment (in 40 communities, aimed at targeting 11,000 people) are caused by:
Tensions between Agro Versus Pastoralists farmers
Pastoralist Conflictincluding cattle theft
Scarcity of Water
Politicisation of Land Distribution
Corruptionin dealing with cattle cases and land allocation
Unequal Power Dynamics ( Abuse of Local Authority)
SOME OF THE ROOT CAUSES IDENTIFIED WERE?
Limited access to water by cattle farmers during the dry season for their animals
Limited access to grazing areas
Fewer ‘Cow Boys’ in the warrehs, hence cows are left to wander about. This increases the risk of cows grazing on the fresh vegetables and fruits grown by agro farmers.
Tensions between paramount chiefs and land owners arising from the allocation of land to cattle farmers who in turn ‘shower’ them with ‘gifts’ ( cows depending on the size of the grazing land requested)
Heavy fines levied by local authorities on youths ranging from Le 40,000 to Le 100,000 which sometimes leads to the migration of these youths from the district whose manpower is heavily relied upon for the agricultural activities in the district.
Mapping of key flash points in the project context
As a strategy of updating the context analysis, participants discussed the findings of the previous project context focusing on ‘what was’ and ‘what is’ still in the project environment:
‘What was’ / ‘ What is ‘Tensions between the Agro and pastoralist farmers / Yes, but minimised during the raining season
Cattle theft ( pastoralist conflict) / Still on the increase despite the stiff jail sentences running from three years to five years eg. The case in Gbaruria Bambakoro
Scarcity of water / Not during the raining season
Politicisation of Land Distribution / Yes, still prevalent in all chiefdoms
Corruption in dealing with cattle cases and land allocation / Yes, as paramount chiefs and other local authorities make a living through such funds.
Unequal Power Dynamics ( Abuse of Local Authority) / Yes, still very strong
Fire disaster ( Bush Fire) / No, not during the rains.
CURRENT REALITIES IN THE PROJECT CONTEXT
To further identify the ‘dark / blind spots’, participants used the Attitude, Behaviour and Context tool (ABC) to identify conflict insensitivity issues from the organisation and community perspectives which included:
COMMUNITY MEMBERS / CARE STAFFUntimely supply of seeds / High expectations from community members
Supply of unwanted seeds to the community / Comparisons on input and outputs of CAP project and other community projects
Supply of Limited seeds and tools to farmer groups (FFS) / Use of culture and tradition as guiding tools for farming practice ( CAP seen as a new form of farming)
Unfair payment of transport refunds to and from workshops, meetings & trainings to host communities / Lack of corporation towards project activities
Ineffective / late communication between staff and community people. / Too demanding from project staff
Unfulfilled promises by project staff / Misuse of inputs and outputs
BUILDING BRIDGES / PILOT STRATEGY
The following action points were suggested by participants as possible bridges to fill the gaps identified as flash points in the project context. This can also be plotted as a pilot strategy to increase conflict sensitivity within the 12 months period. No timelines or indicators were allocated to the various activities during the workshop as the one day was not enough for thorough planning.It is anticipated that the project team will review the issues and actions below to come up with detailed and SMART activity plan.
IssuesAction points Suggested
Water ScarcityDigging of water wells in Warrehs
Project should prepare paducks to collect water
Abuse of power by local authoritiesProject to facilitate open dialogues between land
Owners and chiefs prior to allocation of lands for
The construction of warrehs
Bye-laws should be developed to minimise
Discrimination against women
Tensions between agro farmersProject should facilitate open dialogues between
And pastoralistsboth farmers.
Cattle farmers should make fences around warrehs
FFS members should be prepared to fence their
Crops.
Facilitating rotation of farming areas, ensuring
Distance between animals and crops
Farmers to be trained to grow folder crops
More cow boys should be encouraged to stay
In the warrehs.
Bush fireProject should facilitate the formation of fire
Force Committees
Fire Force Committee should be trained in disaster
Management
Fire belts should be developed
NEXT STEPS:
As a pilot project, the following expectations were discussed and agreed upon as key expected outcomes of the CSA pilot project:
(i)Effective documentation of CSA ( flash points, pitfalls, best practices and worst practices)
(ii)Generate evidence based conflict sensitive lessons the implementation of the project
(iii)Identify key interactions through comparative analysis
(iv)Identify what stages of the project that conflict blind decisions occurs and how this is checked and adapted
(v)Devise strategies and options of project to be redesigned with an adoption strategy
(vi)Use the pilot lessons learned as advocacy messages
(vii)Develop a CSA tool Checklist
Evaluation
Seventy-five percent of the participants evaluated the workshop through a questionnaire by strongly agreeing that the content of theworkshop mettheir expectations, while 20% agreed with 5% not agreeing that their expectations were met. Similarly, eighty percent of the participants agreed that the venue was not ideal with 20% preferring the venue. Ninety-eight percent of the participants strongly agreed that the facilitation skills and process met their expectations with two percent agreeing that it met their expectations but suggested that more time should be allocated for such a workshop.
CSA- CONSORTIUM- SIERRA LEONE | / 1[1] The Practice of Conflict Sensitivity- Concept to Impact, Care International UK