Your organization name:
The Future Community Foundation
When was your organization founded?
February 2017 by Development practitioners to address Global Trends
In what city, town, or region are you located?
Lusaka, Central Province, ZambiaIn what city, town, or region is your organization headquartered?
Lusaka, ZambiaIn which countries does your organization currently operate?
Why are you applying for The Elevate Prize?
The Future Community Foundation aims to create new business ideas that leverage technology for social impact from young entrepreneurs across Zambia. Zambia has the Ecological Potential (Land, Forest, Water, Weather System, Temperature) to invest in Livestock production and this would create employment and income generation.
A youth-led organization, we are supporting agriculture innovations in rural areas to "increase domestic food production for urban markets". We facilitate social entrepreneurship training and mentorship, and distribute farming technologies in aquaculture, livestock and legumes production to equip rural households with modern farming tools which are viable and climate friendly.
This development initiative is meant to address climate change, food crisis and poverty using integrated approaches and methodologies towards sustainable development impact. We seek for Funds and technical support to address the increasing shocks, threats and impact of climate change due to environmental degradations on the planet. This is mainly due to: over-exploitation of forest resources and encroachment of the protected areas as well as uncontrolled forest fires; extensive crop production practices especially through slash-and-burn agriculture; increased forest conversion for energy, especially charcoal and firewood, forest conversion for mining and infrastructural development, and unplanned land use that compromise forest integrity and biodiversity conservation.
Tell us about YOU:
Our development initiative has a broader program targeting environmental management in all kinds of food systems processes - from policy, development, investment, innovation, and farmer production. Zambia, despite being one of the most forested countries in Africa, it has been identified as one of the highest greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting countries as a result of agricultural practices. Working in this context, our organization developed a strategies with reference to establish coordination mechanisms for climate change programmes.
Our overall objectives highlight both mitigation and adaptation climate actions undertaken towards reducing its impact on the local, national and Sub-Saharan African regional.
Mission statement: To "increase domestic food production for urban markets to create decent jobs through supply value chains".
Vision: To become a center of excellence in promoting climate resilient and sustainable food systems for a food secure future.
Aim: Our aim is to offer a climate resilient interventions which cover systems dynamics approach on agriculture as well as skills and tools to design innovative, resilient and environmental sustainable food systems.
Values: Our experts create this value by bringing knowledge into action. Every day we empower individuals, businesses, sectors and communities and strengthen them in their capacity for sustainable and inclusive development.
Pitch your organization.
Our development initiatives are towards results-oriented management approach, and sustainable development impact integrating core priorities drawn from managing climate change and addressing the food crisis situation which are climate led. We combine supportive programmes on capacity development, participatory mapping and strengthened community forest governance with two theme: conservation and management of high-value forest; and promotion of resilient landscapes, sustainable agriculture and energy. FCF is facilitating projects at three level grassroot/ 30 local communities situated in sub-regions/6 rural districts in three provinces (Southern, Western and Central) in Zambia. Our project supports conservation and management of forests as well as restoration through investment in needs of local communities which include building skills in food systems, functional local level management structures, ecotourism, general enterprises, good agricultural practices, markets and market linkages. The needs also include addressing energy biomass through appropriate supply and usage. The overall is to address underlying drivers of deforestation by providing alternatives in terms of good practices as well as sources of income. Our team recognizes that options to reduce deforestation and forest degradation include strengthening and enhancing management and governance of forests at the local level taking into account the different needs of men, women, youth and vulnerable populations
Describe what makes your work innovative.
In our strategies to address the situation we engage with different stakeholders to know their perceptions and contextual factors to provide a more comprehensive picture of reality. We engage with stakeholders and deal with their particular realities, perspectives and stakes. This is to maximize utilization and influence on change, the engagement stakeholders, especially the users, influencers and impact carriers. These inclusive partnerships built upon principles and values, a shared vision, and shared goals that place people and the planet at the center, are needed at the global, regional, national and local levels. And in fact, the private sector is now playing a more active role in investment to create businesses which are inclusive of low-income people either as producers, suppliers, employees, distributors, sales agents and/or consumers for mutual benefits. Our services innovative and commercially viable solutions addressing the pressing development challenges related to climate, inequalities and unemployment issues that benefit low-income people and the environment. Our initiatives promote climate smart agriculture, intensification of agri-food product (produced on less land), diversification of production (less dependence on a normal cash crops), access to affordable agro-inputs, finance, technologies, information, and markets and finally reduced food waste and spoilage (post production loss prevention)
How and why is your organization having an impact on humanity?
The development has become increasingly complex. Many of the issues that we face, such as COVID-19, poverty, food insecurities and malnutrition, and climate change call for partnerships to address these sustainable development challenges. Forests are estimated to provide at least 1.4 million jobs, supporting 60% of rural Zambian households that are heavily dependent upon the use of natural resources to supplement or sustain their livelihoods, leading to the Gross Domestic Product contribution of 6.3 percent. Forest resources contribute approximately to household incomes including the market value of subsistence production. The Future Community Foundation prepared its overall vision of reducing rural poverty and improving livelihoods, as laid out in the Sustainable Development Goals. Implementation of our projects focuses on tackling different drivers of deforestation in both the forestry and other identified key sectors, in particular, agriculture, energy, mining and land use, through a landscape approach at watershed level and through policy reforms at national level. It takes into account all land uses in a holistic way and lessens the competition for natural resources among different sectors. The approach ensures that the best possible balance is achieved among a range of different developing objectives, including climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Select the key characteristics of the community your organization is impacting.
Which of the UN Sustainable Development Goals does your organization address?
Which of the following categories best describes your work?
Food & Agriculture
Solution Team
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CG
Mr Clinton Gando Sir Project Coordinator, The Future Community Foundation -
Mr. Omoniyi Samson IOFarm
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MS
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MT
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MV
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Your job title:
Project Coordinator