Introduction

This is the second Annual Report of Sustainable Global Gardens. The document has been prepared for the charity’s second AGM, which is to be held on Wednesday 30th July 2008. The report covers the period of SGG’s second financial year which ended on 31st March 2008.

The approach I have taken when writing this report is to look at the objectives of Sustainable Global Gardens as given in the original Business Plan and in the 2006-2007 Annual Report, and then to comment on how far such objectives have been achieved. In the initial Business Plan no specific targets were set to be reached by March 2008. However, the five year target to be achieved by March 2011 is ‘the annual raising of £100,000, which is to be transferred through at least 10 & preferably 20 small-scale sustainable projects to poor communities in the Developing World’ so progress can be judged against that long-term goal. The latter part of the report looks briefly at some issues which have emerged over the last financial year, and also at prospects for the future.

Progress with reference to charity objectives

SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS [Company No 5733281] became an incorporated company on 7th March 2006 and a registered charity [Reg. No. 1116243] on 28th September 2006. At the time of registration SGG had raised a total of £873.35p and had invested £500 for polygardening work in Sri Lanka. As the charity was a mere two years old at the end of the accounting period, those two figures are a useful benchmark against which to measure progress.

A priority in these early years of SGG is to establish a network of supporters. Concerning this we have made good progress during 2007-2008. Last March it was suggested that we had 16 active individuals and 2 supporting institutions – St Edwards Justice & Peace group and The British School of Warsaw. One year later SGG can count on the support of 28 individuals and 6 institutions. The British School has proved a particularly good supporter: they have agreed to a 5 year sponsorship of Project 2, which supports HIV orphans and their carers in Busia District, Kenya.

Another priority was to start the implementation of several projects, each of which was likely to have some benefit for a large number of participants. By March 2008 the following projects had received funds and were well established:

• Project 1- the increased use of ‘moneymaker’ water-pumps to encourage dry season vegetable production among farmer groups who are members of OWDF in Busia District. These footpumps enable farmers to produce food during the traditional ‘months of hunger’ as well as increasing household income. So far 26 pumps have been donated. As they are shared within groups of about 20 households where 8 is the average household size, they aid food security at a cost of less than £1/person.
• Project 2 - support for 959 OVCs [‘orphans &/or vulnerable children’] and their 216 carers who are members of the 10 womens group in OWDF. Much of this support is in the form of the purchase of tethered goats for breeding & milk production, or feeding programmes for hungry children. These groups have acquired 105 goats since this project started in March 2007.
• Project 3 – the increased use of composting, especially compost produced by worms ‘vermicomposting’, among OWDF farmer groups. Funds for these 3 projects is sent to One World Development Foundation, a Kenya-registered NGO working in the Busia District of Western Kenya. OWDF has a total membership of about 1,000 households. Thus, these 3 projects together can benefit a total population of several thousand people where the majority live on less than £1/day. In this financial year OWDF received funding of £4,630 from SGG. This figure would have been higher if there had been no post-election violence in Busia. Such disruption caused my intended field visit to OWDF to be postponed and new project developments, including tree-planting and compost toilets, to be delayed.
• Project 4 – the establishment of a village workshop at Holili, Tanzania. This workshop will train local youth and also hire out useful machinery within the local community in order to promote improved farming practice. Over the 15 months since the initial investment, progress has been rather slow here. A large section of the plot was planted with sunflower & beans in April 2007, but inadequate rain resulted in a poor harvest. Fr Paul Mroso is now arranging for a permanent water supply on site. £2-3,000 is needed urgently for the construction of the main workshop building. SGG donated £1000 in February 2008, and further investment will depend upon a detailed plan & budget being produced by Fr Mroso.
• Project 5 - the construction of a health centre at Soni, Tanzania. This project was started in 2007 when Bill & Jackie Neale undertook to raise the estimated $36,000 to construct a health centre. There have been difficulties with both the raising and transfer of funds, so in December 2007 SGG agreed to help with this task. In February-March 2008 SGG transferred £2,030 to this project.
• Project 6 – a tree-planting project at Soni Seminary, near Lushoto. In February 2007 a tree count established that there were 1004 year young trees planted in 2006 trees on the Seminary hillside. In March 2007 a further 1860 seedlings were planted. The January 2008 count estimated the surviving young trees to be 2338 in number. This implies a survival rate of 80%, which is very satisfactory in this environment. On this basis SGG has given a further Tshs 700,000/=[about £315] to purchase an additional 2,320 seedlings for planting in March-April 2008. A further Tshs150,000/=[£70] has been donated by SGG to enable 1,000 seedlings to be planted at a nearby Muslim school. In February 2008 two other schools in Lushoto District [ie. Kongai & Mfungilo schools] indicated that they would like help with tree-planting.
• Project 7 - support for Upendo Children’s Home in Moshi, Tanzania where the Precious Blood Sisters care for 49 abandoned babies. SGG donated £850 to the Sisters at Upendo, but SGG also played a role in promotion of this project at the English Church in ul. Radna, Warsaw. That church provided an additional grant of £4,673. Most of these funds will be used to improve water supply or food production at Upendo.
• Project 8 – a tree-planting project to be managed by Fr Patrick Soka of Mengwe Parish, the Diocese of Moshi. In March 2007 SGG gave £95 to this project which produced 405 healthy young trees by January 2008. Thus, a further £350 has been invested among 5 community tree-planting groups, who have each been given £50, sufficient to purchase and plant about 500 trees. By February 2008 950 young seedlings were already planted around Mamsera. Sr Borgia at Ngoyoni has been given an additional £50 to establish a tree nursery for that locality. An additional £50 has needed to be given because the Mamsera groups overspent.
• Project 9 – the greening of the Holy Family compound in Chawama township, Lusaka, Zambia. This project is managed by Sr Angela Milonska & Sr Judith Bozek, who are both Polish Holy Family Sisters. In November 2007 SGG donated $1000 for the improvement of the compound. Most of this has been invested in trees & bushes to reduce dust & provide shade during the prolonged dry season, but it has been also agreed to develop organic gardening rather than relying on the constant planting of low-yielding maize. Some of these funds can be spent on other projects within the compound, which contains Chawama Open Community School, a Homecraft centre, and Divine Providence Home for orphans & the aged.
• Project 10 – environmental improvement of Matilyo community School in Kapiri Mposhi, Zambia. This project is managed by Sr Ernesta Paruch, a Holy Family sister, and Mr Mawere, the Head of Matilyo. In November 2007 £140 was given for the purchase of trees & the continuation of a school gardening scheme. A further £50 has been donated, but this has not reached Matilyo by 31st March. It is intended to greatly increase this project during SGG’s third financial year.

In addition to these 10 projects which have all received significant funding, there are several others which are in the initial discussion stage or where SGG’s involvement is consultative. Thus, SGG has already reached its 5 year target in terms of establishing appropriate projects.

Another specific feature of SGG’s approach to development work is the writing of quite detailed reports to inform ‘non-specialist’ donor groups about the results of their investments. Such reports as well as several powerpoint presentations form the basis of SGG’s second charitable object, which is to educate the public concerning causes of & sustainable solutions to global poverty & hunger. During this second financial year, reports have been produced for all of the above 10 projects. We have plenty of anecdotal evidence that such reports are one of the ‘attractions’ for those who support’ SGG.

I have suggested previously that 5 projects may well be the maximum that anybody working full-time for SGG could comfortably manage. Thus, I would like to encourage others with the time, skills and inclination to undertake the management of one of the above 10 projects. SGG will, of course, provide necessary training & personal support for anybody wishing to do this. A first step in this direction has often been taken as several supporters focus their attention on just one project. However, there is nobody who has fully taken up this challenge yet, although there are a few people who have moved closer to taking up a project manager role.

All of these projects would benefit from greater and more reliable funding. Thus, there is a need to find a few major funders, especially for the 3 OWDF projects. We have not succeeded in this crucial matter yet, so fund-raising is now a top priority, and I am expecting to attend a fund-raising course early in the third financial year. One difficulty encountered is that most funding bodies seem more responsive to projects which can clearly indicate that they are making progress – and it takes a couple of years & SGG field visits to reach this position. I feel that next year we shall be in a much stronger position to make such appeals for larger grants. Furthermore, SGG has not been entirely unsuccessful in the 2006-2007 year. OWDF had failed to win one major grant since their formation in 1985 before establishing a working partnership with SGG in October 2006. Since SGG’s field visit in January 2007 this Kenyan organization has gained the experience & confidence to win a significant UNDP grant for environmental improvement in Busia. We deserve some indirect credit for OWDF’s change of fortune. Also SGG was instrumental in the English-speaking church at ul. Radna, Warsaw adopting Project 7, the Upendo Children’s Home in Moshi, for their Advent charity. Upendo received a single grant of over £4,000 from this church, although these funds did not go through SGG’s accounts.

In this second financial year SGG has continued to operate with only one full-time person greatly aided by several volunteers who have given very generously their time. SGG has not yet been able to make a ‘great leap forward’ as this requires other supporters being prepared to undertake short overseas assignments to manage new projects. During this second year there have been several people who have talked enthusiastically about wanting to make a visit to overseas projects, but as yet nobody has taken the plunge. However, at the end of March 2008 I am cautiously optimistic that SGG will have its first volunteers working for 4 weeks on an overseas project [probably Project 6] in the next British summer holidays.

The fundraising target for SGG’s first financial year was £2,500, whereas the five year target is the annual raising of £100,000. If the fundraising total doubles each year, it would take over six years to reach that £100,000 target, so fundraising success needs to be more than double the previous year. Accordingly, the second financial year target was set at £10,000. I am very pleased to announce that we succeeded in raising £11,891.06p – significantly above our target. On this basis I suggest we adopt a fundraising target of £25,000 for SGG’s third financial year. At present I believe that this figure is attainable, but it puts considerable pressure to find 2-3 large-scale funders. It is my view that SGG could increase its income to perhaps £15,000 from our present group of donors. I anticipate that the difference between this figure and our overall target will need to be found from 2-3 new institutions or funding agencies. Can any of our supporters help?

Future Prospects & Related Issues

After over two years of working full-time as a Director of Sustainable Global Gardens, I feel that we have good prospects for the future. The list of supporters is gradually growing, the number of contacts both in the UK and overseas is increasing, we have a website, and we have started to invest and work with several local African partners on more than ten environmental and horticultural projects. By the end of the third financial year it is highly likely that there will be other members of our group who have undertaken some project work overseas.

Nevertheless, there are obstacles to further progress and issues which we need to face if Sustainable Global Gardens is to fulfil its early promise. One such issue is the need to raise more funds to support even our present projects. Thus, I am appealing to our supporters to at least maintain, and where possible to increase, your present level of financial support. Although the present economic forecasts in Britain are somewhat pessimistic, it is worth remembering that SGG projects are located in communities where typical household incomes are less than 5% of ours. We shall not be able to sustainably contribute to global poverty & hunger eradication if we lose our commitment at the first dip in our own personal prosperity. Page 5 Furthermore, if any supporters feel that the task of global poverty & hunger eradication is impossible and our work in vain, please visit OWDF and one of their womens groups. There you can see progress among the poor, and the fruits of your efforts. Thank you everybody for the work you have already done. Please continue the good work and encourage others to join our efforts.

If the accounts are examined it could be said that OWDF is SGG’s major partner. One reason for this is the leadership of John Kwoba, who continues to show enthusiasm and initiative twenty years after starting OWDF, combined with the strong community participation among the 45 member groups. Another crucial reason for SGG wishing to work with OWDF is that they have worked hard to maintain good communications with us. The issue of regular communications with local partners is critical for SGG, and this factor has resulted in a scaling down of SGG investment in Sri Lanka. There are other reasons at work here, such as the post-tsunami recovery & the ongoing war, but the prime reason has been the lack of communication with partners. My own previous field experience is East and Southern Africa, so it makes sense to concentrate on this region in the near future.

In its second financial year SGG increased threefold the funds raised in our first year – so congratulations and praise to all those who volunteered their time and efforts for this task. However, there is certainly a need for more voluntary help, so if there are any readers willing to spare even a few hours I would like to hear from you. Some work is likely to involve a few hours of office work, but what would be most useful for SGG are volunteers who would be prepared to visit a project overseas and help our overseas partners develop and implement that project. As reported elsewhere, it is likely that such volunteers will be of increasing importance in the future.

All supporters of Sustainable Global Gardens have a vital part to play in the development and progress of the Charity. I look forward to working with you in the coming year on the task of eradication of global poverty and hunger.

My best wishes to all of you.

Paul Keeley

Introduction

This is the first Annual Report of Sustainable Global Gardens. The document has been prepared for the charity’s first AGM, which is to be held on 25th July 2007. The report covers the period between the charity’s initial meeting on 20th December 2005 and 31st March 2007, which was the end of the first financial year for SGG.

The approach I have taken when writing this report is to look at the objectives of Sustainable Global Gardens as given in the original Business Plan, and then to comment on how far such objectives have been achieved. Thus, this report largely consists of italicised bullet points, each followed by commentary in normal print. The latter part of the report looks briefly at some issues which have emerged in the charity’s first year and also at prospects for the future.

Initital Charity Objectives

SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS has the following objectives for the first 12 months after September 2005 –
Some of these objectives proved difficult to achieve within the timeframe given in September 2005. The prime reason for this is that Paul Keeley was invited to return temporarily to teaching at The British School Warsaw. This temporary position lasted from January 2006 until July 2006. Thus, all the initial objectives were met but somewhat later than initially planned.

SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS will become officially registered with the UK Charity Commission and/or Companies House depending only on the identification of the most appropriate legal vehicle. SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS [Company No 5733281] became an incorporated company on 7th March 2006 and a registered charity [Reg. No. 1116243] on 28th September 2006.

A group of at least 20 supporters and interested people will be identified. Some of these may be donors or donor groups : others will be offering voluntary help or just ‘interest’.

It is difficult to say how many genuine supporters we have because some people claim to be interested and want to be active supporters, but are reluctant to take action. Moreover, at present we have no clear measure of membership of the charity. However, over the last year I have used a rule of thumb guide for supporters being ‘those who have either donated £50 or undertaken £50 worth of voluntary work or are a Director’. If we accept this definition then by 31st March we had 16 individual supporters and 2 institutions, The British School of Warsaw and St Edwards Parish Justice & Peace group, who have given excellent support. Both of these institutions have 3-4 people who would qualify as supporters on the basis of the work they have done. In addition there were about 10 other people who have expressed interest but not yet made a significant contribution to SGG. It is also encouraging to note that SGG knows several professionals who are approaching retirement in the next few years and who are seeking to promote the work of SGG on a self-funded basis in the future.

A field visit to some African countries where at least several potential grassroots projects are identified. With a focus on community schemes, even microprojects involving 20 families are likely to have benefits for up to one hundred people. Thus, an overall figure of 500 small-scale beneficiaries seems a reasonable target. P Keeley will make this field visit on a self-funded voluntary basis.

It was originally intended that this field visit would take place in May-June 2006, but it was twice delayed. Temporary teaching in Poland caused the first delay, and then sponsorship problems caused a further delay in late 2006. The field visit to Tanzania & Kenya eventually took place 4th January to 4th April. During that period 17 potential projects were identified, although it is likely that several of these will not get off the ground and several others involve only small one-off payments. From this visit 4 viable partnerships emerged:

• 1. The Apostles of Jesus based at Uru Seminary near Moshi
• 2. One World Development Foundation near Busia, Kenya
• 3. Kenya Acorn Project at Ndhiwa, Kenya
• 4. Soni Seminary in Tanzania.

One task during this visit was to monitor the use of 14 ‘moneymaker’ pumps purchased for OWDF’s farmer groups. Each footpump is shared among a group of about 20 farmers. Most of those farmers belong to a household of several people, so it would be reasonable to suppose that there were 150 beneficiaries for every ?100 invested in a pump. This single project far exceeds the target figure given in the original Business Plan.

Reports written on each potential project, so that any donor groups can ‘take immediate & informed action’ should they decide to do so.
The field visit to East Africa extended beyond the period of this Annual Report, so reports were not written until May 2007. By the time of the AGM on 25th July reports on all 4 African partnerships, as well as Sri Lankan projects, will be available for the Trustees.

SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS has the following long term objectives:-

By 1/9/06 SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS will be fully operational, so that cooperative help from Britain is effectively channelled into at least 5 project communities elsewhere & significantly improving the lives of at least 500 poor people. On the basis of a recent visit to Sri Lanka where SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS was asked to become involved in several projects, it is not unreasonable to suggest a target figure of significant help for 2000 people 12 months after its founding.

If the target date were changed to 31st March 2007 to allow for the temporary teaching in Poland, this objective has been met. However, it has not been met entirely in the way initially envisaged. By that date Sustainable Global Gardens had supported :

IPARD in Galle District, Sri Lanka where a ?500 donation from SGG was used to promote polygardening in 50 households [about 200 people] who were tsunami victims.

OWDF where 14 moneymaker footpumps were donated to promote dry season vegetable production. The potential number of beneficiaries from this project are approximately 14 × 20 [the average size of the farmer groups] × 8 [the average household size], which is over 2000 people. However, it would be rash to claim that all those individuals had received significant help, especially as many of these footpumps reached the beneficiaries only in January 2007. Other smaller investments have been made with OWDF. One is a goat-breeding project for a widows group with 39 members and 113 orphans to support. Another is a pig-breeding programme for a disabled group. These schemes are aimed at long-term rather than immediate benefit to the whole group. Considering only OWDF, it would be fair to say that SGG has met the above target.

the Apostles of Jesus with ?800 donated to purchase land & start the establishment of a ‘village polytechnic’ at Holili in Tanzania. This is a long-term project to provide skills & work to unemployed youth in the locality over the next decade. The Apostles of Jesus are also involved in other small SGG supported schemes.

Kenya Acorn Project, which is a well-established registered charity managing a health/education project in Ndhiwa, Kenya. SGG’s role here involves advice & work on gardens rather than donation of funds.

Soni Seminary, Diocese of Tanga where SGG donated £180.12p for a tree-planting project. So far over 1800 trees have been planted. Most of these are ‘grevillea robusta’. With 10 years growth such trees can be worth about ?40 each at today’s prices, so this is a significant long-term income generation project. Most of the benefit will go to a single institution, but in the next stage of this project it is hoped to benefit large numbers of local farmers.

Thus, it would be reasonable to suggest that this particular objective was met.

When the charity has achieved the interim goal of identifying 5 viable projects it would be reasonable to expect support from funding agencies. After incorporation and registration as a charity SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS will continue its previous work, but also apply for financial support from appropriate agencies. Such support needs to be secured before 31/9/07.

SGG is likely to be behind schedule with this objective. Limited communication with our Sri Lankan partners IPARD and the need to visit East African partners before applying for large grants for their projects has meant that SGG is unlikely to meet this target. A major part of the work done while visiting OWDF was to prepare an application for funding from Comic Relief. This funding was to aid the support of 10 HIV Self-Help groups who are caring for a total of 959 orphans & vulnerable children. This would be a major grant of £48,609 over a 5 year period. SGG does not yet know the success or otherwise of this particular application, but fund-raising must be the major part of next year’s schedule.

It is envisaged that SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS can operate effectively as a ‘one man band’ with occasional help from others until 31/8/06. Afterwards time constraints on P. Keeley may well limit its capability to answer effectively requests from community groups in Africa and elsewhere. Thus, the development foundation will seek to engage self-funded voluntary help. Experienced professionals, who are able to shoulder responsibilities, who have limited financial commitments and who are looking for a new quality of challenge, are an obvious target group here.

My experience of working on SGG projects suggests that one person can manage efficiently 5 small projects at the most. If there are more projects on our books at present, this is largely a reflection of the limited capacity and levels of organisation within our partner groups. As these groups have become more efficient there is a growing need for other self-funded volunteers to manage projects. By 31st March SGG had found seven potential volunteers, who are all wanting to gain some experience of project work within the next two years.

The five-year target for SUSTAINABLE GLOBAL GARDENS is the annual raising of £100,000, which is to be transferred through at least 10 & preferably 20 small-scale sustainable projects to poor communities in the Developing World.

The anticipated income for SGG’s first financial year was ?2,500. In fact the charity raised a total of £3,793.71p, of which £3,773.55p was spent on the various projects mentioned above. Inevitably we are a very long way from our 5 year target. I suggest it would be reasonable for SGG to try and raise a £10,000 target in the 2007-2008 financial year. We are unlikely to succeed here unless SGG manages to attract the attention of a significant funding agency.

Future Prospects

After about one year of working full-time as a Director of Sustainable Global Gardens, I feel that we have good prospects for the future. The list of supporters is gradually growing, the number of contacts both in the UK and overseas is increasing, we have a website in the first stages of its development, and we have started to invest and work with local groups on several environmental and horticultural projects. Within a year from now it is highly likely that there will be other members of our group who have undertaken some project work overseas.

Nevertheless, there are obstacles to further progress and issues which we need to face if Sustainable Global Gardens is to fulfil the promise of its first year. One such issue is the need to raise more funds to support even our present projects. At this time last year I suggested that our income during SGG’s first financial year would be ?2,500. However, our accounts show that we raised considerably more, £3,793.71p. On the basis of that success, I would like the Trustees and supporters to regard a ?10,000 total as a suitable target for all SGG projects for the 2007-2008 financial year.

Most of the money we are raising at present is being used to support water/horticultural projects or care for HIV orphans within the OWDF member organisations. To maintain these programmes we are seeking a large grant of approximately £10,000 annually for the next five years, and also planning to raise ourselves £4,000 annually over the same period. We need to increase our own fund-raising efforts and events if we are to produce £4,000 by Christmas. However, more important than that is the finding of a large funding agency who will bear the bulk of the expense for this particular project.

While we have been collecting small funds for our £4,000 annual target for this OWDF project several people have asked about SGG administration costs and have commented favourably on the fact that we are spending 100% of the funds raised. Thus, I am proposing that the Trustees maintain the present arrangement of no salaries & all work done for SGG to be voluntary.

There is certainly a need for more voluntary help, so if there are any readers willing to spare even a few hours I would like to hear from you. Some work is likely to involve a few hours of office work, but what would be most useful for SGG are volunteers who would be prepared to visit a project overseas and help our overseas partners develop and implement that project. As reported above, it is likely that such volunteers will be of increasing importance in the future.

Thus, all supporters of Sustainable Global Gardens have a vital part to play in the development and progress of the Charity. I look forward to working with you in the coming year on the task of eradication of global poverty and hunger.

My best wishes to all of you.

Paul Keeley