case studies undp: samudram women's federation, india

7/27/2019 Case Studies UNDP: SAMUDRAM WOMEN'S FEDERATION, India

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Equator Initiative Case StudiesLocal sustainable development solutions or people, nature, and resilient communities

India

SAMUDRAM WOMENSFEDERATION

Empowered live

Resilient nation

Empowered live

Resilient nation


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UNDP EQUATOR INITIATIVE CASE STUDY SERIES

Local and indigenous communities across the world are advancing innovative sustainable development solutions that wo

or people and or nature. Few publications or case studies tell the ull story o how such initiatives evolve, the breadth

their impacts, or how they change over time. Fewer still have undertaken to tell these stories with community practition

themselves guiding the narrative.

To mark its 10-year anniversary, the Equator Initiative aims to ll this gap. The ollowing case study is one in a growing ser

that details the work o Equator Prize winners vetted and peer-reviewed best practices in community-based environmenconservation and sustainable livelihoods. These cases are intended to inspire the policy dialogue needed to take local succ

to scale, to improve the global knowledge base on local environment and development solutions, and to serve as models

replication. Case studies are best viewed and understood with reerence to The Power of Local Action: Lessons from 10 Years

the Equator Prize, a compendium o lessons learned and policy guidance that draws rom the case material.

Click on the map to visit the Equator Initiatives searchable case study database.

EditorsEditor-in-Chief: Joseph CorcoranManaging Editor: Oliver Hughes

Contributing Editors: Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Erin Lewis, Whitney Wilding

Contributing WritersEdayatu Abieodun Lamptey, Erin Atwell, Toni Blackman, Jonathan Clay, Joseph Corcoran, Larissa Currado, Sarah Gordon, Oliver Hughe

Wen-Juan Jiang, Sonal Kanabar, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Rachael Lader, Patrick Lee, Erin Lewis, Jona Liebl, Mengning Ma,

Mary McGraw, Gabriele Orlandi, Juliana Quaresma, Peter Schecter, Martin Sommerschuh, Whitney Wilding, Luna Wu

DesignOliver Hughes, Dearbhla Keegan, Matthew Konsa, Amy Korngiebel, Kimberly Koserowski, Erin Lewis, John Mulqueen, Lorena de la Pa

Brandon Payne, Mariajos Satizbal G.

AcknowledgementsThe Equator Initiative acknowledges with gratitude the Samudram Womens Federation, and in particular the guidance and inp

o Chittiama Buguru, Samudram Womens Federation, and Mangaraj Panda, United Artists Association. All photo credits courtesy

Samudram Womens Federation Maps courtesy o CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia.

Suggested Citation

United Nations Development Programme. 2012. Samudram Womens Federation, India. Equator Initiative Case Study Series. New York,
http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/index.php?option=com_winners&view=casestudysearch&Itemid=858http://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdfhttp://equatorinitiative.org/images/stories/events/2012events/Book_Launch/power%2520of%2520local%2520action%2520final%25202013%25208mb.pdf


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PROJECT SUMMARYSamudram is a ederation o 160 womens sel-helpgroups across 50 villages in Ganjam and the nearbydistricts o Orissa, India. The Federation works at theintersection o biodiversity conservation and povertyreduction, empowering its more than 1,500 economically-marginalized members with income generation activities,while conserving Olive Ridley Turtle nesting sites.

Samudram undertakes monitoring and breeding o theturtles, restores their habitats, implements articial reeconstruction and promotes sustainable shing practices

to increase marine resource diversity. Meanwhile, womenmembers and the wider community benet rom capacitybuilding training, access to micronance, and increasedincome as a result o improved sh yields.

KEY FACTS

EQUATOR PRIZE WINNER: 2010

FOUNDED: 1995

LOCATION: Orissa, India

BENEFICIARIES: Over 6,000 fsherwomen and their amili

BIODIVERSITY: Olive Ridley Turtle, marine conservation

3

SAMUDRAM WOMENS FEDERATIONIndia

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Background and Context 4

Key Activities and Innovations 6

Biodiversity Impacts 7

Socioeconomic Impacts 7

Policy Impacts 8

Sustainability 9

Replication 9

Partners 10


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4

Orissa is an east coast state in India endowed with rich naturalesources and a diversity o plant and animal species. In addition to

arge-scale inland extractive activities largely based around mining

nd timber, Orissa boasts a 482-kilometer stretch o coastline that

xtends through six districts, endowed with abundant marine

esources that provide or the livelihoods and wellbeing o local

illagers. This coastline is also an annual nesting site (arribada)

or the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle. Three sites in particular

ttract the turtles or this spectacular mating ritual: Devi Rookery,

ushikulya Rookery and Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary. To allow

he threatened turtle population to regenerate, the Government

Orissa has banned shing in the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary

rea, and restricted shing in Rushikulya and Devi Rookery rom

November to May every year the peak nesting period. While theonservation dividend has been high, this has severely limited the

arning capacity o local shing communities.

A parallel challenge is depleted sh stocks in the Bay o Bengal.

According to studies conducted by the Central Marine Fisheries

esearch Institute, species that account or the bulk o small-scale

shing yields are reacting to increases in sea surace temperatures

y migrating at greater depths. This poses particular challenges

o local shers who use traditional shing equipment adapted

or shallow shing. As sh stocks have dwindled, shermen have

een orced into compromised arrangements with local traders

nd money lenders, leading to signicantly reduced incomes and

hronic indebtedness.

A women-centered, community-based response

amudram Womens Federation evolved in response to these

hallenges. The group was legally registered in 1995 as a ederation

68 marine shers sel-help groups, with 1,360 members across

teen coastal villages in the Ganjam and Puri districts o Orissa state.

he ederation has since grown to over 5,080 members, all o whom

re women. The organization credits this growth to a joint ocus on

onservation and community enterprise, demonstrated added value

to women shers, both in terms o market access and bargai

power, and positive results in improving local sh stocks. The

or Samudram Womens Federation came rom the United A

Association (UAA), an NGO working in India, who also prop

the ormation o a community-based organization called the O

Marine Resources Conservation Consortium. This consortium, a

with Samudram Womens Federation, coordinates the work o

Orissa Traditional Fisherworkers Union. As conceived, Samud

would have the distinction o ocusing exclusively on challeacing women shermen.

Samudram Womens Federation has several key objectives, a

which overlap and are complementary:

1. Promote the conservation o marine resources (particularl

endangered Olive Ridley Turtle) and the cultivation o seaw

or carbon sequestration to reduce greenhouse gas emissio

2. Ensure that economically-marginalized sherwomen can

with wholesalers and exporters

Background and Context


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55

. Provide air prices to primary sh producers or their produce by

reducing middlemen in supply chains

. Provide additional income-generation activities or sherwomen

(particularly during shing restriction periods)

. Ensure gender justice within the community through knowledge

sharing, trainings, and skills development or women

. Ensure revenues rom new income streams are invested in

education, health services, and community inrastructure

. Establish a community cooperative enterprise by providing

inrastructure, equipment, and nancial support to local

sherwomen

obbying for policy change; improved access to markets

Advocacy and lobbying are high priorities or Saumdram. The group

s active in organizing protests against industrial development

long the coast where ederation members sh. Aquaculture

onds, ertilizer actories, and other environmentally destructive

ndustries with poor track records o environmental responsibility

ave repeatedly been proposed or the region. Samudram mobilizes

ommunity resistance against this model o development, and has

onsistently petitioned against the incursion o bottom-trawleressels into traditional shing waters.

arly in the ederations development, architects o the Samudram

rogram visited traders in other states and studied demand rom

ocal markets. Through this process, they were able to determine

otential supply-chains with the highest value or members o

he ederation. Based on this inormation, Samudram developed a

usiness plan with monthly production orecasts, product costing,

nd packaging and transportation costs. Facilitating access to new

markets or sherwomen has become a priority activity and one

where the ederation has been highly successul.

Samudram Womens Federation employs seven ull-time, el

part-time, and twenty-ve volunteer sta. All are local lea

rom participating communities. Inclusion and ull comm

participation are guiding principles o the organizat

management. Eleven women are nominated on a rotating bas

the ve district level ederations. Once elected, their responsibi

include identiying intervention priorities, providing quar

reviews o ederation progress, organizing annual meetings,

assigning responsibilities to participating sel-help groups. Mee

o the sel-help groups are held on a monthly basis. The gro

purchase coastal shing rights at auctions held by the shing u

and are also responsible or training on sh-drying techni

and market access. A benet-sharing policy is in place such tha

members o the ederation see the benets o growth.

Innovation and resilience in the face of climate change

In addition to value-added secondary processing and ma

access the two other pillars o Samudrams work the organiza

has launched an innovative articial ree program to rejuve

marine biodiversity and increase sh stocks. Other activities inc

awareness-raising on climate change the implications or sherwomen and appropriate responses and cultivating seaw

On top o carbon sequestration benets, seaweed is cultivate

processing into agar-agar, a natural vegetable gelatin counte

and other bio-nutrients, which are sold to augment local incom


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6

Key Activities and Innovations

amudram undertakes a remarkable range o activities, coveringboth conservation and sustainable livelihoods. One main activity

s conservation o the endangered Olive Ridley Turtle. The initiative

monitors turtle populations sizes, protects and reintroduces

oung turtles into the wild, and restores habitats through beach

protection which may have become degraded or which are essential

or nesting. The group also lobbies against the encroachment o

xtractive industries into turtle habitats. Samudram has coordinated

number o conservation campaigns, specically opposing attempts

o subvert the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) Law and rejecting the

reation o Special Economic Zones or industries that pollute and

egrade coastal ecosystems.

qually important in the area o biodiversity conservation isamudrams articial ree project, which uses concrete mounds to

imulate rees, regenerate coral, and restore sh populations. The

rticial rees have helped establish de facto territorial markers or

co-restoration zones. Bottom-trawlers, aware that the articial

ees are just below the surace, do not want to risk getting their nets

ntangled, so avoid traditional shing areas. As a result, articial

ee deployment has in essence created a marine sanctuary, where

o mechanized shing vessels want to go. The articial ree project

was piloted in ve villages, where meetings were held to explain

he technology, and to outline the potential costs and benets o

he approach. Agreement was reached that the technology was

esirable and a benet-sharing ormula was drated, which included

periodic shing rights or dierent villages on a rotating basis. The

Coastal Marine Fisheries Research Institute oversaw crating o the

ement ree moldings, as well as their deployment in the ocean.

On the sustainable livelihoods side o the equation, Samudram is

nvolved in providing a range o trainings and capacity building

opportunities to over 6,000 local sherwomen. Workshops are

provided in sustainable shing practices, the use o turtle excluding

evices, sh net regulations, and the strategic use o shing holidays

nd no-take zones. Trainings also include income diversication

strategies in animal husbandry (duck, poultry and goats),

attening, rice processing, and small-scale business developm

Importantly, Saumdram provides local sherwomen with stoacilities (e.g. warehouses and rerigeration) or their sh prod

This improves collective bargaining power, removes some o

urgency that middlemen exploit, and oers a quality control ce

Collective trade negotiations and air and equitable market ac

are navigated by the ederation or its members. Value-ad

secondary processing is provided through training in hygienic

drying methods, pickling, and producing papad, all o which

enhanced the product price acquired by sherwomen by up t

percent. The overall increase in incomes has been between 25

30 percent.


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7

Impacts

BIODIVERSITY IMPACTSThe Olive Ridley Turtle is a globally threatened species which mostly

nhabits coastal areas, bays and estuaries. The species is endangered

due to the degradation o nesting beaches, direct harvesting, and

entanglement in indiscriminate shing equipment. Samudram has

held conservation campaigns which have successully protected

hree Olive Ridley Turtle nesting sites. Their campaigns have reduced

ndustrial pollution rom aquaculture ponds, halted the incursion o

bottom-trawlers into traditional shing areas, and helped to resist

n ill-conceived and short-sighted national government policy

o create a coastal management zone that would open the door

o industrial development along the ecologically ragile coast.

amudram has also been active in promoting turtle-excludingdevices. Olive Ridley Turtle counts are conducted weekly, both or

mature turtles and or eggs. Community members have been trained

n monitoring techniques and in sampling. Turtle and egg counts are

published in a journal published by the organization. These counts

have shown signicant increases o more than 15 percent in the

Olive Ridley Turtle population.

The articial ree project has also had a number o biodiversity

benets, not least o which is the unintended but welcome emergence

o de facto marine sanctuaries. The cement ree moldings have

erved as a deterrent to bottom-trawlers, who oversh and damage

he ecosystem. At a pilot site in Pulicat, over 140 marine species

have been observed in an area that was eectively barren beorehe project. Through the program, sh breeding and spawning sites

have been protected and there has been a noticeable increase in

wider marine biodiversity, with the appearance o mollusks, crabs,

nd other species.

SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACTS

The majority o ederation members come rom ve villages near

Rushikulya Rookery in Ganjam district, our villages around Devi

Rookery in Puri district, and our villages surrounding the Gahirmatha

Marine Sanctuary in Kendrapada district. The project ben

over 6,000 sherwomen and their amilies. According to a s

conducted by the Resource Center or Development Coopera

in Bhubaneswar, Orissa, the annual income o Samudram mem

amilies increased rom USD 458 in 2004 to USD 967 in 2In addition, more than ty jobs in processing, packaging,

marketing have been created through value-added secon

processing activities. According to a study conducted by the Co

Marine Fisheries Research Institute, shing productivity increase

300 percent between 2007 and 2010.

The ederation has launched nine sh procurement and proce

centres, all o which are owned and operated by local wo

These centers oer rerigeration and drying racks or resh

tarpaulin sheets or sanitation, electronic weighing machine


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well as packaging and storage equipment. Through the ederation,

ocal sherwomen have gained access to collective savings

opportunities, credit services and insurance coverage. Women are

upport to diversiy their incomes, particularly during shing bans

and restriction periods. Animal husbandry (duck rearing, poultry,

and crab attening), seaweed production, rice processing and small-

cale businesses have all been introduced with supplementary

ncome in mind.

mproved social wellbeing and empowerment

mproved incomes and livelihood options have also been

accompanied by improvements in basic services. Access to health,

education, water, electricity and housing are all provided by the

ederation to its members. All children o amilies belonging to

he ederation have been supported to attend school, with a goal

o total literacy or the member population. Plans are underway to

construct a community hospital to provide needed medical help to

he geographically-isolated region.

The initiative has also been a powerul source o empowerment or

a socially marginalized segment o the population. The majority oederation members belong to a lower caste and, as such, suer

ocial exclusion and persecution. Samudram works to change

attitudes towards this population, and oers trainings and exchanges

between the sherwomen, other community leaders, bankers and

elected ocials. With collective bargaining and a higher premium

or their products, ederation members have gained dignity and

condence and are increasingly attaining higher positions in

community decision-making processes.

POLICY IMPACTS

Samudram is actively involved in lobbying the government or policy

change that refects the interests and priorities o local sherwomen.

Lobbying is oten in objection to government policies on orestry,

mining and other large-scale extractive industries. The ederation has

been most vocal in protesting three general policy trends: repeated

attempts to replace the coastal regulation zone notication with

he coastal management zone act; the establishment o large-

cale and heavy-polluting industries under the category o special

economic zones; and policies that will result in the displacement o

raditional coastal sherwomen. A common thread running through

all advocacy work is objection to the large-scale mechanization

o the shing sector, and the harmul toll this would take on the

coastal ecosystems and on the livelihoods o traditional shermen.

This approach is balanced with communicating to government the

imperative o oering capacity building to traditional sherwo

and promoting ecologically-riendly and non-destructive s

equipment. Equal energy has been invested into calls or

stringent (and ultimately more inclusive) certication requiremas local sherwomen oten nd it prohibitively dicult to o

licenses or to legally register community enterprises.

And advocacy eorts have yielded results. Samudram

successully petitioned or: i) issuance o a notication ban

destructive shing nets; ii) creation o a budgetary provision o

establishment o an Orissa marine sheries regulation act, w

provides or monitoring o bottom-trawlers in territorial wa

iii) state government compensation to sherwomen coopera

in the wet season; and iv) the inclusion o women as pote

beneciaries o social security programs or shing sector wor

Samudram has also successully advocated or improvemen

credit access, insurance, and the provision o basic services

drinking water, sanitation, housing and electricity. This has

particularly prescient or reugees resettled to the coast rom o

state development projects, but who were given no land title, w

access, ration cards, or non-shing season compensation.

Through the Orissa Marine Resources Conservation Consort

Samudram provided inputs into Indias National Biodive

Strategy and Action Plan in 2004-2005, including legal provi

on the establishment o community conserved areas and

establishment o environmental and cultural heritage sites.

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Avoid being penny wise and pound foolish. Undervaluing marine protected areas and displacin

traditional fisherman is shortsighted. Coastal ecosystems are home to the majority of marin

biodiversity and need to be protected by those who know them best.

Chittiama Buguru, Samudram Womens Federation


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9

Sustainability and Replication

SUSTAINABILITYhe ederation aims to develop at a rate o 8-10 percent growth per

ear. NGO support and a avorable policy environment make this

ossible. With this level o growth, Samudram anticipates being able

o reach a target population o 20,000 amilies over the next ten

ears. The keys to sustainability, as identied by the ederation, are:

ontinued and enhanced access to shing grounds; increased market

ccess; improved availability o state permits, credit, insurance, and

ertication; a avorable policy environment or micro-enterprise

evelopment; access to basic services such as electricity, drinking

water, housing, and healthcare; continued nancial support rom

NGOs; and a balance o local autonomy with supportive governmentolicies.

inancial sustainability could be improved in two ways. The ederation

s seeking legal recognition o the articial ree zone as a biodiversity

eritage site. This would expand eco-tourism prospects and created

n additional local revenue stream. Samudram also intends to

egally register as a multi-purpose cooperative, which would allow

he ederation to solicit investments rom banks, venture capitalists,

onors, and the private sector. Additionally, continued expansion

o distant markets, both within India and abroad, requires external

upport and an expanded partnership.

The ederation provides some instructive lessons on sustainab

as applied in market supply-chain development. An understan

o value-added potential, market studies, and easibility studie

essential. A portion o prot should be invested into biodive

conservation and restoration activities, as marine resources

a period o regeneration. Lastly, articial ree development

valuable option to other coastal communities who ace widesp

coral bleaching and loss o coral cover.

REPLICATION

Samudram has shared its experiences and lessons learned wnumber o communities. The project model has been shared a

regional level through the Orissa Marine Resources Conserva

Consortium and at the national level with ten other states thro

an Oxam climate change campaign and the Coastal Ecosystem

Livelihood League. The ederations replication potential has

been recognized by the Government o Orissa, who has ma

budgetary provision or knowledge sharing and replication activ

in ve project sites across the state. Depending on the inte

target audience, the ederation uses meetings, workshops, train

reports, brochures, newspapers, magazines, radio and telev

eatures, and olk media to share its lessons learned.

Many traditional skills are underused or are being lost to modern culture. Local knowledg

needs to be captured and amalgamated with modern technology and research methods.



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Make communities equal partners in conservation. They will be the drivers of climate chang

adaptation and mitigation and are the key to resilience. Resource user communities should

be treated as essential stakeholders. They have the skills as well as the knowledge to develop

strategies that are responsive to local needs and realities.


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PARTNERS

he ederations success can be attributed in many ways to its robust

artnership model. Perhaps the most important partners have been

he Orissa Marine Resource Conservation Consortium and the Orissa

raditional Fisherworkers Union, both o which are coordinated by

he United Artists Association with the support o Greenpeace, the

World Wildlie Fund o India, and other national-level NGOs. The

nited Artists Association supports Samudram to leverage technicalapacity building or value-added processing rom institutes

uch as the College o Fisheries, Orissa University o Agriculture

echnology, the Central Fisheries Education Institute in Mumbai,

CAR University, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, and

erhampur University. The association also provides Samudram with

uidance on petitioning government or social services, business

evelopment support, and shing rights protection.

Oxam, the College o Fisheries at the Orissa University o Agriculture

echnology and Central Institute o Fisheries Education, and the

nternational Council o Agricultural Research provide the technology

or value-added secondary processing and train ederation members

n sh drying, pickling, and other quality control measures.

Ford Foundation and Oxam have also been important part

or Samudram, providing, among other supports, the costs o

salaries. In addition to providing packaging support and b

promotion, Ford Foundation combined orces with the Co

Marine Fisheries Research Institute o the Government o Ind

und the articial ree technology used by the ederation.

Berhampur University has been responsible or providing

seaweed processing technology, which has resulted in

cultivation o red algae to produce bio-products and to red

greenhouse gas emissions. The eld o seaweed processin

seen to have enormous potential or uture livelihoods protec

and biodiversity conservation once it is scaled up. Samudram

ambitions to become a pioneering organization in this eld, and

ocus cultivation activities on Chilika Lake, the largest salt water

in Asia.


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FURTHER REFERENCE

Samudram Womens Federation Video (Vimeo) vimeo.com/31389062

Samudram Womens Federation Photo Story (Vimeo) vimeo.com/15745686

Equator Initiative

Environment and Energy GroupUnited Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

304 East 45th Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10017

Tel: +1 646 781-4023

www.equatorinitiative.org

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the UNs global development network, advocating or change and

necting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better lie.

The Equator Initiative brings together the United Nations, governments, civil society, businesses and grassroots organizati

o recognize and advance local sustainable development solutions or people, nature and resilient communities.

2012 by Equator Initiative

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case studies undp: samudram women's federation, india

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