case study book

Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odisha

Scouting and upScaling livelihoodS innovationS in odiSha

disclaimer: These case studies represent the personal views of the individual authors. They do not necessarily represent the views of ACCESS Development Services.

published byACCESS Development Services28, Hauz Khas Village, New Delhi - 110016

153, Prachi Enclave, Chandrasekharpur,Bhubaneswar-751016, Odisha

Scouting and upscaling livelihoods innovations in odishathe power of aggregation in agriculture

Copyright ©: ACCESS Development Services, 2011

All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission by the Publisher.

printed byPurple CommunicationsNew Delhi.

Preface i

1 Broiler poultry Farming – a Source of income for 1 poorest of the poor

2 collective Marketing Model: enriching the Marginalized 10

3 Fish-prawn pickle, hygienic dry Fish production and 18 Market promotion for Fishery products through Women cooperatives and Shgs

4 grain Banks to Face Food Stress – the antodaYa experience 23

5 growing with goats 28

6 helping them help themselves 33

7 integrated natural Resource Management (inRM) Model 37

8 innovative approaches for promotion of Self-help in 48 Rural areas: experiences of two initiatives of gram tarang Self help co-operative limited

9 innovative improvement of value chain for ginger 53 and ginger products

10 innovative Means of promoting livelihoods through 59 community or group Farming

11 innovation through upgrading technology in the cluster 64

12 livelihood options for tribal communities through value 70 chain approach for Rice

13 promoting ecotourism as a tool in supporting local 78 livelihoods and protecting commons through community based conservation

14 promoting livelihood Security through vegetable growers’ 85 cooperatives in three districts of orissa

15 SRi as Sustainable livelihood approach looking from Food 92 Security, gender equity and climate change perspectives

CONTENTS

It gives me immense pleasure to present the report on workshop on “Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odisha” organized on 23rd February, 2011 at Bhubaneswar in association wtih Access Development Services, New Delhi and NABARD, Bhubaneswar. This workshop was the first of its kind organized in the state in the area of rural livelihoods innovations and created a platform for innovators to share their ideas in a larger forum. Publication of the case studies on innovations in different areas will definitely provide new ideas and dimensions to the professionals, Government and Non Government Organizations, academicians and individuals to promote sustainable livelihood options for the rural poor.

The Report contains Innovations by different organizations that have brought benefits to the poor by promoting livelihoods through institutions of the poor. It talks about the democratic, participatory and inclusive approach being piloted by these organizations.

I am thankful to the various agencies who contributed in the workshop. I take this opportunity to also thank ACCESS Development Services for publication of the case studies. I hope that the report will prove to be a useful medium of learning and application on rural livelihoods innovations.

dr. arabinda K. padhee

State Project Director, TRIPTI

BHUBANESWAR22nd March, 2011


Providing the poor a life of dignity through sustainable livelihood opportunities has been the core theme of the developmental programmes being implemented by NABARD like WADI, Watershed Development, Micro Enterpreneurship Development Programmes, Skill Development Programme, etc. Innovations through usage of indigenous technology is an important factor for developing different models of sustainable participatory livelihood programmes. In this background, NABARD, TRIPTI project and ACCESS Development Services joined hands and conducted a workshop to explore the scope for replicable innovative models of livelihood solutions aimed at providing a dignified living to the rural masses of the State. I am sanguine that the efforts to ACCESS to publish the proceedings as well as the case studies presented in the workshop will lead to wider dissemination and replication of various innovations across the State. I wish the endeavour all success.

c. R. patnaik

Chief General Manager

Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odishai

pReFace

Ensuring sustainable livelihoods to the poor is a complex task, and a big challenge, given the large population of poor in India. While there is need to align several interlinked services to help make the livelihoods of the poor sustainable, innovative solutions that will help the poor to scale their operations is a critical area for investment. Various attempts have been made to this effect in terms of innovative products, practices, institutions as well as approaches to help the poor. However, most of these best practices have either been site specific or are still unknown to the larger sector.

Livelihoods India, a national level initiative by ACCESS, aims to provide a platform for various stakeholders in the sector to exchange and benefit from learning around challenges towards ensuring sustainable livelihoods of the poor. Organising thematic retreats, sectoral meets and round tables are important sub initiatives that are undertaken as a part of the Livelihoods India platform to deliberate upon issues linked to the livelihoods of the poor, bring consensus on strategies and devise key recommendations for the sector.

It is in this context that ACCESS Development Services in collaboration with TRIPTI and NABARD organised a state level workshop on Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odisha on 23rd February, 2011. The workshop focused on the need for innovative livelihoods solutions for the poor, showcasing how innovations have impacted their livelihoods and emphasized on the need to identify, support and scale up such innovations. It also provided a unique opportunity for organizations to gain visibility and recognition in a wider forum.

As a precursor to the workshop, individuals, institutions, entrepreneurs and NGOs, involved in sustainable livelihoods enhancement through innovations in Odisha were invited to send in case studies of their innovations highlighting certain key aspects such as inclusion, community empowerment, applicability, replicability, scalability impact and sustainability. In response, a total of 23 cases were received, each of them unique, deep rooted in their own ways in various institutional technological, product and process innovations and all attempting to add to the household economic base. The cases ranged from Harsha Trust’s experience with Broiler poultry farming which had the Cooperative Model as its core, to the Council of Social Workers’ experience in Mangaljodi where eco-tourism was used as a tool to promote local livelihoods and protect commons through community led conservation initiatives; from ACCESS’s experience in technology upgradation for MSMEs in Cashew and Kewda sub-sectors to Madhyam Foundation’s pilot experiment in vegetable cultivation through the Cooperative Model, and many more.

iiPreface

Overall the initiative was well received. More than seventy stakeholders including key multilateral/ bilateral stakeholders participated, several senior government officials joined the workshop discussions and largely there was unanimity in the value generated by the day long deliberations.

On behalf of ACCESS, I take this opportunity to thank TRIPTI project for collaborating on this initiative. The enthusiastic support and strategic directions provided by Arabinda Padhee, State Project Director, TRIPTI helped immensely in the success of the programme. The support from NABARD too was valued in organizing the programme in an orderly manner and for supporting its documentation.

It is hoped that this workshop will serve as a step towards institutionalising this process that has been initiated to not only help innovations gain recognition but in future also to help them scale up.

vipin Sharma

CEO, ACCESS Development Services

1

CASE

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1Broiler Poultry Farming – A Source of Income for Poorest of the Poor

Broiler Poultry Farming – A Source of Income for Poorest of the Poor

Harsha Trust

IntroductionThe Jeypore Gramya Mahila Poultry Producers Cooperative Limited (JGMPPCL), which currently has 114 women members, was started in January 2006 with 3 members. It has now integrated different processes in the value chain like promoting maize cultivation, feed processing, chick production, and selling of ready birds through stock points, and retail outlets, in its chain of functioning. The enterprise has a 20 per cent share (884 quintals/month) in the market of Jeypore, a town in Koraput district. The annual sales turnover is around Rs. 1 crore and average income of the members is Rs. 12997 per annum now. This successful enterprise model is now being scaled up and replicated at Kalahandi, Nawarangpur, and Rayagada districts with the help of Ballarpur Industries Limited (BILT), Sir Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), NABARD, DRDA and the Harsha Trust and aims at including at least 500 of the poorest of poor families by March 2011.

The intervention was started in Jeypore Block of Koraput district of Orissa where 49.5 per cent, and 12.9 per cent of the population belongs to ST and SC communities respectively. More than 70 per cent of them live below the poverty line which leads to only 4 to 5 months of food security and the average annual family income is very low, only about Rs. 20000. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood but 30per cent of the population is landless; 50per cent of the agricultural land has low productivity, and the average size of a land holding is only 1.5 hectares. The irrigation coverage is less than 25 per cent of the net sown area (NSA). Wage labour or migrating to work as unskilled labour is an important means of livelihood. The area is poverty stricken with low literacy rates and health problems like malaria and tuberculosis.

With limited employment opportunities in the nearby Sewa Paper Mill of Ballarpur Industies Limited, the Harsha Trust undertook an inflow and outflow analysis of the locally available goods , and a sectoral analysis, finally zeroing in on broiler poultry farming as a viable enterprise, mainly for the landless families.

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2 Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odisha

Demand and Scope of Broiler Poultry Farming in the AreaThe broiler industry is growing at the rate of 15per cent per annum due to factors like increase in urbanization and per capita income of the people, high mutton prices, religious restrictions on beef and pork, and unavailability or limited availability of fish in many regions.

The pie chart shows the present demand of broiler poultry birds in Jeypore town and the market share of each supplier. The total supply is about 50 quintals per day. Around 60 per cent of this supply comes from Andhra Pradesh, and the rest is managed locally. The demand distribution of different forms of poultry meat in Jeypore is as shown in the pie chart below.

Looking at the above scenario, it is evident that there is enough scope to further increase the volume of supply from the local areas.


Margins at the various levels thus show wholesaling is a volume’s game while retailing is a margin’s game.

Evolution of the Poultry CooperativeIn the year 2002, the Harsha Trust collaborated with Ballarpur Industries Limited (under their corporate social responsibility initiative) with the mission “to improve the quality of life of the rural poor”. Till mid 2005, the focus was primarily on improving the agricultural production through improved cropping practices, and providing irrigation facilities. But more than 30 per cent of their members were landless, and so were not benefitted. A local area economy study revealed that broiler poultry farming could be an option for enhancing livelihoods. BILT supported a pilot project on broiler poultry farming which was started in January 2006 with three families who reared the first batch of 300 birds each.) A few other members became interested in this enterprise despite the pilot ending in a loss of Rs. 9000 due to bird flu.

growth of the enterprise

Interested SHGs are gradually mobilizing, towards seeking grants, for broiler poultry farming under SGSY. The bankers were familiar with similar activities by PRADAN at Lohardaga and one of the bankers approved the funding for broiler poultry farming for one of the SHGs under Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), and BILT provided an additional revolving fund to include 20 more members, and constructed a feed mill. The growth continued and by 2007 there were 85 farms (SGSY), and a ready to operate feed mill, and a cooperative of women poultry producers was registered later on 29 September 2009.

Strategies like promotion of maize cultivation in the local area for its feed mill, a retail counter, cutting centres in Jeypore, and above all a hatchery for chick production, were devised to integrate further into the value chain.

AndhraSupply

BigWholesaler

Margin/kg

LocalFarms

----Very thin farm andwholesaler margins

Most of the valueconcentrated at the end

of the value chain

WholesalersLarge

RetailersSmall

RetailersCustomers

Rs. 0.5-1Rs. 2

Rs. 20-25

Rs. 20-25Rs. 5-10Rs. 2


NABARD has provided support in increasing the scale of these economic activities in Rayagada and Kalahandi districts of Orissa. DRDA, Korput has already sanctioned 70 more farms under SGSY and with additional support from NABARD and SDTT (expected by March 2011), there will be around 500 members taking part in this enterprise.

governance and Management

The board members of JGMPPCL are the elected representatives of the women poultry producers. They have stepped outside the four walls, and held successful negotiations with the administration. This governance process allows appropriate decision making that benefits the members. The members pay Rs. 0.40 on each kilogram of birds sold, to the cooperative. Continuous interaction between the members and the staff of the cooperative has led to the rise of a culture where members are beginning to take charge of the cooperative. The board is responsible for the selection and appointment of the staff.

Board MembersMeet regularly to discuss issues, problems, asses performance and take resolutions for the co-operative

general Body MembersComprises of all the farmers rearing chicken

Service providers• Inspection of farms including

counting chicks, weighing birds, monitoring temperature control etc.

• Providing technical assistance to the farmers in terms identifying diseases, treating them etc

• Reporting to the office each week with FCR, mortality reports

accounts Staff• A c c o u n t reconci lat ion & payment• P e r f o r m a n c e report generation

Elect from each cluster/village

Elect

technical, Marketing & production

• Project Co-ordinator (Dhruba Jena) - overall monitoring and control, motivating members, Collection

• Production Manager (Manoj Sahoo) - Monitoring of feed mill operation and feed supply

• Feed mill staff• Stock Point Staff - Marketing

ceo (Ms. Banita dalai)Appointed by Board Members; Responsibilities: Monitoring the entire operation including

production cost, supply chain, performance, sourcing, marketing, pricing.

president (Mrs. Bati Barik)Overall direction, review and decision making

Together support the general body members i.e. the farmers


Flow of informationceo

(Ms. Banita Dalai)advisor & Mentor

(Dr. Kalol)

project co-ordinator(Ms. Dhruba Jena)

production Manager(Ms. Manoj Sahoo)

The information flow is very flat. Any farmer or supervisor can directly approach the CEO or Project coordinator in case of any issue

Service Provider 1

President

Service Provider 2

Board Member 1

Service Provider 7

Board Member 8

Service Provider Interaction in their weekly

Monday Meetings

Board members interaction in the

monthly meetings

Members of each cluster/

village interact in the SHG level

meetingsCluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3

Member 2

Member 10

Member 1

Member 3

Member 2

Member 10

Member 1

Member 3

Member 2

Member 10

Member 1

Member 3

Chicks obtained from Hatchery by Cooperative

poultry life cycle

Village Poultry Farms (35-40

days)

• The typical end-to end poultry cycle takes from a minimum 42days to 50days

The cycle duration also depends on: 1. Preparedness of farms to receive

fresh batch2. Age of birds at the time of sale

which can fluctuate between 35 -42 days depending on market price & demand

• Seasonal factors like prevalence of diseases in Rainy season also affects the life cycle

Placing order for chicks 7

days prior to planned date

Preparing farms to

receive next batch of chicks

(7-10days)

Poultry birds sent to Stock

point

Sourcing feed from feed mill, vaccines,

medicines etc. by Coop


The following chart depicts the organizational structure and the flow of information within the cooperative:

The Impact of the Outreach ProgrammeIt is a regular cash flow enterprise managed exclusively by women, and where each member earns around Rs. 2000to 2500 at 60 day intervals. The four hours of work required (2 hours in the morning as well as in the evening), has eased the work load of the women members who earlier slogged in the field for more than 7 hours. Now many of the poultry farmers have individual bank accounts in the nearby bank. Frequent visits of various district officials from Additional Programme Directors to Secretaries has helped develop a strong interface with the administration.

It has created indirect employment opportunities for the local youths, and they are engaged as service providers, staff at the feed mill, and in marketing. The enterprise has encouraged the cultivation of maize on a large scale (on more than 650 acres), to generate a net income of at least Rs. 8000 per acre.

It is expected that by March 2011 there 500 farmers will be taking up poultry farming. As of now Andhra Pradesh supplies the poultry for the Nawarangpur, Bhawanipatna, Rayagada, and Koraput markets. If these markets are captured, then in the coming years, livelihood can be generated for at least 2000 families.

• The Cooperative is heavily dependent on both Eastern Hatchery & Hendrix. Other options to Eastern are hatcheries in Raipur while sell at higher price & also lead to transportation costs being incurred

Eastern Hatchery,

Berhampur

Hendrix Nutricraft

Berhampur

Pre Starter

Feed Mill

Feed including starter & finisher

Litter, Vaccines, Vitamins,

Antibiotics, etc

Poultry Farms

Stock Point Retailers

Chicks

Poultry Cooperative

the poultry Supply chain


SustainabilityThe cooperative needs to invest in further backward integration like establishing parent farms to procure eggs for hatching, retail outlets both at the urban and rural centres, and feed mills. The enterprise can work better as a hybrid model wherein the forward and backward integration infrastructure is mobilized with grants, and rearing units are promoted with loans. The integration of maize production lowers the cost of production. The greater scope lies in building members’ skills to improve the rearing practices and bring down the feed conversion ratio from the present level of 2 to around 1.8. The modified structure of a rearing unit of 500 birds per batch has been found to be more viable.

The substantial margin from retailer to consumer level needs to be captured to have built the surplus and reserves. The cooperative is able to meet the cost of its staff employed at the feed mill, for marketing, and at the stock point but the cost of the CEO is still being subsidized. The administrative costs are expected to be recovered from the hatchery and centralized layer farm, which can be leveraged from district administration.

cash Flow at individual Rearer levelparticulars Years

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12No. of chicks per

batch300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300 300

Chicks price (Rs.27/chick)

8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100 8100

Feed price (Rs.19/kg)

19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494 19494

Medicine (Rs.) 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500Cost of services

provider240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240 240

Misce. expenses 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600 600Total Investment (Rs.) 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234 29234total body wt. (285

bird @ 1.8kg = 513 kg513 513 513 513 513 513 513 513 513 513 513 513

Sale price Rs. 65/kg 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345 33345Return per batch 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111 4111Return per year

(6 batches per year)24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666 24666

loan repayment Principal 55000 52000 48500 43500 38500 33500 28500 23500 18500 13500 8500 3500

Interest @12% per annum

6600 6240 5820 5220 4620 4020 3420 2820 2220 1620 1020 420

Interest repayment 6600 6240 5820 5220 4620 4020 3420 2820 2220 1620 1020 420Principal repayment 3000 3500 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 5000 3500

outstanding loan 52000 48500 43500 38500 33500 28500 23500 18500 13500 8500 3500 0cash in hand 15066 14926 13846 14446 15046 15646 16246 16846 17446 18046 18646 20746


Replicability

The model is replicable in the areas where large poultry integrators have not entered or the probability of their entering is low. This can work as a good hybrid model in poverty stricken low population density areas, like the central tribal region of India. This enterprise can be further replicated if multiple nonprofit organizations worked together to promote this kind of livelihood and devised strategies and interventions rival those of the large poultry integrators. Grants can be mobilized to establish forward and backward linkages and individual units can function on loans.

Innovativeness

The model is innovative in terms of its technology transfer to rural women and collaboration between different players like the industry, NGOs, government and donors such as SDTT and NABARD. It is also a unique women-managed enterprise, which caters to the needs of the poorest of the poor. It differs from similar other interventions in terms of the degree of integration at different levels like cultivation of maize in the local area for poultry feed, marketing through stock points, and its own retail centres.

There is innovativeness in the adopted process where the members interact regularly among themselves and with the cooperative staff to improve efficiency on a continuous basis. It is unique in that the CEO of the cooperative is a lady. She can easily relate to the needs of the members and tries to provide the best possible service to them.

Key Insights

The major insight gained from this model is that one need not get disheartened with initial failure, as in the case the first batch which was sold at a loss due to bird flu scare. The enterprise bounced back due to the hard work of the key functionaries and support from other agencies. The commitment of the veterinary doctor from Assam who lived with the members to teach them broiler poultry rearing skills was a major factor in the eventual success of the organization.

Another important lesson was that a plan should have the scope for future expansion right from the very beginning. So the farmers who started with 300 birds per batch can rear 500 birds by expanding the size of their existing sheds.

One needs to continuously work on the efficiency parameters to reduce the cost of production and be able to quote a competitive market price. One must refrain from cross subsidizing within the operation to the extent possible, for example, the margin from the feed mill or the stock point should not be used


to meet the loss due to lower efficiency at the farm level. Holding people accountable for their performance works in the long run. If a grant received for the infrastructure was to be treated as a loan then the overall efficiency and performance would improve. The money for maize cultivation was made available as grant but with permission from donor, the agricultural cooperative used it as a revolving fund to scale up the interventions.


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the MarginalizedMART

Context and OpportunityMaximizing returns to marginal agricultural effort and NTFP collection is a fundamental component of the poverty alleviation effort. Of over 700 million Indian’s population dependent upon agriculture for sustenance, a predominant majority are marginal producers or dependent upon NTFPs for livelihood. They constitute a large proportion of India’s poor. Their poverty leaves them with very few productive assets. For them to make the journey out of poverty, it is therefore vital that they maximize the returns on the little they can produce. But far from maximizing their returns, the socio-economic context of marginal producers places them in an exploitative traditional system which siphons off value from their outputs. From the point of harvest, produce typically goes through a series of steps each of which require increasing levels of capital and knowledge.

Summary of marketing challenges faced by the poor tribals are as follows;

• Limited marketable surplus at the individual household level• Dependency on local intermediaries to market the produce and

earn a living• Lack of value addition of the produce at the village levels to fetch

better prices• Lack of market information to the poor and marginal farmer / NTFP collector• Lack of access to terminal markets and organized private players

MART has developed a comprehensive system of marketing at the village level which addresses the above factors.

The Collective Marketing InitiativeThe Collective Marketing Model1 was developed under the aegis of the Western Orissa Rural Livelihoods Promotion (WORLP) project. From a modest beginning in 20 villages the model was expanded to 100 villages in WORLP. Subsequently

1 MART has supported projects like WORLP, OTELP, JTDP, JSLPS, OFSDP in establishing collective marketing model in more than 500 villages by creating collectives and introducing marketing infrastructure and information systems to meet market demands for agri and forest produce. More than 5000 members of SHGs are involved in collective marketing and have achieved a turnover of Rs 60 millions.

11Collective Marketing Model: Enriching the Marginalized

the approach is being replicated in the IFAD funded Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods1 Program (OTELP) where Collective Marketing operations are being established in another 400 villages spanning 6 districts. Communities have used the Collective

Marketing methodology to drive efficiency in the supply chains of more than 32 commodities of both the agricultural and non-timber forest produce (NTFP) variety and subsequently replicated into Jharkhand Tribal Development Programme (JTDP), Jharkhand State Livelihood Promotion Society (JSLPS) and Orissa Forestry Sector Development Project (OFSDP).Collective Marketing has armed Community Based Organizations (CBOs) primarily SHGs and CIGs with the knowledge, confidence and processes to operate in a non-exploitative channel for the marketing of products. These CBOs have captured value by conducting a range of local-level activities including drying, sorting, grading, weighing and packaging, for which a range of marketing infrastructures have been created in villages. The total value of products marketed through Collective Marketing channels is in excess of Rs 6 crores. Using a conservative estimate of 10-15% margins in this operation, the turnover represents additional income to the tune of Rs 1000 for each of the 4000 people involved in the operation.

no of district coverage Started with expanded toNo of districts 2 7No of Villages 28 500No of SHG members 20 600No of CIG members 200 3500Turn Over(INS) 600000 60000000Products Minor millet, Cotton, Onion,

Mahuaflower, char32 products

Status till 2010Collective Marketing is therefore tested and proven set of methodologies, tools and process which can be used in a variety of contexts to enrich marginal producers through participation in marketing channels.

Changing age old marketing practices to remunerative and systematic collective marketing was the biggest challenge for which an effective communication strategy was required.


A typical value chain of Mohua flower, an important NTFP of Orissa is as follows

Collective Marketing: The MART Solution Philosophy –

Adivarsipermitted tomake liquor

Big Traders at Town Level(Kantabanji, Lathore...)

Petty Shop/Kutchia at Village Level

Primary Collector Primary Collector

Production Cluster

Rs 8-9

Rs 6-8

Rs 5-7

Sold to Alcohol Brewing

units Bhatis

Jharkhand

Raipur

Maharashtra

Rajasthan

Mahua Flower is consumed

BiharSmall shop ownerfor retail saleLiquor sold at

Rs. 25-30

LicensedBhatis

Semi Finished

Minimum ValueAddition

Raw Produce

Finished Town/City

Town

Villages


The following diagram represents key steps and likely price realization by the local producer

MART’s approach to Collective Marketing is built upon five core ideas

• Truly inclusive and sustainable results can be achieved by making trading the basis for community involvement - The Collective Marketing approach emphasizes building entrepreneurship in the village through trading of raw produce on which the maximum number of families in a village depends. This is a conscious departure from the erstwhile approach of promoting manufacturing activities. The rationale for this is that manufacturing based activity is a niche enterprise which involves very few members of the community and mostly done at town and city level.

• Productivity increases alone will not achieve poverty alleviation, rather a market led approach is necessary - Approaches that focus on productivity alone result in increased outputs, but without commensurate improvement in marketing, there is limited increase in producer compensation. Poverty alleviation requires a comprehensive approach that focuses on conservation, productivity enhancement and commercialization. Since no strategy can increase incomes if followed in isolation any approach must intertwine all three into a holistic development paradigm. Collective marketing is

Additional price relization

5%

5%

5-10%

10-15%

Secondary Community Institution

Marketable surplus clusteridentified

Linkages with organized privatecompanies in cities

Direct linkages with bigger town traders

Drying, cleaning, sorting, packaging to add value

Collectivization to achieveeconomies of scale

Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odisha14

a streamlined effort where community in order to get better prices for the produces works on the entire value chain i.e. on the pre-production, production, collection, harvesting, marketing aspects of the produce.

• Empowered Communities are the best agents of poverty alleviation - The goal of Collective Marketing is to empower community based organizations with the insights required for them to drive the poverty alleviation agenda. This implies a focus on the empowering with the exclusion of building community organizations. This reflects a belief that building community institutions and empowering them with know-how are essentially different skill sets. Collective Marketing assumes the existence of the CBO maintains focus on the process empowering them with the insights needed for them to capitalize upon their collective capabilities. The objective of Collective Marketing is to maximize the leadership and managerial abilities that pre-exist within the community, not to construct external institutions to serve the poor.

• Simple, sustainable interventions will yield better long-term results than complex, high margin interventions - As discussed; there is a significant gap between the compensation achieved at the farm gate and the price paid by the end consumer. The further the community is able to integrate into the process of value addition, the greater the remuneration to the producer. However, this forward integration comes with a price. It requires increasing levels of capital, expertise and organization complexity. These increasing demands require advanced levels of management and may not be within the aspirations or capabilities of the community. Interventions that go beyond the aspirations and capabilities of the communities are unsustainable without committed ownership from an institution external to the community. The complexity of such organizations and the potential for politicization, rent seeking and subversion of the community agenda actually presents a risk to community based organization. Collective Marketing therefore limits itself to the value addition that can be conceived, led and executed by a CBO with the injection of only a one-time infusion of knowhow. Collective Marketing therefore favors sustainability over scale.

• Capacity building is most valuable when it focuses on process rather than product – The form and nature of outputs vary vastly across communities and even within the same community as it develops. Collective Marketing focuses on produce-agnostic fundamentals that adapt to diverse locations and circumstance.


The Collective Marketing ApproachIn helping community based organizations extract the most out of their produce, MART has developed a systematic and comprehensive toolkit and methodology that can be applied with limited customization. The Collective Marketing engagement with a community last several months and systematically transforms a CBO. A diagrammatic representation of the activities conducted with the community is shown below:

MART’s Collective Marketing approach is delivered to a community by a facilitator using standardized processes and toolkits. The key features of the Collective Marketing engagement with a community are as follows:

• Mapping the marketable produce - Rural supply chains are socially and economically complex. At the same time, it is vital to succeed in the first enterprise undertaken by the CBOs. The Collective Marketing process thus begins with a detailed market survey of the products grown in the community, the sources of value addition, marketing channels and opportunities for efficiency.

• The change-ready CBO – The key requirement is that the CBO be stable, strong and ready to make the transition to advanced economic activities. The characteristics of such a CBO include good leadership; understanding the value of investment, functional for more than one year etc. It is Important to recognize the interdependency of Collective Marketing and the CBOs stability.

• Collective marketing contributes to ongoing stability of CBOs as much as it depends upon it.

Mapping produce having marketable surplus

Group Orientation

• Concept sharing• Capacity building• System in Place• Business Plan• Financial Linkages• Procurement

Market Infrastructure

Drying yard• Weighing scale• Logistics• Quality Check

Market Linkage

• Search market• Negotiate with traders• Linkage• Profit sharing

Planning for the next Produce


• The Latent Leader – Although the Collective Management engagement is delivered to the CBO, the motive force of change are the small subset of influential individuals who are the thought leaders of the CBO. These are the champions that carry the community through the transformation required to become a Community Based Enterprise. Identifying these individuals and targeting them for development as effective leader is a critical element of the Collective Management Process.

• Experiential Capacity Building – Since the constraint to community enterprise is as much a function of self-belief as it is a result of ignorance, the process of revealing opportunity must be accompanied by the process of developing aspiration. The educative components of Collective Marketing lay a high emphasis upon experiential and action based activities such as market visits, stakeholder conversations and marketing audits.

• Facilitated but Participative – Developing the community’s capacity to take up enterprise is as much of a goal of Collective Marketing as creating channels for more efficient marketing. This implies that the CBO emerge as a Community Based Entrepreneur, not just a Community Based Manager. Such an outcome requires that the community’s ability to identify and construct enterprises progress alongside its ability to manage them. Thus facilitators in the Collective Marketing framework have to maintain a delicate balance between assisting a community to develop its agenda and creating an agenda for the community.

Collective Outcomes and OpportunitiesCollective Marketing is now a mature effort. It has been tested in 6 districts and touched communities in nearly 500 villages. The process has been used with 32 commodities in supply chain steps that range from farm-gate collection to market speculation. The following are the key outcomes that have been achieved in the targeted communities:

• Involvement of poor in value chain development - Participation of the marginalized in the marketing effort like aggregate to achieve scale, participate in value addition and engage with markets as an equal participant, This outcome has significant implications for wealth creation and empowerment among the poorest.

• Marketing Efficiency – Collective Marketing has created community driven solutions for a wide range of products.

• Equity of Access to Entrepreneurial Opportunity – The compelling and enduring impact of Collective Marketing is that it has introduced marginal producers who fatalistically accepted exploitative remuneration to the idea that it is within their rights and capability to maximize their wealth. This experience within the immediate context of their produce has had a deeper impact on the social fabric of the community. Opportunities for

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enterprise which were limited in their access to small pockets of the rural community are now being actively pursued by a larger proportion of the village population.

• Better utilization of institutional support to the poor – In the communities where it has been implemented, Collective Marketing has also acted as a cause towards which development resources such as the revolving fund can be directed. Thus in addition to developmental outcomes of its own, Collective Marketing is also allowing other developmental inputs to maximize their impact upon the community.

• Collective Marketing has now been established as a credible step in the journey out of poverty. The future of Collective Marketing lies in taking this tool to the millions who need it and expanding the impact this tool has on the lives of the poor. As the Self Help Group movement gains momentum in India’s 600,000 villages, the basic social construct required for Collective Marketing is coming into existence. As these groups attain social stability and access developmental funds, introducing a module such as Collective Marketing to the community becomes a necessity to maintain the momentum of the developmental agenda. Once communities experience the power of their entrepreneurial abilities, they will seek to expand the activities undertaken by their enterprises. At this point, the Collective Marketing methodology as it currently stands will be incapable of managing the risks and operational sophistication required by the enhanced ambitions of the community. A vision for Collective Marketing therefore is to expand to create an advanced level of intervention which will take established Collective Marketing groups and transform them into full-fledged, professionally managed producer companies.

Collective Marketing Model: Enriching the Marginalized


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YFish-Prawn Pickle, Hygienic Dry Fish Production

and Market Promotion for Fishery Products through Women Cooperatives and SHGs

Prasad Foundation

The IssueOrissa is located on the East coast of India, and more than 40 per cent of it is a coastal area. There are several coastal districts comprising of numerous coastal revenue villages. In this coastal revenue villages, majority of the population comprises of fishermen and their families s. Sea fishing is the main source of livelihood for this community with around 80 per cent of its members dependent on it.

Sea fishing is not a regular source of livelihood for the fishermen community of the coastal villages of Orissa. Due to factors such as heavy rains in the rainy season, natural calamities like cyclones and the lean period only 250 days of sea fishing is possible in a year. For the rest of the days of the year these community members are either fully unemployed or marginally employed with netting and boat repairing activities.

All members of the fishermen community do not have the capital to invest individually in a motor boat and other fishing equipment required for deep sea fishing and so most of them are involved in deep sea fishing on a partnership basis. Due to the lack of a capital investment capacity, some of the members of this community are unemployed. Also, sea fishing is an uncertain source of income.

Sea fishing is essentially a male occupation, and the role of women is very small. So the female community members are largely unemployed. Since sea fishing is not possible for a major part of the year, the total annual income of most fishermen families is very low and cannot meet even their basic minimum needs. So to improve their economic condition, the fishing communities of Orissa need new employment opportunities for women and alternative means of livelihood for men.

Project PlanAfter careful analysis, the Prasad Foundation has formulated a plan to provide an alternate source of regular livelihood, especially to fisherwomen. The new plan is production of prawn pickle and other marine based food products by engaging the traditional skills of the female community members.

This is an innovative enterprise that requires capital on a medium scale, traditional skill support, training on hygienic and value addition for fish

19Fish-Prawn Pickle, Hygienic Dry Fish Production and Market Promotion for Fishery

Products through Women Cooperatives and SHGs

products, and outside support for market development and storage facility. So the project can be implemented on a large scale by involving a large number of fisherwomen of the coastal villages of Orissa.

Project Brief This project will greatly benefit the fisherwomen, the marginally employed, the fully unemployed, and the economically backward members of the Fishermen community. The project will support:

• Initiatives to employ semi-traditional sources of livelihoods for the fishermen communities using modern techniques.

• The melding of the old and the new by establishing large scale production units requiring land and buildings, and with advanced operational capabilities to create employment opportunities based on traditional skills. The fisherwomen who are experienced in producing said products, even though on a small scale, to cover their local market.

• Training and employment of a large number of women community members in a large scale production programme.

• The fisherwomen, helping them earn a regular income through self- employment opportunities using their traditional skills of with advanced techniques.

Community EmpowermentAt present the fishermen community has a limited source of traditional livelihood, like, netting, boating, and sea fishing. This project will empower the fishermen community as:

• The production will be derived from marine foods and fish items.

• The project will encourage a large scale community participation and involvement in various capacities, right from raw material procurement to the finished product.

• It will increase the family income of every household in their community.

• The fisherwomen will be provided training on Hygienic fish and prawn product processing.


FeasibilityAs of now, the fishermen catch a variety of marine fishes during sea fishing, and sell their catch to local vendors who export these to other areas within India, and abroad. Only the large prawns and fish meet the export standards, and so the small sized catch is sold by the fishermen at the local market, for the consumption of non vegetarians in their daily life. The market price of these small sized fish and prawns is much lower than that of the export quality catch.

The small sized fish and prawns are the main raw materials for the proposed products. These can be hygienically processed for preparing fish-prawn pickle, fish chips and papad, fish bhujiya, and fish essence. The producers need to purchase such marginal products at a better price than the market so that they can procure raw materials on a regular basis and their production continues unhindered.

Replicability The project may create a new and regular source of income for coastal villages and the fishermen living in them. They have the necessary experience but due to lack of proper infrastructure and capital support could not use their skills to generate regular livelihood. The trained women members may be used as a resource base to provide training to the other untrained or unskilled women of their community. With the availability of in home trainers, the preliminary cost of capacity building and training may be reduced.

The production of fish and prawn pickle, and other items for sale in the market is a commercial activity and will generate revenue through sales in potential markets.

The following factors will result in a cost effective implementation of the Project:

• The product has an existing market demand, and with no other existing producer, the cost of market launch, and market development of the product will be nil.

• Since it is a new product, the cost of competitive marketing is nil.

• The total lay out of the project will be decentralized so the set up costs will be less than that of a full phase commercial production unit.

• The women community members will be responsible for the primary raw material processing and semi products. This will lower the cost of raw material processing thus effectively reducing production costs.

21Fish-Prawn Pickle, Hygienic Dry Fish Production and Market Promotion for Fishery

Products through Women Cooperatives and SHGs

• The cost of processing will be the income generated by the women members of the community as remuneration for their time and skill.

• The women community members are required to get proper training in prawn or fish processing to produce pickles.

Scalability • The idea of this project is to promote alternative means of livelihoods for

the fishermen community but not limited to them..

• People from other communities, if interested, may get involved in this project and reap benefits as it will provide them with a means of livelihood.

• At an initial stage, the project may be launched in coastal districts only as they are the only source of salt water fish and prawn. At a later stage the project may be expanded to areas other than the coastal villages through planned production of raw material from artificial salt water.

• Nowadays it is possible to set up fish and prawn hatcheries in artificial salt water ponds, so the project may be expanded to other rural areas which offer optimum space for this purpose.

Project Impact The said project will have multi dimensional impact upon the community and beyond.

Social impact

• The project will empower a traditional community of coastal Orissa by providing an alternative means of livelihood in a semi traditional methodology.

• The children of the community will have a bright future and may adopt this practice in a more advanced form and gain a regular source of livelihood.

• The number of unemployed youth will be reduced.

• The members involved in this project will gain prominence and exposure in the eyes of the other community members.

• A new lease of life will be given to a traditional means of livelihood in the coastal area.


• The entrepreneurial skills of the coastal fisherwomen will be enhanced. Generation of large volumes of self employment opportunities for fisherwomen.

economic impact

• Regular revenue generation by the women of the fishermen community.

• A family income source will increase for the said community.

• Promotion of coastal-rural industrialization.

• Generation of foreign currency for the Union of India through exports as the product has a huge demand in foreign markets.

• Overall profit and revenue generation for this product will be is around 30to 45 per cent of the capital investment.

• The project will attract investors oriented towards social industrialization due to the sure return on investment.

• It will turn the unemployed and the economically weak into successful entrepreneurs and strengthen the economic status of the community members.

environmental impact

The project has an obligation towards environmental protection and being based on natural food processing, it will not harm the environment nor cause any environmental pollution. The waste from the processing could cause pollution, but it can be utilized as raw material for compost production or as fish food in the fresh aquaculture hatcheries system.

Project Sustainability The project will need external support and resources in the first one or two years after the implementation of the pilot. After that the project will be self sufficient and will generate the revenue to meet its operational costs. So if proper support, training, capacity building and infrastructure development is ensured then within 2 years from commencement, the project will be sustainable and within 3 years it is expected to be self sustainable.

The idea, impact, and outcome for the implementation of such an innovative project, has been explained based on the knowledge of the innovator, but successful implementation depends upon availability of funds, training provided, and capacity building of the fishermen community members, and also on the availability of other required infrastructure support for the project.

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23Grain Banks to Face Food Stress – The Antodaya Experience

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YGrain Banks to Face Food Stress – The ANTODAYA

ExperienceAnTODAyA

Traditionally, the tribals and other weaker sections of the tribal dominated pockets of Orissa face food stress during rainy season every year. In Thuamul Rampur, the third most underdeveloped block of Orissa as per the report of the Department of Planning and Coordination, the situation is even worse than in the other areas of the state. A study conducted by ANTODAYA found the following:

Food availability pattern in thuamul Rampur63% HH Food stress for more than 6 months26% HH Food stress for 3-5 months8% HH Food stress for less than 3 monthsOnly 3% Secured food for 12 months

Source of income for the community52% Agriculture, podu, livestock23% Minor forest produce12% Wage earning13% Consumption loan

The System of Loan and RepaymentTo face the distress conditions the people seek loans, and fall prey to money lenders who exploit them. The money lenders charge the above rate of interest for a loan of just five to six months, and if the loan is not repaid in the first year then cumulative interest/compound interest is charged over both the principal as well as on the interest accrued. Their plight does not end here. During the rainy season the people neither get rice from the PDS shop nor from the open market as the area gets cutoff due to flooding of the area’s streams and rivers.

loan items Repayment after harvestingRupees (Cash)For Rs. 100 Cash repayment is Rs. 150Crop

repayment is at the agreed rate at the time the loan was taken

For one bag of grain (paddy or other grains like ragi or minor millets )

One and a half bags of grain (100:150)

For Rice loanOne bag of rice Two bags of rice (double)


Seasonal Food Availability Patterns in Thuamul Rampur AreaThe following table explains the availability of seasonal food in the Thuamul Rampur block:

Sources Months

agriculture(both settledagriculture andpodu crop)

Forestproduce Wages loan

Magaha (Jan-Feb)

Have crops likepaddy, ragi,kusla, kangu,kandul, kainyan,etc for the 30days of themonth

Tamarind andtubers like pithkanda, pitakanda, keukanda, sandikanda, cherengakanda, and girillikanda for thewhole month

No wages No loan forfood

Phagun (Feb-March)

Crops likepaddy, kandul,ragi, and kusla for30 days

Mahua, tenderjack fruit,mango, kendu,chahar, andkardi (bambooshoots) for thewhole month

No wages No

Chait (Mar-Apr)

No agriculturalproducts

Kendu, mango,mahul, kardi,and jack fruitfor 10 –12 daysin the month

Paid ragi grains aswages for 10days work inthe podu field

Grainslikepaddy, ragi, andKusla on loan for 15days

Baisakh (Apr-May)


Fruits likemango, jackfruit, guava,kathi koli, andblack berries,etcand tuberslike pith kanda,green leaveslike jaba sag,kuler sag,which feedthem for 20days

No wages Grainslikepaddy, ragi, andKusla on ) loan for food for10 days

Landi (Jyasth) (May-June)


Getfood such asmango kernel, mushrooms, dumer (fig), andleaves for about 20 days

No wages Grains likeragi, paddy, andkuslaon loan forFood for10 days

Gundicha (Asadh) (June-July)


Getfood such asmango kernel, mushrooms, dumer (fig), andleaves for 20 days

No wages Grains likeragi, paddy, andkusla on ) loan for food for10 days

Shravan (July-Aug)


Mushrooms,kardi (bambooshoots), andkursa for about 5 days

Grainslike ragi andkusla as wages for 10 days

Grains likeragi, paddy, andkusla on loan for food for15 days


Bhodo (Aug-Sep)

Ragi, pumpkin,maize, gurji andcucumber gives food for20 days

No forest products 5 days wagespaid in maizeand ragi grains

Grains likeRagi and paddy on loan for food for5 days

Dashara (Sept-Oct)

Raggi, earlyvariety paddy,kangu, andjhudung gives food for 10 days

Get food for 15 days from produce likejhiri, suan,karge kanda, andmundi kanda

No Wages Grains likeRagi and paddy on loan for food for5 days

Deeal (Oct-Nov)

all types of agricultural produce is harvested in this monthand people have surplus food.

Pando (Nov-Dec)

all types of agricultural produce is harvested in this month,people have surplus food and they repay theirprevious loan.

Pusha (Dec-Jan)

all types of agricultural produce is harvested in this monthand people have surplus food.

Traditional Coping Mechanism• Existence of crop diversity

• Forest based economy

• Kutumb panthi (traditional village grain bank)

Types of Grain Banks: Previous Attempts which Failed

Kutumb panthi

Traditionally, the villages used to have grain banks known as kutumb panthi, which were controlled by the traditional leaders, and were a symbol of interdependency among villagers. A need was felt for the revival of this tradition, but that presented difficulties.

grain Banks established after ngo intervention

After the initial setup, the grain banks worked with community participation. After some years due to lack of matching assistance and in the absence of a clear vision they became non-operational for some time. There is a need to continually motivate the community to ensure the grain banks remain operational.

grain Banks with Support from integrated tribal development agency (itda), government of orissa

Matching support in terms of grains and storage facilities is keeping the grain banks functional in most cases, and NGO supervision ensures that they


are comparatively well run. But there need to be reforms in the repayment mechanism to meet the needs of the target community.

The grains being stored in these grain banks are not monetized and so cannot attract bank linkage facilities, and they are targeting only the tribal households in a village.

Grain Bank- Bank-SHG Linkage Programme (first pilot project of NABARD in India) In the year 2003 ANTODAYA, with support from NABARD, setup grain banks in 16 villages of Nakrundi and Kerpai GP using innovative ways. 29 women SHGs were formed in those 16 villages with the aim of saving money as well as grains, both of which would be taken into consideration for bank linkage.

There are three centrally located grain banks, nurturing 9 to 10 SHGs, each provided with a buffer stock of 6000 kg grains from ANTODAYA and they rotate it through their member SHGs. The central grain banks are also provided with low cost storage houses with support from NABARD. Calculating the cost of the grains saved for bank linkage is the crux of the programme. This was not done earlier.

The repayment scheme is also quite simple and user friendly. A member who takes rice as a loan is free to repay with whatever she produces like paddy, NTFPs, Maize, oil seeds, etc. The value of the grains should equal the value of the loan plus the interest.

Grain Banks after OTELP Project InterventionThose 16 villages except Dandpadar village are now included in three MWS (Sikerguda, Maltipadar and Kandulguda) and they run the grain banks to face the distress situation. After the intervention and with OTELP support the villagers have more opportunities of wage employment, and increased access to food grains but they still continue to maintain the grain banks.

They store the grains in their traditional dudi which is made out of bamboo. The grains saved by the community helps them during the food stress period and in emergencies. This was a great learning experience and it helped in setting up grain banks in the other Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP) target villages.

During a review visit one of the visitors Mr. C.K Ramachandran cited the example of the silo storage bins which are safer than the bamboo made dudi. The grain banks initiated by used the metal bins but they were too small and were supplied only to the villages whose grain banks were established by ITDA. These bins could not store the large amounts of grains the villagers need to be able to give loans to the entire village in the time of need. The Joint Review Mission (JRM) also recommended the use of silo bins in their report.


On the recommendations of the JRM ANTODAYA facilitated the provision for purchase of silo bins by the community in their Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWPB) – 2009-10.

AWPB In the village meetings it was decided to decentralize the grain banks at the SHG level and families were divided into units with 8 to 12 families forming one unit. A grain bank must have at least 300 kg grains stored to meet the stress period requirement of one unit for one month, till they get their next PDS stock. The bins were ordered from the Orissa Consumer Cooperative Federation Ltd. Jeypur branch.

To minimize the cost of the storage bins, they were prepared in the field, at Mohangiri village.

Each silo has a capacity to store 300to 320 kg of rice or other grains and meets the needs of 8 to 12 families. The cost of a silo was Rs. 2300 each and was met by the DIF component of OTELP. The bins were supplied to the individual SHGs and the grain banks are managed by them.

Loan Repayment StructureThe rate of interest was fixed at 25per cent on an average, by the community itself and the repayment scheme is very flexible. If the person receiving a loan from the grain bank is unable to repay it with the same type of grain he/she had taken then they can do so with other available grains or NTFP items. The cost of the grain taken as a loan and the interest on it is calculated and a grain or NTFP items of equal value are returned.

Wisdom GainedThe cost factor was the only consideration while determining the size of the silos, and to minimize the cost optimum size bins were commissioned. . At that point the housing structures of the target community were not taken into consideration, and so in almost all the villages, the people were unable to keep the bins inside their houses as the doors were smaller than the diameter of the silos. They had to take out the doors to push the silos inside after which the doors were re-fixed.

We learnt a valuable lesson and would suggest that if any organization wants to introduce the use of silos in a community then they should keep the housing structures in mind.

28 Scouting and Upscaling Livelihoods Innovations in Odisha28

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YGrowing with Goats

Regional Centre for Development Cooperation

Women of Maral village have proved that goat rearing at community level as well as at an individual level is a lucrative and compatible livelihood addition.

Jama Sahu’s days begin early with 30 footfalls to a shed that houses her 10 goats. Her goats stir and awaken as she looks inside to tend to their requirements, and to take stock. That shed has been her place of business for more than three years as she earns more than half the family annual income from goat tending. Barely half a decade back Jama Sahu spent many a nights hungry as their poverty stricken family found it very hard to meet even their basic food requirements. “Many days we did not even have two fists of rice. We had to borrow cooked rice from neighbours to feed our kids,” recalls Jama. “But now we are not desperate for our rice at least,” she sighs.

Low on Finance but High on MotivationJama and her husband did not own any land, just the homestead, so it was not possible to earn their livelihood through farming. Ironically, as farm labourers there major income was still derived from the agriculture sector. “Employment was not available throughout the year and the wage rate was only Rs. 30 a day,” informs Jama. Life was a struggle and Jama’s family was not alone.

“As per a participatory assessment made in 2002, as many as 91 of the 119 households in the village were found to be on the wrong side of the poverty line, with 63 being acutely vulnerable ‘very poor’ households,” says Pramod Bagarty, a development practitioner from the Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (RCDC), an NGO. The level of poverty was reflected in the thrift practices adopted by the first Self Help Group (SHG) of the village. “We had a very difficult time in organizing the women into an SHG as they were clueless. When we told them to start saving something and use that for internal lending, they replied only with blank stares,” recalls Pramod.

To add to the difficulties of RCDC, an earlier attempt by the government supported Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) to organize the women into forming an SHG was not successful. It required continued persistence on the part of RCDC to break the ice, and form the Maa Samaleshwari SHG in 2002 with 12 women from the identified poor households.

Their economic condition was so pitiable that the members were not even sure of their ability to afford a meagre savings of Rs. 5 per month. They preferred saving a daily fist of rice to saving a particular amount of money. “We would save a little rice everyday and then deposit that once every month during our

29Growing with Goats 29

meeting,” recalls Sushila Naik, who is now the President of that SHG. The SHG members soon gained confidence and enthusiasm, even though they continued to have a low income. They held regular meetings and took stock of their activities and finances. The meagre sum that they saved was used for internal lending to members in an exigency.

As the SHG members turned into a close-knit group, and became more organized, it looked to establish links with the nearby commercial bank to avail of loans. By 2003, it was granted its first loan of Rs. 25,000 by the nearby Utkal Gramya Bank. The loan was used by its members to repay the money they had borrowed from the village money lenders at high interest rates. Within a year the SHG was able to repay their loan. This made them eligible for a fresh and enhanced loan. In 2004, they took a loan of Rs. 50,000 from the same bank. This too was utilized by the SHG to repay the very high interest loans that their families were forced to take. This loan was also repaid the same year. By this time the SHG had already applied for assistance under the Swarna Jayanti Gramya Swarojagara Yojana (SGSY) for goat rearing, which was sanctioned in 2005.

Goat Rearing as a Means of LivelihoodAs the SHG gained in confidence, the idea of goat rearing to improve their livelihood came to them quite naturally. All the members were from poor families who had reared goats, albeit at a very small scale, at some point of time. After a series of meetings and discussions, the group decided on a plan to rear goats and provide supplementary income support to their families.

Banking on goats

The group chose goat rearing for many reasons

• All the members had prior experience in or some idea about rearing goats and thus they felt confident.

• Their village had the resources to feed the goats on a sustainable basis. Goats thrive well on a wide variety of thorny bushes, weeds, crop residues, and agricultural by-products which were locally available in plenty.

• There was a ready and growing market for goats.

• Goat rearing was considered a compatible supplement to the local agriculture and forest based livelihoods.

• The preliminary investment needed for goat rearing was lower than for many other livelihood options.

• The SHG was expecting financial assistance from banks for goat rearing.


the idea of Marching together

The group not only found goat rearing to be the most suitable option, they also decided to carry out the plan together. “We decided that if granted assistance, we will manage the goat rearing business as a combined group effort, and not at an individual level,” recalls Sushila.

Rearing goats as a group was a conscious decision and arrived at after a great deal of deliberation and based on a business plan. Setting up goat rearing as a big unit at the community level was still a new concept, but the SHG bravely moved forward with the idea. The major factors that influenced the SHG were:

• This idea fitted the SGSY’s mandate and made the group eligible for a big financial assistance.

• Setting up at the community level lowered the unit’s operational cost. For example, only two people were enough to manage the entire herd at the community level, whereas, every family would have had to employ a person each at an individual level..

• The whole village was supportive of such an initiative.

• Better professional care could be provided for the goats.

• Marketing of goats is easy and remunerative.

• Distress selling of goats could be avoided.

expansion and growth

In the year 2005, the SHG was allowed SGSY linkage and the bank gave it a loan of Rs. 2,50,000. The SHG moved forward as per their business plan. “To begin with, a brick walled goat shed was built on a piece of land donated by one of the members,” informs Anna Naik, a member of the group. They took a conscious decision to purchase goats of the Black Bengal species, which have a great demand in the local market, and adapts to the local conditions perfectly. “A team comprising of all our members, including some experts from our village, and a veterinary doctor scouted the local markets and purchased 70 female goats, and five bucks,” recalls Gapa Budek, a very poor member of the group. The group maintained a rigorous regime to keep the goats healthy and well tended. Vaccination, once every four months, was a regular activity. The entire herd was insured for an annual premium of Rs. 11,250.

They soon started selling goats as per a sales plan. “We sold the goats either from the shed itself or at the local weekly market,” informs Sushila. “Each goat had a base price, which was arrived at through member consensus. There was no compromise on that,” she adds further. This business acumen yielded good profits for the group, and it was able to repay the entire loan, including the interest, by 2008. “Ours was the first SHG in the area to repay the loan in

31Growing with Goats

such a short span,” says a beaming Sushila. The SHG continued with the goat rearing project even after they repaid the loan, and twice a year it distributed the bonus among the members. The group decided to change their strategy and rear goats at an individual household level from 2010. This decision too was taken after a careful consideration of the many factors involved. “We could not find suitable person to graze and tender our goats. That was a very important factor that practically forced us to change our plan,” explains Gapa.

They changed their plan, but continued to grow with the goats. In January 2010, the 40 males, 65 females, and 35 kid goats, were divided among the members. As in the case of Jama Sahu, giving more care at an individual level was the prime objective for the other women as well. Goat rearing continued to be the major topic of discussion in the group, even though they were being tended at an individual level. The SHG continuously monitored the status to avoid distress sale at lower rates. Vaccinations and other health checkups continued at the group level.

Goats and the Forest can grow Together The Maral village is bordered on two sides by a demarcated forest area which had virtually no forest cover in 2005. In 2007 the villagers, including the women, got organized to protect the forest. “Come now… and you can see how successfully we have guarded it,” says a beaming Pitambara Sahu, pointing towards a lush green forest. “The 58 hectares that we are protecting is now our pride,” he adds.

The SHG sees to it that goat grazing does not harm the nearby forests which they are guarding so passionately.

Role of the Village Food Security CommitteeWhile Samaleshwari SHG members got a loan from the bank to realize their idea, other very poor households who were not a member of that group could not start a business on a large scale.

The village Food Security Committee came to their rescue. It identified the four most vulnerable households of the village, and gave them a grant of Rs. 2,000 each from a fund they had received from RCDC, to start rearing goats..

“It was not a grant in the strictest sense. We decided to revolve the grant support among the very poor households. The grantees were asked to return the grant in the shape of goats within a year so that the next batch of four beneficiary households could be provided support,” informs Sushila who is also a member of the Food Security Committee. The initiative has proved to be very successful, as all grantees have happily handed over two goats to another beneficiary identified by the committee. The third set of beneficiary households have now been given support from that meagre grant provided by the committee.


Economic ImpactMaral village is frequented by goat traders, and the goat farmers are happy with their income and status Family members of the Samaleshwari SHG firmly back these brave women. “Due to them we are getting an additional income of at least Rs 12,000 every year,” says Pitambara Sahu, husband of a member of the group. Other households have also realized the potential of goat rearing.

Maral village has become a testing ground for other farming and non-farming related livelihood initiatives. The villagers have taken up a diverse set of activities, besides goat rearing and protecting the forest, to improve their income and conserve the surrounding ecology in a sustainable manner.

The village is proud of their new found organic identity and agricultural/horticultural initiatives which include:

• 24 farmers (20 per cent of the total households) are taking up System of Rice Intensification (SRI) in 12 acres (10 per cent of land under paddy).

• A mango orchard has been laid out in 18 hectares (10 per cent of the total agricultural land in the village).

• 10 farmers (9 per cent of the total households) are practicing organic crop farming.

• 42 farmers (35 per cent of the total farmers) are practicing organic vegetable farming and horticulture.

• 6 farmers are operating vermicomposting units

• A seed bank that stores, regenerates and propagates quality seeds is functioning efficiently.

ConclusionThe village women have given their family and the village a new identity. They are not content with that one initiative and are continuing their work with new initiatives like SRI, vermicomposting, forest harvesting, organic farming and tending an orchard. They are also a source of inspiration for neighbouring villages, which are following in their footsteps.

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33Helping Them Help Themselves

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YHelping Them Help Themselves

Kalyani Rural & Urban Producers Association (KRUPA)

Kalyani Rural & Urban Producers Association (KRUPA) is located at Nahulia village in Rajkanika block of Kendrapara district on the eastern coastal region of Odisha with Bramhani, Baitarani, and Kharoshrota rivers on three sides and the Bay of Bengal lying on the East. The village is situated on a plain with small clusters of 40 to 50 houses, spread across a large area. The village community is composed of people from different backgrounds and agriculture is the major source of livelihood. The land holding varies for each household the maximum being 2 to 5 acres for a household.

Frequent natural calamities such as floods, cyclones, tornados etc. negatively impact the largely agriculture-based economy. Repeated crop loss forces people to migrate to other parts of the state and the country in search of employment Even though high soil fertility yields bumper crops in the years in which the village is not hit by natural calamities, lack of transport facilities greatly hinders the distribution of the produce.

Besides agriculture, other sources of livelihood for the people of the region include livestock, pisciculture, petty businesses, etc. People who do not own agricultural land are engaged in small household enterprises such as poultry, duckery, goatery, tailoring, grocery, betel shop, handicrafts, bamboo works, carpentry, and petty business related to coconut products.

The advances in science and technology have had limited impact and have mainly benefitted the upper socio-economic strata, many of whom are implementing improved agricultural techniques and technology for cultivation. However, there are no major factories or industries in Kendrapara district which could generate mass employment opportunities and massive unemployment among the youth is a concern for economic development. Also the government outreach services aimed at removing poverty do not always reach the targeted beneficiaries.

Govind Dash, the founder member of Gram-Utthan, established “Kalyani Rural & Urban Producers Association (KRUPA)” in the year 2006 with a starting fund of Rs. 22,000/- in view of this area’s grim economic scenario. Various organizations facilitated KRUPA’s establishment by extending monetary, infrastructural, and technological support. These organizations are:

• CARE, India: donated Rs 1 lakh under CASH Project for marketing support.

• HLL:provided technical and packet designing support in 2006.


• ABN AMRO FOUNDATION: extended its support on transportation, machineries, initial HR, processing and skill upgradation.

• NABARD: provided training support on pickle making, phenyl making, agarbatti making, candle making and mushroom cultivation.

• OUAT: provided dal processing and gradation machinery including training support.

• XIMB: provided consultancy support.

KRUPA also associated with ORMAS, EDI and Line Departments for capacity building, technical support and quality control.

KRUPA has emerged as one of the most effective platforms for backward and forward linkages of products provided by members of Self Help Groups (SHGs). The organization facilitates the provision of hygienically produced homemade food products and spices in rural and other inaccessible areas at affordable prices. It ensures supply of required quantities to the customers. It further establishes direct linkages with the end users and encourages rural entrepreneurs by replicating the initiatives of KRUPA through SHGs.

Goals and Objectives of KRUPA The major goal of KRUPA is to provide opportunities, for earning their livelihood, to women who are socially and economically weak in the community. Some of the other objectives are:

• Using KRUPA as a platform to create alternative employment opportunities and security.

• Creating permanent employment for the economically and socially marginalized women, such as divorcees and HIV victims.

• Integrating technical knowhow and training into earning livelihood.

• Value addition to locally available products produced and procured by the vast SHGs network through KRUPA and increasing their economic value by reducing the distress sale of these products in the region.

• To facilitate production of quality, quantity and price controlled food products and spices in rural and other inaccessible areas.

• Establishing direct link with the customers and encouraging rural entrepreneurs by replicating KRUPA’s initiatives through SHGs.

35Helping Them Help Themselves

• To create direct market links for SHGs’ products and increased demand for these products from affluent customers.

• Providing insurance and healthcare to the women who are poor thus reducing their social and financial burden.

Primary Groups TargetedKRUPA’s activities and initiatives are primarily geared towards:

• Households headed by single mothers/ women Divorcees with young children

• Women who are victims of domestic violence

• Women who are victims of trafficking

• Women with alcoholic or chronically unemployed partners

• Women with disabilities and women from ethnic minorities

Impact and Achievements• The annual turnover has increased to 250 lakhs.

• KRUPA promotes 27 varieties of .products and spices.

• It has provided direct employment to 50 members and about 2000 members have benefited indirectly.

• Provided micro-enterprise training to more than 5000 women members and helped them prove their skills in agarbatti making, pickle making, candle making, phenyl making, mushroom cultivation etc.

• It presently covers 107 urban markets. The establishment of Kalyani Rural & Urban Producers Association (KRUPA) has benefited the SHGs members in numerous ways. Over time there has been a considerable increase in the incomes, employment opportunities and assets of the women within these SHGs. There has also been a significant shift in the use of loans from personal consumption to their being used for income generation.

• In addition, members have been able to increase savings and accumulate capital, and so are financially more stable now. This financial security has also improved their risk absorption capacity and has reduced their vulnerability to and dependence on informal money lenders.


• Furthermore, members’ capital costs are on the decline and most are now able to finance their household expenditures for primary needs such as food, education and health with ease. Consequently, the women within these SHGs are now better able to interact with outsiders especially with government officials and banks.

Way ForwardIn terms of its future plans, KRUPA intends to set in motion the following measures:

• Promotion of set targets and increasing sales values

• Addition of 50 processing members

• Increased product coverage in keeping with the customer demand.

• Opening 10 marts by August 2011

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CASE

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37Integrated natural Resource Management (InRM) Model

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YIntegrated Natural Resource Management (INRM) Model

Pradan

Background and Relevance of the ModelPRADAN aims at enhancing the ability of the rural poor to live a life of dignity through generation of sustainable livelihood in the pockets of poverty in Jharkhand, Orissa, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh, areas that are predominantly a part of the agro-climatic zone-VII.

The broad features of this zone are:

Increasing productivity and sustaining small and marginal farmers in the farm sector is one of the major challenges in India. Farm sector growth in the recent past has been limited to few parts of the country. Rainfed areas pose both the biggest challenge, and the greatest prospects for productivity enhancement.

Annual rainfall range (mm) 1 271-1 436Rainfed cultivated area (ha) 11,803,000Irrigated area (ha) 2,570,000 (22%)Average maximum temperature (ºC)- Summer

32

Average minimum temperature (ºC)- Winter

19.7

Areas Waiganga, Madhya Pradesh, Eastern hills and inland Orissa, Northern Orissa, eastern hills and plateau of Madhya Pradesh, Chotanagpur, Chhattisgarh and South-west Orissa hills

Soil type Red sandy soil and red and yellow soil Soil condition S h a l l o w s o i l w i t h u n d u l a t i n g

topographyCropping systems Rainfed: Rice-fallow, rice-linseed/

lenti l ,and r ice-horse gram/green gramIrrigated: Rice-wheat and rice-mustard

The situation is worse in the agro-climatic zone–VII of the country,, which is characterized by undulating terrain, and more small and marginal tribal farmers. The major features and livelihood patterns of this area are as below:

• Population density is comparatively low, with a high percentage of rural, tribal and below poverty line (BPL) population.


• More than 50 per cent of the total operational holdings were marginal,with an average holding size of around 1ha. (National per capita average is 0.19ha)

• Agriculture is the mainstay of the families with about 80per cent of the population here being dependent on it for their livelihood. Farming is mostly rain-fed and agriculture productivity and income is far below the national average. (Around 75 per cent of the net sown area with a low cropping intensity).

• Irrigation coverage is between 10 to 30 per cent of the net sown area.

• Even though the annual rainfall is more than 1000 mm, because of the skewed distribution there are partial droughts almost every year making farming very risk prone.

• Low productivity in agriculture is strongly associated with rain fed single cropping.

• Distress migration due to lack of income and productive assets, and vulnerability to shocks are major concerns for the very poor. Food security in lean months, particularly for women and children who remain behind in the villages, is a problem for the poorest rural households.

• The farm sector is already reeling under massive underemployment, thus apart from food security, enhancing returns from agriculture is a key challenge.

• Even though the contribution of the primary sector to Net State Domestic Product (NSDP) has reduced, there has been no decline in the percentage of workers engaged in the sector. Casual labour is relatively higher and self-employment is lower as compared to other states. The region is devoid of well-developed aquifers and many areas have impervious substrata. However, the terrain is crisscrossed by many seasonal and perennial streams, and has many dispersed sites for harvesting rainwater on a small scale. These water resources remain largely untapped.

• The combination of an undulating and hilly terrain and high rainfall causes soil erosion and drought in many parts of the area, due to less storage and poor land and water management. In addition, it produces high micro-ecological variability in the region due to the drainage and accumulation of rainwater. One encounters diverse conditions with regard to the soil, land slope, water availability, soil depths, et al within the boundaries of even the smallest village. Though there are variations across upper, middle and lower watersheds, the overall pattern repeats itself in every micro-watershed of every village i.e. dry uplands with shallow soils, dry upper midlands with deeper soils, seasonally wet lower midlands with deep soils and wet lowlands or valleys with deep soils.


• There is little diversity in the farm sector, little value addition, and the region is a net importer of most farm products. Crop yields are between half to a third of the national average. All indices of agricultural development such as fertilizer consumption, farm credit, spread of high yielding crop varieties, seed replacement, etc. are far below the national average.

• Seasonal migration is a significant source of income for a larger proportion of the population. As farm productivity is low under the current management regime, farmers often neglect their own fields and migrate to the regions that offer better economic opportunities, during peak farming periods. Women bear the brunt of poverty as homemakers when their husbands migrate and they are left to deal with the trauma caused by lack of food. Children are condemned to relive the lives of the parents they were born to.

• Other wellbeing indicators, viz. literacy, health, etc are in general lower than the national average.

Low and precarious agricultural growth rates in this undulating and hilly region are a threat to the food security of its population as well as to the economic well-being of the nation as a whole. However, there is no reason for anyone to go hungry given the endowment and distribution of natural resources in these areas. High rainfalls, and a complex ecology make these regions potential engines of future growth, where a wide variety of trees and crops can be grown, and complex farming systems are feasible. Yet, these regions are almost uniformly poor and among the most food-insecure in the country. This is due to the downward spiral of low productivity leading to poor resource husbandry, which further reduces productivity resulting in widespread resource degradation and impoverishment of the people.

Plateaued farm productivity in the plains, stagnant agricultural production1, and growing social strife in the plateau regions have recently made the Government of India accord high priority to the holistic, and sustainable development of such areas. Farming being the major occupation, farm sector strategies are most relevant for poverty alleviation in the region. This calls for soil and water conservation measures to enhance the carrying capacity, increase productivity, create value and promote sustainable livelihoods. However, guided by traditional conservation technocrats and in the absence of contrary large-scale experience, government programmes have remained confined to resource conservation rather than livelihood generation. The confusion lies in whether it is the natural resources or the people who should be at the core while conserving resources. It is difficult to succeed if the former is the center of attention, without taking the people’s perspective into account as ultimately the primary dependents have to sustain the interventions. So only an approach that is built around the people and their livelihoods would give sustained results.


This demands mobilization of people and encouraging a change in their attitude so that they can envision, plan, implement and sustain the natural resources at optimal productivity.

Unlike the plains, these areas required a patently different approach, leading PRADAN to successfully implement the Integrated Natural resource management (INRM) model to address the above challenges

Key Elements of the ModelPRADAN defines ‘Integrated natural resource based livelihood enhancement’ as:

‘Optimizing use of the natural resources of an area, to maximize the income of a large number of residents, generation after generation.’

It makes a lot of sense to follow an INRM approach rather than a crop based approach. Implementation of the INRM model in large numbers at the family level would strengthen the local farming system that has no access to irrigation, and is dependent on unreliable rainfall. If the farming system in an area (with finite natural resources) performs at an optimal level, then it reduces the pressure on common resources, and creates an environment that is conducive towards replenishment of natural resources. Thus strengthening farming system, through household level integrated approach is at the core of INRM.

Key elements of the model are:

land and Water Based intervention

PRADAN has gradually developed various low cost techniques that can be adapted to suit the local context. The underlying principle is that on an undulating terrain, underlain with an impervious substrate, and used largely for farming, rainwater must be harvested and managed in a decentralized way to increase moisture availability to the crops through the growing season. The root zone itself can be used for storage to a great extent. The core idea is that every plot should have a water body to hold the rainwater preventing rain runoff during heavy showers. It captures excess rain water which is released in the field during a dry spell. The pits enhance sub-surface water flow and improve the moisture regime of the whole area. Additionally, the water in the pits is used for irrigate in times of scarcity during the crop’s vegetative growth phase. In hilly terrain there is a scope to divert the seasonal or perennial streams flowing on the higher slopes to the agricultural field by using PVC pipes.

1 Growthoffoodproductionfellbehindpopulationgrowthduringthe1990sforthefirsttimeaftermid-1960s.


A schematic of the typical land and water based livelihood intervention possible in this agro-climatic zone is presented as below:

To sum up, following are the broad activities in the INRM interventions:

• Plantation of fruit trees or trees for their timber in privately owned fallow/wastelands, supported by the 30 X 40 model on degraded uplands

• Five per cent Model in medium lands to support rainfed cultivation

• Land husbandry in upland, medium upland and homestead. This will include gully plugging, terracing, levelling-bunding, contour bunding, land treatment e.g. liming, increasing organic matter, dealing with micro-nutrient deficiencies, etc. for improved productivity of rainfed agriculture

• Digging wells in homestead and low land

• Building seepage tanks in lowlands and valleys and small earthen dams on local drainage lines,

• Implementing micro-irrigation schemes to utilize surface water to provide life saving irrigation to kharif crops and taking up cash crops on a small scale in the rabi season. Also, schemes to tap into the sub-surface flow created in the lowlands, for example, making a lowland well, and lifting water for 5 to 7 families.

• Diversion based irrigation structures which comprises of headwork (small weir, earthen tank or collection tank) to divert required stream flow into a conveyance system (plastic pipelines) for carrying it to the agricultural fields.

These types of interventions are suitable for most parts of the agro-ecological zone –VII.

Trees and grass with thirty-forty model of water harvesting in uplands

Intensive paddy, seepage ponds, prawn and fish rearing, and irrigated winter crops in low lands

Water bodies

Intensive paddy with fivepercent model of water harvestingand rabi irrigated from wells in medium uplands

Horticulture, non-paddy agriculture in medium upland, with grass on bunded land


Management and productivity enhancement of Forest and government land

Improving the management and productivity of forest and government lands with active involvement of the affected community is one of the important strategies. Most of the villages in this region have forestland and government lands in the upper reaches that suffer from poor management and which are mostly underutilized. By organizing the villagers from the villages on the forest fringe, into Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) activities can be undertaken in the forest area to bring it under permanent vegetation, in the interest of the community. This will not only give them usufruct rights to the forest but it will also protect and enrich their lands which lie below. In the places where most of the people do not have access to land, they will be mobilized under forest dweller act (FDA) to gain access to this land. The right to use these lands for growing fodder, fuel and fruits following appropriate conservation measures like staggered trench, contour bunding or 30-40 model, for the village community can be negotiated with the revenue department.

improved agricultural practices

With these interventions and certain changes in cultivation practices, such as selection of healthy seeds, availing quality inputs at the door step, better nurseries, timely transplanting, and a balanced dose of fertilizers, production and use of organic and green manure, etc, crop yields can be dramatically increased. In the regions with a complete control over water, such as medium low lands, and valleys, the alternative technique of rice farming, namely, System for Rice Intensification (SRI) can bring about a truly remarkable increase in the productivity, sustainably. In the uplands, off season vegetables grown in a small patch of land are also quite remunerative. The focus is on enhancing the soil health with biomass recycling (for example, green manure crops, composting, using liquid manures, etc). Agriculture productivity enhancement is an important component towards realizing the potential of the intervention.

composite Fish and duck Rearing

The infrastructure for rainwater harvesting on private land provides the scope for rearing fish and ducks, and farm residues could support cattle rearing. PRADAN has successfully introduced composite fish and duck rearing.

Building community Resource persons

Local cadres were formed to carryout and sustain the initiative, and they provide goods and services to the community (both to groups and individuals), as and when required, to fulfill their goals. The community pays for the goods


and services like, maintaining accounts, helping families to understand and implement various micro-practices of agriculture, measurement, layout of the structures, quality input procurement, etc.

Fostering people’s organizations

PRADAN’s main focus is to enable the community to take charge of their life. The community organizations play an important role towards this. Primarily most of the members were mobilized to come under the fold of an SHG. SHG is formed to function independently and to plan for the wellbeing of its members. Apart from this a palli sabha was also organized. To implement the programme an executive committee was temporarirly formed by the palli sabha.

A sample community organization structure is as below:

developing and Strengthening linkages

To sustain these efforts it is essential to develop linkages with relevant stakeholders. Some of the important stakeholders who are also focused on as a major componentare:

• Input providers: Promoting entreprenurs or existing shopkeepers to provide quality inputs at a reasonable price. For which training is given and linkages are systematically built in the local area.

• PRI, block administration system: Sensitizing and working together to create an efficient system in the grassroots.

capability building of the villagers and other Stakeholders

A systematic design has been developed to groom the community so that it can plan and implement the components of the model. A few sample events which will help the families carry out the activities are:

• Exposure to the villages where these models have been demonstrated

• An intensive village level family based and resource based livelihood plan preparation

SHG

SHGSHG

SHG

Supports in plan preparation and consolidation of plans

Approves and monitors the implementation

Helps SHG and palli sabha in planning and implementation

Project Executive Committee(PEC)

Palli sabha


• On field cum classroom training on relevant activities

• On field cum classroom training on layout and measurement of the structures

• A systematic grooming process for the community resource person to deliver the services

• Training on book keeping, etc

Implementation Steps The followings are the broad steps of implementation of the model:

• Pre-planning

– Community organization (SHG, VDC formation)

– Exposure

– Visioning exercise

– Building linkages with relevant stakeholders (PRI, block, input providers, etc.)

– Selection and grooming of community mobilizers

• Planning

– Base line data collection and wealth ranking

– Map preparation (resource map, ownership map, etc)

– Problem identification

– Option generation

– Plan finalization

– Phase out plan

– Budget preparation

• Implementation

– Structural measures

o Plan approval

o Work initiation meeting

o Lay out and implementation


o Regular Review and planning of the hamlet level committee and VDC

– Vegetative measures

o Annual crop and investment plan

o Bank linkage

o Training in phases for the identified crops

• Grooming institutions and capability building for families and service providers to carry out the tasks

Experience and impact of the model

Sound demonstration

So far this model has been demonstrated in West Bengal, Jharkhand, Orissa, and Chhattisgarh, covering more than 12000 tribal families. Different structural and vegetative interventions have been contextualized and slight modifications made accordingly. If some component is found to be more suitable for a particular area then steps are taken for a priority intervention as in the case of farm ponds, diversion based irrigation, etc.

implementation of the Model under Mahatma gandhi national Rural employment guarantee Scheme (MgnRegS)

These components can be covered under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA). Still it was difficult to ground it with various constraints like including different activities in self of project, timely measurement, timely payment, considering an integrated plan rather than an activity based plan. The Kandhamal district of Orissa and Bankura and Medinipur of West Bengal have considered the integrated plan under MGNREGS. District administration of Kandhamal has taken up the INRM model in the whole district with the help of NGOs. So far 220 village level plans have been approved. The district also received the best MGNREGS award this year. Mayurbhanj district is also planning on taking up the different activities of INRM under MGNREGS.

acceptance of the Model by other Funders

Sir Dorabjee Tata Trust (SDTT) and NABARD have accepted the diversion based irrigation schemes for a scale up in East India. They are also influencing various levels of these types of schemes.


impact at village level

The impact on a sample village was as follows:

• The landholdings of 90 per cent of the families having upland under plantation, is around 0.75dm per family (mostly mango)

• Tasar host tree plantation covered 15 ha of forest or fallow land

• Cultivable land degradation is reduced

• Farm ponds insured paddy fields against rain failure and supported 80 per cent of the families for a second crop

• Improved paddy cultivation for 70 per cent families, 70 per cent of whom practice SRI

• Cropping intensity increased up to 300 per cent.

• More use of compost in agriculture

• 90 per cent of the families are in SHGs, all are bank linked

• Village level committee regularly conducts meetings and pursues the village level plan.

• All family with a landholding of more than 1 acre are food sufficient with an agriculture income of Rs. 50000, having achieved an increase of Rs. 30000,

• A community service provider (CSP) is acceptable to the community and demanded by it

• Women’s participation in decision making

• Increased water level in the wells in summer


potential impact at a Sample Family level

Area available (acre)

Options for land use in different season Envisaged out put (in Rs. )

Kharif Rabi Summer Kharif Rabi Summer

Upland 1.25

- Horticulture + inter crop: veg / non perishable – 0-.25 ac

- Pulse/oil seed 0.25ac

- Trees – 0.5 ac- Legume hedge

0.25 mt for water harvesting

Veg –0.1 ac 1100050005000

5000

Mid –up land 0.75

- Paddy/ maize- 0.3 – 0.5 meter water

harvesting - Bio-mass recycle

- Pulse/ oil seed 0.75 ac

Green manure

12 qt paddy/ equivalent

15000

Low land 0.5

- SRI / wheat/ gram- Green manure

Tapping replenish able ground water

Veg 0.2 acPulse/ oil seed

20 qt paddy/ equivalent

60006000


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YInnovative Approaches for Promotion of Self-help

in Rural Areas: Experiences of Two Initiatives of Gram Tarang Self Help Co-operative Limited

Centurion University of Technology and Management

Rural areas provide enormous opportunities to incubate innovative ideas that provide feasible solutions for some of the critical issues faced by the poor. Centurion Group of Institutions is attempting to provide innovative solutions to some of the problems affecting the rural poor, through its social entrepreneurship ventures. The Gram Tarang Marketing and Gram Tarang Seed Processing initiatives are proving to be successful models for promoting self help in rural areas creating a win-win situation for both the poor and small scale manufacturers.

This case study details the experiences of the two innovative initiatives of the Gram Tarang Self Help Co-operative Ltd. in rural areas of Orissa. Their experience suggests that innovations based on sound business practices will provide feasible solutions for some of the problems of the rural areas, in a sustainable manner and with a long term impact.

IntroductionCenturion School of Rural Enterprise Management partnered with the Mission Shakti Programme of Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Orissa to provide training to functionaries of women self help groups (SHGs). The objective of the training programme was to create a cadre of women trained to provide business development support to the existing women SHGs promoted under the Mission Shakti Programme. These trainees work on a self employment basis, and generate an income by providing services to the SHGs in the villages.

CSREM trained approximately 800 ‘shakti sahayikas’ in 17 districts of Orissa. As envisaged in the training programme, the shakti sahayikas were engaged in providing support to the existing SHGs for preparation of accounts, auditing, and helping them link with banks and in taking up income generating activities. Their income is derived from the fees paid by the SHGs for their services. The shakti sahayikas were unable to generate adequate income to support themselves as most of the SHGs they worked with were unable to pay their proper fee due to a poor financial condition. Consequently, most of the cadres were losing interest in their work and starting to withdraw from the initiative.

In 2009 the Centurion Group of Institutions initiated the Gram Tarang Self Help Co-operative Ltd to provide innovative solutions to some of the problems faced by the women self help cadres (shakti sahayikas) in their work. It is currently

49Innovative Approaches for Promotion of Self-help in Rural Areas: Experiences of Two Initiatives of Gram Tarang Self Help Co-operative Limited

operating in Gajapati, Rayagada, Nabarangpur, and Koraput, four remote districts of Orissa.

The Marketing InitiativeGram Tarang Self Help Co-operative Ltd initiated an innovative marketing program to establish low cost end-mile rural distribution channels in Orissa. The programme was started with a vision to ’Bridge the gap of products/services and rural households in Orissa’. Its mission is to ’Make people participate in their own development’.

The initiative took off in Gajapati district with a cadre of 23 ‘gram tarangis’ (female members from local SHGs) as their channel partners in April 2009. Each gram tarangi has an operative area of almost 5 kilometers or five gram panchayats where on an average she will be interacting with 200 to 300 SHGs per month. The operative business model is that the gram tarangis will act as a bridge between Gram Tarang and the SHGs. They were given sales and product training for their maiden attempt to reach the rural consumers. The SHGs will interact with the end consumers for the actual sale.

The initiative started by selling soaps, washing powder, detergent cake, etc. These products were sold under a brand name. During the initial days, the gram tarangis faced several problems in their work, and so Gram Tarang initiated a series of training programmes for the gram tarangis, to build their confidence and to motivate them to continue with the job. The training programmes showed positive results as the sales picked up and Gram Tarang products replaced some look-alikes and their reach expanded to some new households in untapped markets.

In order to understand the rural consumer behavior and demand for products in rural areas, Gram Tarang motivated some of the MBA students of CSREM to take up rural sales projects as part of their marketing course, and thirty students became involved in the direct sale of the Gram Tarang products in remote rural areas of Gajapati district. The students conducted a series of focus group discussions with the rural consumers, gram tarangis and shop owners in the rural areas. These discussions provided useful feedback on packaging, dealer margin, and problems facing gram tarangis, and also on designing delivery channels. The knowledge gained through the feedback, and students’ experience in selling the products, was incorporated in designing the delivery channels, modifying packaging, and increasing the product basket.

Gram Tarang’s product portfolio includes bath soap, washing powder, sanitary napkins, detergent cake, fairness cream, pain relief balm, hair oil, and mosquito coil, all under its brand name. The idea of launching new products like talcum powder, lipstick, nail polish, shampoo and other cosmetics are currently under consideration. Gram Tarang is also interested in packaged food products like biscuits, snacks, and other food items and the possibilities are being tested.


Gram Tarang is targeting the mobilization of a minimum of 20000 SHGs from all 17 districts of Orissa where it has established networks, in the first phase. The project is now being replicated in three other districts i.e. Raygada, Koraput and Nabarangpur, where 90 gram tarangis have been mobilized as partner in this unique concept.

A gram tarangi has to make a deposit of Rs. 2000 (which is refundable) with the Gram Tarang for a smooth supply of products on credit. The products are procured through collaboration with manufacturers (mainly SSIs) from the nearby areas like Cuttack, Kakinada, and Hyderabad, on a contractual basis. The distribution is carried out at the block level by a delivery van and from here the gram tarangis redistribute the products in their operative area.

Gram Tarang has finalized its plan to enter into Kalahandi and Malkangiri districts and will cover the entire South Orissa by September 2011. The Khurda district has been chosen for its maidenforay into coastal Orissa in the beginning of August, so as to understand this region. The organization is planning to cover entire Orissa by the end of 2012. Gram Tarang has partnered with ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Limited to promote their insurance products through its channels. Progress is being made in implementing the plan in Rayagada, Koraput, and Nabarangpur districts in the initial stage. It is tying up with Reliance Life Insurance Co Ltd. for some other insurance products and these will be implemented in some other districts. The Gram Tarang has also initiated distributed manufacturing for incense sticks in Rayagada and Gajapati districts where a group of 40 to 50 people were trained and are now working as clusters. Currently there are three clusters, two working in the Gajapati, and one in Rayagada. A feasibility study is being conducted for some other centers in both the districts. The possibilities of distributed manufacturing for FMCG products like soaps and detergents were identified. The plan is in the pipeline. Some SHGs have already been finalized for the pilot test.

The Seed Processing InitiativeGram Tarang Self Help Cooperative, working in association with the National Seeds Corporation, has initiated seed processing in the most remote district of Gajapati in southern Orissa. The objective of the programme is to develop a scientifically sound cultivation culture, and improve the input-output ratio by providing quality seeds, technical support, infrastructure support, and consultancy to the local farmers. An MOU has been signed with the Orissa State Seeds Corporation for marketing their foundation seeds, procurement of raw certified seeds, processing these and then supplying the certified seeds to the Orissa State Seeds Corporation Limited. This season around 250 bags of foundation seeds, mainly of the medium variety, were marketed in the month of April, early varieties being less popular as rainfall is low in the district. The basket includes six different varieties of paddy seeds, namely

51Innovative Approaches for Promotion of Self-help in Rural Areas: Experiences of Two Initiatives of Gram Tarang Self Help Co-operative Limited

pooja, sarala, BPT, MTU, khanagiri, and latala. The seed variety preffered differs from farmer to farmer.

The procurement of seeds began in mid-November and will continue till the end of February. All the cultivators who have procured seeds from Gram Tarang are registered with the Orissa State Seed Corporation (OSSC) under the seeds certification scheme and allotted a registration number. The payment for the paddy seeds is done as per the OSSC procurement rate, which is revised every year. An additional bonus will be paid on selected varieties as an incentive from Gram Tarang.

Gram Tarang has established a 4 TPH capacity seed processing plant with theaid of the National Seeds Corporation, Government of India, having a storage capacity of about 2000 tonnes of agri-outputs. The plant was inaugurated on 13 January, 2010 in the presence of Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC), Brahmapur and the District Collector of the Gajapathi district. This season 3000 quintals of paddy seeds will be processed, and supplied to the Orissa State Seeds Corporation as certified seeds. Next season the quantity is expected to go up to 16000 quintals with an outreach expansion to 3 other blocks. For the rabi season Gram Tarang is working with NSC for marketing the foundation seeds, procurement, processing, and remarketing of certified pulse and vegetable seeds. They are planning to motivate people to practice joint farming due to small sized land holding which are not very good for pulse farming. The green gram and black gram pulses have been supplied for pilot testing. In the next rabi season, a scale up to about 300 hectares of land in the Gajapati district has been planned.

Operational Model

Multiplication done by farmers by

way of cultivation

Marketing of Foundation seeds by Gram Tarang

Marketing of certified seeds by OSSC, Block

level co-operatives and Gram Tarang

Procurement of Raw seeds, processing and

supply to OSSC by Gram Tarang


ConclusionThe Gram Tarang’s initiative helped provide feasible solutions to the members of women SHGs in the rural areas of Orissa. By being involved in the marketing activities, the SHGs are able to make between Rs. 600 to Rs. 800 per month which will be accounted to group account. Community involvement is Gram Tarang’s USP, allowing it to create a huge network of people. It is also exploring the possibilities of utilizing this network in reverse so that this very network can be used to procure products from rural areas. One such initative being pilot tested is the distributed manufacturing for incense sticks, in the Gajapati district of Orissa.

Gram Tarang has tied up with various small scale producers from Orissa, and Andhra Pradesh to procure products. These small scale manufacturers are unable to launch their own brands due their inability to advertise their products adequately. Gram Tarang offers these small manufacturing units the opportunity to either promote their own brand, or co-own a brand under the Gram Tarang umbrella. Gram Tarang’s experience showed the potential in engaging the rural women as direct sales agents.

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53Innovative Improvement of Value Chain for Ginger and Ginger Products

Innovative Improvement of Value Chain for Ginger and Ginger Products

CTRAn Consulting

IntroductionGinger (Zingiberofficinale) is an important spice which originated in India and is cultivated in almost all the states. It has several medicinal and pharmacological properties and is hence used in the preparation of a number of medicines for both human beings and animals. India is the largest producer, consumer, and exporter of spices with an estimated Rs. 5560.50 crore earned in revenue in FY2009-10 from spice trade. There is a growing trend towards the trade of processed spices, which has opened up new business opportunities for the food and extraction industries in international markets.

Area wise Orissa is the second largest producer of ginger in the country contributing around 6.5 per cent to the total production in India. A large tract in the tribal districts of Koraput, Kandhamal, and Kalahandi in Orissa is the dominant area for ginger cultivation in the state. Biotic and abiotic stresses, genetic erosion, poor quality planting material, post-harvest losses, lack of well-netted value chain, and lack of market support are the major constraints in ginger cultivation, production and value addition.

Project Rationale Since technology penetration is minimal in the tribal tract of Orissa, which is the dominant area of ginger cultivation, the magnitude of loss is quite high. Lack of post harvest processing technology is the main hurdle in fetching a good price for the producer. It was found that at the primary producer level, value addition is almost absent. Among other factors, lack of suitable storage methods at the farmer’s end further aggravates the situation. Due to the high water content in ginger, introduction of the postharvest technology emerged as the critical area of intervention for better shelf life, improved acceptability and increased returns for the farmers. Moreover, the resource poor and unorganized farmers are prone to exploitation by the middlemen and sahukars. It was decided to formulate a well organized intervention and solve these problems by improving the existing value chain for ginger and ginger products where the farmers can be promoted to a higher level along with being the primary producers.

Project Background The project is being implemented in Daringbadi of Kandhamal district and Pottangi of Koraput district, and 200 farmers (100 at each site) have been taken up for direct inclusion under the scope of the project, of which, 97 per cent belong to the SC/ST category and around 12 per cent are females.

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The socio-economic analysis of the beneficiaries states that the major source of their income is agriculture at 75.8 per cent followed by income from livestock at 18.2 per cent. The average land holding size is 1.31 ha with cropping intensity of 131 per cent and 19.6% of the net cultivated area is irrigated. Prior to the implementation of the project, the yield of ginger was limited to 13.76 qtl/ac in Daringbadi and 19.25 qtl/ac in Pottangi. Around 39 per cent of raw ginger at Daringbadi, and 62 per cent at Pottangi was primarily processed by drying for preparation of Sunthi. The product disposal rate was limited to 52%.

Project ApproachA detailed baseline study was conducted to assess the constraints in the existing value chain for ginger in Kandhamal and Koraput. It was found that the existing value chain has limited players like the primary producers, middlemen/ sahukars and local mandi owners. A market survey was conducted to identify the important markets, their price fluctuation, key industry and export houses, their demand, acceptability and scope for new products, their quality standard, scope for organic and carbon neutral ginger or ginger based products, etc. Then a set of interventions was formulated in a consortium mode to improve the existing value chain and link the different institutions with expertise in different core areas like implementation, research and product development, technical excellence in developing improved varieties and their standard package of practices, and monitoring and evaluation of the project.

Before recommending an elite variety, a lab research was conducted on variety characteristics and its value addition benefits to ascertain the industry viability of the concept. The characteristic study was carried out with the help of Natural Remedy Private Limited (NRPL), Bangalore. Hence, it was decided to cultivate the Suprabha variety.

The farmers were selected based on different parameters like their experience in ginger cultivation and socio-economic condition. A series of training programmes were conducted for transfer of knowledge on ginger cultivation and benefits of convergence of scientific approach with traditional mode of cultivation. Ginger being a nutrient exhaustive and long duration crop (220 to 240 days), regular field visits, and in-situ advisory services were provided by the subject matter specialists. Prior to the project intervention, the farmers of Kandhamal were fed up with ginger cultivation due to frequent loss by rhizome rot disease. The concept of raised bed cultivation was introduced in the Pottangi area to tackle the situation. The farmers of Daringbadi were taken for an exposure visit to Pottangi.

At both the sites, farmers were advised to take up Suprabha variety using a scientific approach. The planting material was procured through Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and the field Non Government Organization (NGO) partners at both the sites to ensure availability of elite planting material to the farmers. All the farmers were provided with


fifty kilograms of planting material. To address the prevalence of rhizome rot and other seed-borne diseases, the farmers were advised about seed treatment, and the use of neem cakes in the fields.

To break the vicious cycle of sahukars and middlemen, cooperatives were setup for the farmers. These cooperatives were registered under the Orissa Self-help Cooperative Act, 2001. While setting these up, a series of village level meetings and facilitation workshops were conducted to promote democratic approach of institution building.

To promote the farmers to a higher level in the value chain, it was decided to establish two primary processing centers, one at each site. The processing centers will have facilities required for the primary processing of ginger like washing, cleaning, peeling, drying, grinding, flaking, and packaging.

Impact of the Critical Intervention The set of critical interventions have had great impact in the project area, such as:

• The promotion of elite planting material like Suprabha has increased the production from 17 quintal/acre (qtl/acre) to 34.54 qtl/acre.

• The implementation of the raised bed cultivation method has reduced the rotting of ginger at Daringbadi which was a frequent phenomenon

• The use of neem cakes in the fields has drastically reduced the outbreak of rhizome rot disease and hence increased returns for the farmers.

• Training and capacity building of farmers has helped in terms of technology transfer and adoption as well as group formation for collective benefits.

• Research and development on ginger by NRPL and OUAT has paved the way for advanced products having international acceptance.

Economic and Social Benefits Accrued

• In the first year of project intervention, there was an increased return of Rs. 3 per kg due to collective marketing.

• Cultivation of one acre of ginger generates 230 person days which amounts to Rs. 23,000 per acre (at the rate of Rs. 100 per person per day). Hence, the pilot intervention has a potential to generate around 6670 person days at both the sites.

• The primary processing centers will generate employment opportunities for at least 25 people at the rate of 150 days per annum.


• The intervention has empowered the tribal farmers including women in many respects, like, minimized dependency on sahukars and middlemen, increased household level income and identity and dignity in the form of membership of a self-help cooperative.

• The procurement of ginger by KASAM for its processing center at Bandgarh, has helped in marketing of the produce as well as minimized the post harvest losses due to lack of proper storage facility at ground level.

value addition through carbon emissions Reduction

The concept of carbon neutral products is a growing trend in international markets.. In order to create an advantage for the products, a carbon emissions study was conducted, as per the IPCC guideline, at both the sites, to define the necessary interventions for reducing carbon emissions. The process has been formulated and will be implemented next year onwards.

The total emissions were divided into two categories – direct and indirect emissions, which was compared with organic and inorganic based management practices and scope of benefits. Direct emissions include emissions from synthetic nitrogen and organic nitrogen application, whereas, the indirect emissions include emissions during the production of different agricultural inputs.

From the analysis, it was found that the total direct emissions in the production of ginger in Kandhamal were 0.1539 kg CO2/ kg of ginger, whereas, the indirect emissions were 0.1145 kg CO2/ kg of fresh ginger, thereby making a total of 0.2684 kg CO2/ kg of fresh ginger. The total direct and indirect emissions in the production of ginger in Koraput were estimated to be 0.3065 and 0.0245 kg CO2/ kg of fresh ginger, respectively, thus emitting a total of 0.3310 kg CO2/ kg of fresh ginger. Similarly, the total direct emissions in the production of ginger, using organic best practices, was calculated to be 0.1304 kg CO2/kg of fresh ginger, and no indirect emissions were estimated during the process. Using inorganic best practices, the values for direct and indirect emissions in the production process were estimated to be 0.1577 and 0.0248 kg CO2/ kg of fresh ginger, respectively, thereby making a total of 0.1912 kg CO2/ kg of fresh ginger.

Based on this finding, it has been planned to either minimize or neutralize carbon emissions in the overall value chain for Ginger. As demand for carbon neutral products is high in the international markets, products satisfying neutrality parameters will fetch higher return benefits for the farmers.

Scalability and Sustainability

Though only 200 farmers were chosen to participate in the project, around 440 farmers have been trained on the standard package of practices in the


first year. Since the technical interventions are very economic in nature, and need no exotic inputs, horizontal upscaling of the concept has been possible, allowing other farmers (around 50 at each site, apart from the 100 involved in the project) to adopt technologies like raised bed cultivation, and use of neem cakes for production augmentation in this the second year of the intervention. This trend is expected to grow in coming days.

The consolidation process of the cooperatives in terms of management of processing centers and sale of produce through a well developed network of marketing will ensure better prices and an improved product disposal rate, and encourage ginger cultivation. Moreover, the augmentation in production, and an increased profit margin for the primary producers, by abolishing the concept of middleman, will ensure its sustainability.

NRPL, one of the consortium partners that has a processing unit is quite satisfied with the quality parameters of the ginger being grown in the project area and has already agreed to buy around 30MT for development of high end products like ginger oil and gingerols, etc. As the project is in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, NRPL has also made substantial investment in product development and marketing.

product development

The lab scale products like ‘NR Ginger’ for cholesterol management, ‘>20% and >30% Gingerols’ which is water soluble ginger powder that helps in improving the digestion process, protects against nausea, and supports good heart health have been developed by NRPL. At OUAT laboratory, products like Ginger Leather, Ginger RTS, Ginger Candy, Ginger Syrup, Ginger Flakes, and Ginger Powder, etc have been developed and are in the process of product registration, as per the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) norms.

Conclusion and Future ScopeFunding through National Agriculture Innovation Project( NAIP, and the implementation of the project in consortium mode has successfully brought ginger cultivation back on track by addressing the field level problems and paving the way for the development of value added products for increased profit margins at all stages.

Through systematic approach in carbon emissions reduction, and by adopting organic mode of cultivation in Kandhamal, the profit margin can almost be doubled. By adopting the best inorganic method in Koraput, the profit margin can be increased by 40 per cent through proper certification, marketing strategy, and negotiations. As far as the primary processing centers are concerned, in due course, the selected trained farmers will take up there operation


and maintenance, and other facilities will be added for advanced product development with support from the management of the cooperative.

AcknowledgementThe project is being implemented with the financial assistance under National Agriculture Innovation Project (NAIP) of Indian Council of Agriculture and Research, Government of India, in consortium mode with Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology which is the lead center. CTRAN Consulting, Bhubaneswar, Natural Remedy Private Limited, Bangalore, KASAM, Kandhamal and IAEET, Koraput are the other consortium members.

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59Innovative Means of Promoting Livelihoods through Community or Group Farming

Innovative Means of Promoting Livelihoods through Community or Group Farming

Centre for youth and Social Development

IntroductionThe term ‘common property resource (CPR)’ is used variously to refer to property owned and defended by a community of resource users, to property over which no individual has exclusive rights, or to property owned by a government. Common property resources broadly include the village pasture, community forest, wasteland, common harvest/threshing ground, watershed areas, village ponds, river/rivulet passing by the habitat, sacred groves, etc.

Common property resources are significant in the sense that they can enhance people’s livelihoods, thus reducing poverty, and also help in ecological conservation. Pertinent questions attached to such property resources include those of access to them and of suitable management of resources. .

The CPR management practices vis-à-vis wasteland, common land, pasture land, etc. need to be sustainable so that they contribute towards improving the livelihoods of the people, curbing migration, increasing their productivity, improving their nutritional status, wasteland development and building equity and solidarity amongst the people. There has been persistent effort by Centre for Youth and Social Development (CYSD) to analyze the present use of these resources, profile of the users, existing institutional mechanisms, benefit sharing, etc. and to design appropriate strategies based on this analysis to improve the participation of people in using these CPRs and the returns from these resources.

Group farming, alternatively known as community farming, is a livelihood generation approach conceived by CYSD in 2000. It consists of a group of small and marginal farmers, and landless poor in a village working together, utilizing the cultivable wastelands or under-utilized lands to earn their livelihoods. The participating farmers can either take community or individual land on lease, or they can farm on individual farmer’s land holdings pooled to form a contiguous patch. In promoting group farming, CYSD has always emphasized on active participation of the community members in identifying beneficiaries and planning crop cycle for coming years.

Case Study: Small and Marginal Farmers of Tumajore Village, SundargarhThe case study on community farming by the small and marginal farmers of Tumajore village under Hemgir block of Sundargarh district strives to explain that better utilization of these common resources can definitely

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enhance the livelihoods of the poor community, particularly the small and marginal farmers.

CYSD has been working in Hemgir block of Sundargarh district in Orissa since 1995. During all these years the primary focus was to create a livelihood base for the poor farmers, especially the small and marginal farmers, and landless agricultural labourers.

Tumajore village under Hemgir block in Sundargarh district of Orissa, India, is home to 74 households of which 20.72 per cent are Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 2.96 per cent Scheduled Caste (SC) households. In the absence of any irrigational facilities Tumajore villagers primarily depend on rain-fed agriculture. During the agricultural lean period between February and June, collection and marketing of non-timber forest products (NTFP), particularly Mahula flowers (which are used for alcohol preparation) and seeds form a significant part of their economic activities. Villagers also take up jobs as daily wage earners as agricultural production is not sufficient to sustain most of the families through the year.

CYSD began its intervention in Tumajore in 2001. At the time the village was characterized by high degree of food insecurity for small and marginal farmers and landless families. In the absence of an alternative source of livelihood these families were at the mercy of the village landlords and private moneylenders and the practice of bonded labour (locally known as goti) was prevalent in the region.

With people dependent primarily on subsistence agriculture, paddy was the major crop cultivated and cash crops and vegetable cultivation received low priority from the villagers in Tumajore. Though a small perennial water stream runs by the village, the harsh economic condition of the villagers was a major stumbling block in investing in lift irrigation. . During the rainy season most of the cultivable uplands remained barren and major patches of cultivable land were left barren during the other seasons due to lack of irrigation facilities.

CYSD’s intervention in Tumajore began with formation of a village organization involving all households. After seeing the benefits of group farming in nearby villages, the village organization showed keen interest in taking up the activity. One of the residents, Jeevardhan Padhan played an instrumental role in generating interest among the villagers who then approached the CYSD project staff in support of the intervention.

Armed with experience and technical expertise, and leveraging the people’s interest in Tumajore as social capital, CYSD developed the requisite project plan to initiate parwal (pointer gourd) cultivation. The village organization identified the beneficiaries belonging to the most deprived households in the village. On 14 December 2007, a resolution was passed at the village level where the 19 most deprived families of the village were selected to start group farming. A patch of 3.5 acres of barren upland was selected for the purpose. CYSD and Village


Association members discussed the modus operandi of the project; together they defined the responsibilities of each party and formulated guidelines for internal community management. After completion of all the discussions, the work was begun by the farmers on 9 January 2008.

The group laboured on land clearance, land development, land plotting, constructing a water channel and fencing the area. CYSD provided technical and initial handholding support in the following areas:

• Technical guidelines on land, water and crop management

• Installation of a lift irrigation device (diesel pump set)

• Operational knowledge of irrigation scheduling and pump maintenance

• Training in social mobilization and group management

• Getting access to land under Forest Rights Act

Results and Benefits of the InitiativeThe initiative showed results within six months with the 19 households harvesting 77.2 qtls. of parwal which were worth Rs. 100,760in the first seven weeks itself. Their success encouraged other villagers to join the initiative and currently 66 households are cultivating parwal on 15 acres of land. Furthermore, CYSD was also instrumental in linking the produce to the market.

As of now, Tumajore has built its own identity and produces an average of 100 qtls. of parwal during the peak harvest season between August and September. Tumajore parwals have carved a niche in the nearby cities of Jharsuguda and Sundargarh and also in the neighbouring states of Chhatisgarh (Raipur, Bilaspur and Raigarh) and Madhya Pradesh (Bina, Babina, Jhansi, Gwalior and Sagar).

Some landless families, which were earlier working as bonded labourers, now produce their own harvest through this community farming initiative. Besides raising people’s income in this village, this initiative has also spread to nearby villages as well.

Group farming was also replicated in other villages like Kathaphali, Beldihi, Kuchedega, Dhanrashi, Pandiapalli, Chnadarpur, Surulata and Ramalata in the Hemgir Block.

The major benefits of community farming include:

• It helps restrict outward migration of vulnerable sections of the population in search of employment,

• It encourages community decision making ,


• It increases optimum resource utilization

• It enhances gross agricultural production.

All these in turn induce improvement in the lives of the people within the community in a multi-dimensional approach by creating:

• Social capital as the community gets together for a common purpose and takes decisions collectively

• Financial capital with increased production and enhanced income levels ,

• Physical capital by spending income on house construction etc.)

• Natural capital through cultivation of unutilized land and use of sustainable agricultural practices

Assimilation of the ProgrammeThe program has greater acceptance among the vulnerable target groups who have shown high degree of adaptability in the process, and it offers an effective demonstration. As the group farming approach primarily focuses on promoting cash crops (vegetables), so women farmers (SHG groups) have also shown interest in such economic activity.

The promotion of community farming in Pandiapali, Tumajore, Kuchedega and Beldihi villages has brought changes in many respects. It has:

• Provided landless farmers with access to land.

• Provided the option of year round sustainable livelihood to the farmers practicing community farming

• Reduced seasonal distress out-migration of the landless farmers and other in those four villages

• Contributed to better usage of waste land, fallow land and unutilized land for farming

• Promoted sustainable agricultural practices

• Served as demonstration site for organic farming and for replication of community farming

• Reduced input costs of farming (seeds, compost, water)

• Eased marketing of produce due to economies of scale

• Increased household income and now villagers are able to educate their children and also meet immediate financial needs


• Developed unity among farmers

• Reduced food insecurity period by three to four months

Advantages of Community Farming• Farmers extend mutual support to each other for land development,

ploughing, irrigation harvesting, marketing, maintenance of pump, watch and ward etc.

• It is easy to develop waste land through community farming

• Farmers get work at door step

• Develops unity and shared understanding among the farmers

• Gives a source of livelihood to landless farmers

Reasons for Success of Community Farming• They form a homogeneous group with group solidarity and social cohesion

• A sense of mutual trust amongst farmers

• Availability of help and cooperation from other farmers at the time of need

• Sharing of mutual interest and common resources


Innovation through Upgrading Technology in the Cluster

ACCESS Development Services, Odisha

Introduction Ganjam-Gajapati Cashew Cluster is located in the southern part of Orissa and has 120 cashew processing units with a turnover of Rs. 160 crore. It provides direct employment to around 12000 households in the area.

The selection of these products was based on factors such as their production, processing, commercial demand, shelf life, potential for building enterprises and need for business development services. The cashew processing units are concentrated in the Ganjam and Gajapati districts within a 60 km radius of each other. The main cashew processing units are concentrated within seven blocks of the two districts, such as Chattrapur, Ganjam, Chikiti, and Purusottampur in Ganjam District, and Gumma, Kashinagar, and Goshani in Gajapati District. Raw materials are also abundantly available in these areas. The presence of a high concentration of cashew orchards and processing units provide a boost to the local economy. The processing units are flourishing on a massive scale in the region because of an abundance of raw material being available locally and a demand in the national as well as international market. There is a great scope for multiple uses for by-products in the country.

The main commercial product derived from the cashew fruit is the cashew kernel which is obtained through factory processing i.e. roasting, boiling, shelling, and peeling. Cashew Nut Shell Liquid (CNSL), used for various applications, is a by-product obtained while processing cashew shells. The objective of cashew processing is to extract a healthy and tasty kernel from the raw cashew shell. Most modern factories are designed to obtain the maximum number of whole nuts and as much nut shell oil as possible.

Prior to the intervention, it was observed that most of the processing units used the drum roasting method to process their cashew nuts. Processing using drum roasting causes a high degree of pollution and is not permissible by both the State and the Center Government. The drum roasting process is highly hazardous to the health. After looking into all the concerns related to drum roasting the Government of Andhra Pradesh banned this process in the state. As a result of which processors whose units were near the state border shifted their units to the neighboring Orissa, particularly to Paralakhemundi, Garabandha, and Goshani in the Gajapati district. During the preparation of the Diagnostic Study Report (DSR) it was found, that apart from traditional drum roasting, there are some other grey areas also where there is a need for intervention in both the districts.

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65Innovation through Upgrading Technology in the Cluster

Interventions in the Cluster In March 2009 ACCESS started its operation in the Ganjam and Gajapati districts of Orissa. Prior to that almost all the cashew processing units located in both the districts followed the drum roasting method of cashew processing. This is the conventional roasting method but it causes a lot of air and water pollution. The entrepreneurs of Ganjam and Gajapati districts were unaware of the updated technology options available as alternatives. The entrepreneurs neither had the requisite knowledge and nor the financial capacity to upgrade their unit’s technology even though it would have improved operational performance.

As cashew units needs a lot of manpower and working capital, entrepreneurs need to be proactive and vigilant in their daily activities. Almost all of the entrepreneurs in both Ganjam and Gajapati districts were dependent on manual labour. The cashew processing subsectors mostly employed unskilled women labour. Sometimes during the festive season the workers’ attendance became irregular due to which the quantity of production decreased and the entrepreneurs could not fill the gap between the demand and supply. So they were unable to meet their business commitments and incurred financial losses.

Though they needed modern technology to counter the labour problem, they lacked the necessary information. The entrepreneurs required financial aid to upgrade the technology in their units, but they did not possess the proper records and documents, so no financial institution would provide assistance to them.

The biggest challenge for ACCESS was how to bring about an upgrade in the technology in the cashew processing units of both the districts. Apart from modernization, financial linkage was another big issue related with the cashew processing sub sector. To find out a proper systemized solution for all these issues ACCESS has intervened in following ways:

• Organized sensitization workshops on various issues.

• Provided proper information in this regard.

• Organized several workshops on different issues.

• Organized exposure visits to model cashew processing units in Mangalore and Qualm.

• Provided training on MIS and in accounting, and book keeping.

• Organized banker interface to sensitize bankers and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) regarding the Know Your Customer (KYC) norms, Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) schemes and the draw backs of trying to gain access to finance at the entrepreneur level.


• Formation and strengthening of local associations.

• Capacity building of the associations, providing support and hand holding.

• Providing services through cadre of Business Development Service Providers (BDSPs).

• Held various seminars and workshops aimed at improving the self confidence and knowledge of the entrepreneurs.

• Organized several demonstration programmes on packaging and cutting.

• Implemented specialized training programmes to upgrade their skills and knowledge.

• Organized several workshops on the quality parameters of cashew processing.

• Organized training programmes on grading, sorting, and peeling the cashew kernels for quality enhancement.

• Organized a Portfolio Management workshop on managing finance and desirable documents at the MSME level.

• Organized policy level workshops to create awareness about the MSMEs on various government schemes and policies prevailing in the state and at the centre.

Impact of the Intervention• The most formidable challenge in modernization was conversion from the

drum roasting method to steam boiling. The conversion from the roasting method to the boiling method drastically reduces air pollution. As both the Central and State Government were emphasizing on measures to reduce pollution, so priority was given to upgrading from roasting to boiling. As a result of which almost 70per cent of the cashew processing units in Ganjam and 20per cent in the Gajapati district have converted from roasting to boiling. 36 units have already changed their processing technology and another 20 units are on the verge of shifting from roasting to boiling.

• Cashew nuts were being cut by the manual labour, making it a time consuming and labour intensive process. Optimum output in terms of production was not being reached. Automatic cutting machines offer a solution for these problems. As of now four entrepreneurs are already using a semi- automatic shelling machine and twenty entrepreneurs from both the districts have placed their orders with various machine suppliers like Star Industries, Gayatri Industries, and Best Engineering, etc.


• Peeling is another issue for the cashew processing sub sector. Earlier female workers performed this job manually. Now automation gives a new edge to the peeling process. These automatic machines save time, and give excellent quality kernels, far better than from the manual process. At present 4 Viet mold automatic peeling machines are installed in the district of Ganjam and another machine has been ordered by an entrepreneur and will installed by March 2011.

• As Cashew kernel is a food product, grading and sorting was done manually. Earlier most of the entrepreneurs did not take the hygienic condition required for this process seriously. Now after the intervention of ACCESS they have purchased grading tables and some entrepreneurs have placed their orders with Abhaya Engineering and Gayatri Industries.

• In recent times packaging has become an integral part of marketing. Earlier no packaging systems were available with entrepreneurs. Now one of the entrepreneurs has installed all the systems required for proper packaging of the cashew kernels and five other entrepreneurs have purchased polythene packaging machines for their units.

• During the course of discussions with bankers and entrepreneurs we found there were bilateral issues because of which entrepreneurs were facing difficulties in accessing financial linkages, hence third party linkage was considered a suitable strategy to provide the financial support to MSMEs. Machinery requirement with cost for the renovation, modernization, and expansion needed a lot of financial support from FIs. To bridge this gap many discussions and workshops were organized with all the leading bankers of both the districts. After SIDBI came into the picture for cluster financing, all the leading bankers became sensitized and came forward to provide financial support to the cashew processing sub sector in the district of Ganjam. Recently we conducted a portfolio management workshop with leading bankers of the district to facilitate the process of getting financial aid from banks.. As a result of which 8 MSMEs availed of financial assistance worth Rs. 9.5 cr from various banks like SBI, RGB, Canara Bank, and Axis Bank Ltd, etc.

• Quality is always a matter of concern for the cashew industry. As cashew kernel is a food product, stringent quality parameters should be maintained during processing of the kernels. Various seminars and workshops were organized in the cluster aimed at enhancing the quality of the cashew products. Both the State and Centre Government put emphasis on quality enhancement of food products. After our intervention five to seven entrepreneurs were inspired to gain a quality certification like ISO 9000, HACCP, FPO, BAR CODE, and Trade Mark, for their units and products. The most favorable thing is that the policy of Government of India and MSME DI(Development Institute) provides financial assistance through a subsidy of 75% for these certifications s.


• The issue of quality created several problems for the entrepreneurs in the cluster. Prior to our intervention they used to make 8 grades of cashew kernels. They now produce 18 grades of cashew kernels.

• Prior to ACCESS’s intervention, most entrepreneurs were unaware of proper hygienic and sanitation conditions required by their industry. Now the labour uses hand gloves, aprons, head caps, and masks while working.

• To upgrade the skills of the existing workers in the cashew industries frequent training programmes are organized in the cluster on grading, sorting, and peeling to improve the quality of the kernels, and to create skilled manpower to meet the need and demand in the cluster. We conduct a certificate course on cashew processing in collaboration with the government ITI (Industrial Training Institute), OCPA (Orissa Cashew Processors Association) and ACCESS in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

We facilitate BDSPs from different areas like technology who visit the cluster and impart training through demos, and technical sessions to employees of the cashew industries. Our intervention also brought about product diversification in the cluster with some entrepreneurs developing value added products like salted and roasted cashews, cashew burfi, etc. By-product utilization is also booming in the cluster. Some entrepreneurs plan on utilizing the cashew shells for production of CSNL(Cashew Shell Nut Liquid). A few CSNL plants are already in the pipeline in the area.

• Since the cashew processing industry is labour intensive in nature, there is a huge demand for manpower in the area. Direct employment for about 12650 people is associated with the cluster. After the intervention, almost 800 workers were employed in various industries through renovation, modernization, expansion, and addition of new units in the cluster. Almost 30 lakh man days of employment has been generated in the cluster. To create employment various steps were taken by the State and Centre Government. So the entrepreneurs are contributing to the society by providing a means of livelihood to the poor people of the country.

• In remote rural areas, finding employment is a very tough task for the rural communities. The cashew industry is labour intensive in nature and almost 95 per cent of the workers are women, who belong to the marginal and weaker section of the community. So the industry performs a social function and these women contribute towards augmentation of their family income and they get to be a part of the decision making in the family, which is a step towards women empowerment. The labour wages were increased following ACCESS interventions.

• 19 mini cashew processing units are being run by tribal Self Help Groups (SHGs) with the support of an SGSY (Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojagar Yojana) scheme. After our intervention, we now provide them with technical services from time to time.


• While preparing the DSR (Diagnostic Study Report) it was found that most of the entrepreneurs are educationally weak and they have no knowledge of the existing government schemes and policies. To bridge the gap between the various government departments and MSMEs a Policy level workshop was conducted in the cluster. As a result of which now 50 MSMEs maintain books of records and accounts. After our intervention they are regularly filling their sales tax returns and income tax returns with the concerned departments. Most of the units have renewed their pollution certificates and some of the units have come forward to convert their PRC (Provisional Registration Certificate) / PMT (Permanent Registration Certificate) to EM1 (Entrepreneurs Memorandum-1) and EM2 (Entrepreneurs Memorandum-2) respectively. Some units are trying to obtain a DIC (District Industries Centre) registration certificate. In the Gajapati district, 47 MSMEs registered their names with the Regional Provident Fund Commissioner and filed the Provident Fund (PF) returns of their workers.

• The most positive move by the entrepreneurs is that, after our intervention they have tied up with Bajaj Allianz and insured their industry workers which is indicative of their sense of responsibility towards the society and their employees. We can call it Entrepreneur Social Responsibility (ESR). They have also planted several types of plants for in their local areas to help reduce air pollution and promote better health. They are contributing to the welfare of the society through such activities.

Conclusion Increased productivity and efficiency, and enhanced product quality was achieved by upgrading technology in these units. It also encouraged diversification to production of value added products and by-products such as CSNL.


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Livelihood Options for Tribal Communities through Value Chain Approach for Rice

M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation

IntroductionIn India, the difference between the farm gate price and the price paid by consumers for value added products has been increasing rapidly with no proportionate benefits being received by the primary producers i.e. the farmers. The case study presented in this paper details the socio-economic improvement brought about in the Nuaguda village, by utilizing the local rice land races through value addition.

The term value chain refers to the complete range of activities undertaken from conception, and production of a product or service to its delivery to the final consumers, through which a competitive advantage is developed and shareholder value is created. The value chain approach is very useful since it takes an objective look and examines the consequences of producer empowerment by linking them effectively with the consumers. This case study exemplifies that the value chain need not always involve several stake holders but that value can be added locally and the product can be successfully marketed locally.

This was a successful case, wherein the women added value to products with minimum external support, after being empowered with the right knowledge and skills. All the four stages of value addition, namely, the primary level involving production of rice, the second level which includes hulling, cleaning, grading, and preparation of products, the third level comprising of packaging and labeling, and the fourth and terminal level involving marketing, are integrated, and undertaken by one set of farmers grouped into a self help group (SHG). Tribal women being the forerunners of the initiative indicates that small farmers can also be entrepreneurs.

Operational AreaThe Planning Commission has identified Koraput District of Odisha, as one of the 151 distress districts in India. The region is characterized by a large proportion of small farmers with low and unpredictable agricultural productivity, lack of adequate market and infrastructure leading to poverty and large scale migration. M. S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) aims at reversing the existing dichotomy of economic poverty in an area rich in natural resources by conserving these resources and improving the economic well being of the rural people with active participation of various stakeholders, who have acquired enormous expertise in their own area of economic activities.

71Livelihood Options for Tribal Communities through Value Chain Approach for Rice

Exploring and conserving the land races of rice from this zone, recognized as the secondary centre of origin of rice, will sustain the promising and potential land races through better productivity, value addition and marketability in perpetuity. The case study gives the details of the socio-economic improvement of the women SHGs of Nuaguda village through sustainable utilization of the locally available bio resources.

According to the key informants, Nuaguda village was established nearly 55 years ago. Prior to this, people were residing at Kumbharaguda (a revenue village under Kundura block of Koraput district of Odisha). Due to an increase in the population, a few selected households were shifted to a barren land which is known today as Nuaguda. The literary meaning of “Nua” is “New” and “Guda” means “hamlet”. Initially five tribal families moved here, each with a different family name viz. Ghiuria, Kakalpadia, Pradhani, Paroja, and Minurbalia and all belonged to the Bhumia and Paroja tribal communities.

A PRA conducted in 2001 revealed that there were of 25 households (HHs) with a total population of 126, which comprised of 61 men and 65 women, and a very low literacy rate (only 30 men and 12 women were literate, mostly with primary education).There was no electricity in the village. Hand pumps and wells were the main source of drinking water. The village had neither a school nor a primary health care centre. Livestock was limited to 29 cows and calves, 12 bullocks and buffalos, 20 sheep, 26 goats and 210 poultry birds.

Agriculture was the main occupation of the villagers, followed by daily wage labour and traditional petty businesses. The village had 153 acres of land with 70 acres of upland, 12 acres of medium land, 50 acres of low land, 2 acres of waste land, 12 acres of pasture land, and 7 acres of forest land. Out of the25 HHs, 3 were landless, 7 had marginal land holdings, 10 were small land holders, 2 belonged to medium HHs and only 3 were large scale farmers. Rice was the predominant crop and was cultivated in 70 acres followed by ragi in10 acres), minor millets, pulses, and oil seeds in 7 acres each) as well as cashew in12 acres. Mono cropping of rice was a common practice among the villagers, which was at times coupled with multiple cropping. The farm families followed traditional agricultural practices with landraces being the base. However, due to low productivity, the high yielding varieties (HYV), grown with aid of chemicals, rapidly replaced the landraces which are known to have their own advantages. Organic farming was undermined by intensive farming which required extensive use of chemicals and was hazardous to the environment.

A Mahila Swayam Sahayak Sangha (MSSS) was formed in the year 1997 as part of an Indo-Danish project. However, no activity was undertaken by them, except for collecting a weekly contribution of Rupee 1 which was then raised to Rs. 2, and later to Rs.10 over a period of 10 years. In the year 2007, MSSS purchased tamarind from nearby areas and put it in the cold storage. But discouraged by the low profits, they discontinued this activity and stuck to the collection of a weekly contribution of Rs 5 .The village also has traditional institutions like a drama club, festival club, spiritual club, and development institutions like a


Central Village Committee, Village Seed and Grain Bank Committee, Knowledge Management Committee ,and self help groups. M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF) started its intervention for increased production, value addition and marketing of three prominent land races of rice in this scenario.

MethodologyNuaguda village was adopted as a demonstration village by MSSRF under the National Agricultural Innovation Project (ICAR). Emphasis was laid on livelihood improvement based on three local rice landraces (kalajeera, hachhakanta and haladichudi), through yield enhancement, area expansion, and value addition. The defunct MSSS was rejuvenated with 20 members. Regular meetings and group discussions were held based on which a consensus was reached to increase the weekly contribution from Rs. 5 to Rs. 10. Need based trainings were imparted for various activities with emphasis on livelihood enhancement options. An initial market survey indicated a demand for murukku, nadi, and chuda mixtur,. which were preferred to puffed rice bodi. Dosa was found to be a very popular item on the breakfast menu in this area, situated in the southern part of Odisha. Based on the expertise gained and the preliminary market study, the SHG opted for murukku, dosa and chuda production from among the various options on value added products (see Table 1).

Increase in the yield of rice landraces was achieved through participatory pure line selection along with the implementation of appropriate agro technologies, wherein the local expertise and bio resources were fully utilized. Capacity building programmes were organized to train SHGs on value added products from rice. A socio-economic survey and focus group discussions were held to understand the status of the groups, and identify suitable micro enterprises for the women groups taking into account the available knowledge and resources. The expertise of the Central Rice Research Institute (ICAR), Cuttack, Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology, Orissa Rural Marketing and Development Society, line departments and financial institutions in various fields was made available while undertaking this venture (see Fig.1.).

ResultsThe 19 women members of the SHGs were the ones engaged in making value added products in the afternoon, during their leisure time, mostly after lunch. The project provides the raw materials for preparation of the products, which are sold through a weekly market, nearby shops, exhibitions organized during festivals, etc. The SHGs organized their own capital for this purpose. The processing, packaging and labeling was carried out in the village itself. The group led by Chandrama Masia, a tribal woman with very little formal education, maintains all the accounts and distributes the profit to eligible SHG members. Ingredients and profitability details are presented in table 1.


Rice muruku

Rice murukku is prepared by the 19 members 2 SHGs, with an average contribution of 5 days labour per month. In this year’s parab festival of Koraput a net profit of Rs. 3500 was earned. Machhakanta land race is preferred for this preparation.

dosa powder mix (rawa)

The production of dosa powder mix was taken up by the SHG on a trial basis, to get an idea of the demand. Haldichudi is preferred for dosa powder. The women added suji, maida, a few cumin seeds, chilli, onion, and kalajeera rice to the the main ingredient (rice), to improve the taste. The SHG sold 50 kg of dosa powder earning a net profit of Rs. 275.

chuda mixture (pressed rice mixture)

This enterprise proved to be successful in the area, even though many types of mixtures are available in the market. An organoleptic test indicated that the items prepared from the local land races are more palatable than the ones prepared from high yielding varieties. One of the SHGs of Jallaguda village of Kundura block has emulated this process and taken up value addition for their livelihood proving the project is replicable.

Key Findings• The taste of value added products from rice landraces is preferred over

those from HYV rice.

• The women SHGs of Nuaguda and nearby villages readily accepted settin up a microenterprise based on value added products of rice.

• Capital cost is affordable and other activities are not hampered since only leisure time is utilized.

• Raw materials are readily available locally.

• A weekly market and the local market ensure steady and assured sales.

• Helps to increase profitability from landraces and thus encourages their conservation.

Future Strategy• Up scaling: These activities will be up scaled to include at least 500

farmer families in 15 villages. The hidden skills and leisure time of the


SHG members have to be fully utilized so as to ensure their sustainable livelihood.

• Market outlet: There has been a proposal to set up a market outlet in Jeypore so as not to depend on the local market alone. .

• Other products: Taking a cue from the success of the three value added products, it is possible to promote other products either made from rice, or in combination with other available materials, by roping in more SHGs into the fold.

• Business plan: A business plan has to be developed so as to understand the breakeven point and to meet the requirements of the financial institutions.

• Nutrient analysis: This needs to be carried out in a reputable institute like Central Food Technological Research Institute so that the contents can be displayed on the label and the products can be promoted in the cities and metros. This will encourage the participation of bigger entrepreneurs in the marketing channel.

• Packing and labeling: Improved packaging and proper food labeling is necessary to attract the elite consumers and premium prices.

• Access to microfinance: Up scaling will facilitate access to microfinance.

• Reduction in drudgery: A need is felt to make provisions for a small scale flour mill, cooking gas, appropriate kitchen ware, etc, to reduce the work involved in the processing, which is mainly carried out by the women

• Linkages: Better linkages with the different line departments are required to avail of the entitlements under various government projects for the rural poor.

ConclusionPromoting rural enterprises by encouraging rural entrepreneurship is one of the important means of increasing rural employment, rural incomes and alleviating poverty of the rural poor. Since land races are being replaced by high yielding varieties, increasing income per unit area is one of the effective measures in arresting the extinction of rice landraces.

The value chain covers all the steps from the farmer to the final consumer, a value addition made to the primary produce with each step. Although M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation took a small initiative in the Nuaguda village, its success is indicative of the potential of putting the knowledge and experience gained from this model into use through upscaling making it more visible and sustainable. The fact that the process has been emulated by SHGs


of neighbouring villages is indicative of its replicability. The women who have been empowered through a continuous capacity building process are now acting as trainers to trainees. Since these products can be sold through various outlets in other cities in the state, it should be possible for similar groups in other poor rural communities of Orissa to emulate the venture for a sustainable livelihood.

The impact is clearly visible as women who were earlier whiling away their leisure time, now remain fruitfully engaged bringing in additional income for the families of the SHG members. Integrating farmers and local entrepreneurs into the agricultural supply chain through empowerment, affordable credit access, access to insurance and extension services are the challenges ahead.

AcknowledgementThe authors are grateful to the ICAR for providing the funds to take up the work under the National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP). We thank Dr. R. K. Goyal, National coordinator, NAIP for all his encouragement and support. The help rendered by the cooperating centres was appreciated. We gratefully acknowledge the cooperation of the Orissa Rural Marketing and Development Society (ORMAS), Central Rice Research Institute (CRRI) and Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT). The active involvement and commitment of the self help groups of Nuaguda village in taking up this innovative effort deserves a special mention.


Table – I: Value Added Products -Benefits and Cost

Required Materials

Rice Murukku (1000 nos)

Dosa powder : (1Kg) Chuda Mixture(1kg)

Quantity expenditure (Rs.)



Rice flour 8kg 96.00 650gm 9.75 0 0

Pressed rice 0 0 0 0 1kg 17.60

Besan (chick pea flour)

800g 32.00 50g 2.00 100g 5.00

Chilli powder 250g 15.00 0 0 SQ 1.50

Suji 0 0 200g 6.00 0 0

Maida 0 0 100g 3.00 0 0

Salt 200g 5.00 0 0 SQ 0.50

Refined oil 4 ltrs 280.00 0 0 250g 17.00

Packaging material (polythene)

45 pkts 22.50 SQ 2.00 SQ 1.50

Polythene carry bags

1pkt 10.00 SQ 1.00 SQ 1.00

Label 45 nos 22.00 SQ 1.00 SQ 0.50

Ground nut 0 0 0 0 50g 3.00

Til seeds 250g 15.00 0 0 0 0

Curry leaves 0 0 0 0 SQ 0.50

Fuel SQ 10.00 0 0 SQ 10.00

total 507.50 24.75 Rs 58.00

Selling price (Rs.)

1000.00 30.00 100.00

Net profit (Rs.)

492.50 5.25 42.00

SQ: Small quantity


Fig.1. partner organizations in ’capitalization of prominent landraces of rice in odisha through value chain approach

A. Improved production, productivity and coordination

B. Packaging , labeling and marketing

C. Preparation of value added products

D. Pure line selection, characterization and quality analysis

E. Micro finance

F. Demonstration, training and capacity building

MSSRF

E

FA

B

C

D

CRRI

SHGsANKS

ORMASOUAT

Rice Landrac


Promoting Ecotourism as a tool in supporting local livelihoods and protecting commons through community based conservation

Mangalajodi Ecotourism

IntroductionChilika Lake is a jewel in the ecological treasure of India. It’s the largest brackish water lagoon of Asia and declared as wetland of international importance under Ramsar Convention (1971) in Egypt on account of its rich biodiversity (Kishore S. and Shibalal M. 2003) which qualifies it to be an important common globally. The area covered by the lake is 1055 sq. km which swells to 1165 sq. km. during rainy season and shrink to 906 sq km during summers. Mangalajodi is a village situated in the Northern sector of Chilika Lake. Mangalajodi is an Important Bird Area (IBA) as designated by Birdlife International which identified a total of 2,293 IBAs in all 28 countries and territories in the Asia region. IBAs cover a total area of 2,331,560 km2, equivalent to 7.6% of the region’s land area (Birdlife International) and are considered as priority sites for conservation. Being an important bird habitat, especially for waterfowl and a forgotten but sustainable village lifestyle highlighting minimal dependence on external resources, qualify it to be an important ecotourism destination supporting conservation initiatives and local livelihoods.

Ecotourism – A Brief IntroductionThe term “ecotourism” was originally defined as “travelling to relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated areas with the specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery, its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural manifestations found in these areas” (Ceballos-Lascurain 1988). However, since then different definitions have been put forward, some of which do not clearly demarcate between different forms of nature based tourism. The most appropriate appears to be the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s definition, which describes ecotourism as being “...environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively undisturbed natural areas in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and any accompanying cultural features, both past and present); that promotes conservation; has low visitor impact; and provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local populations” (Ceballos-Lascurclin, 1996).

Conservation Biology is “A new synthetic discipline that addresses the dynamics and problems of perturbed species, communities, and ecosystems”. It was called a crisis discipline which requires inputs from both science and art (Michael E. Soule 1985). Ecotourism also to a great extent is a crisis discipline evolved to combat the ill effects of conventional tourism and protect the remaining

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79Promoting Ecotourism as a tool in supporting local livelihoods and protecting commons through community based conservation

destinations from its ill effects, but it can prove to be a long awaited answer to help the local communities while protecting the ecological and cultural treasure. If we treat our national parks, nature reserves and protected areas as ‘islands set aside from human use’ they will come under increasing risk of submergence in a human sea (Martin Holdgate, IUCN Director General, 1989). In India as of April 2007, there were 96 national parks encompassing a combined area of 38,029.18 km² which further represent only 1.16% of India’s total surface area (anonymous). Surely there is larger area which requires protection but everything can’t be protected like National Parks and Sanctuaries due to lack of resources and individuals residing inside the boundaries of protected areas. It is in such cases where the sustainable coexistence of human and wildlife is the only answer.

Mangalajodi Ecotourism Project- A Case in PointMangalajodi, a village on the banks of the Chilika Lake (Second largest lagoon in the world) hosts more than 150000 birds (BirdLife IBA Factsheet) which jostle in its marshes, especially in winters. Mangalajodi is home not only to birds but also represents a critical, one of its kind ecosystem whose protection is epitomized by a sustainable lifestyle that is at brink of extinction in urban settings. Mangalajodi was known as a Poacher’s village due to rampant poaching activities in the area. The bird population dwindled to a great extent, but through the efforts of Mr. Nand Kishore Bhujbal representing Wild Orissa, a Bird Protection Committee was constituted known as Sri Sri Mahabir Pakshi Surakshya Samiti (literally: Sri Sri Mahabir Bird Protection Committee) on 12th Dec, 2000 which started regular patrolling in the Bird habitat and left poaching forever. Evolution from poachers to conservationists was not easy, rather an arduous task. Mr. Bhujbal took the entire village in confidence and started regular patrolling in Mangalajodi area. “While I was telling poachers to stop poaching and protect the birds, many times I became the victim of hatred as I was poaching on their livelihood” said Mr. N. K. Bhujbal. Poachers turned conservationists were also involved in regular bird census, habitat management and other scientific studies conducted by State Forest Department and other conservation organisations, which in the process made the locals more knowledable about birds and their habitats. Protection has benefited not only Manglajodi’s birds, but all of its aquatic biodiversity like fishes, snakes, monitor lizards and the elusive Fishing Cat. Bird protection Committee was bestowed with prestigious state “Bijju Patnaik Pakhee Mitra” (Friends of Birds) Award for conservation and has been designated the status of ‘Important Bird Area’ by Birdlife International for its importance as a significant global waterfowl habitat. Conservation of natural resources or their sustainable use has often been regarded as a characteristic of many traditional Asian cultures (Kalland and Persoon, 1998).

Eight years later Mangalajodi Ecotourism has evolved as a community owned and managed ecotourism initiative started with a vision to support the livelihood of local community without hampering the fragile wetland Ecosystem.


Mangalajodi Ecotourism aims to inspire, inform and enable communities to turn ecosystems into a sustainable source of livelihood through well managed tourism instead of exploiting them for short term profits. The project involved working in three key areas - Capacity building of the local community through training in domains like eco-guiding, hospitality and catering, infrastructure development and marketing the venture through different mediums. This initiative involved establishing another community based organization called Mangalajodi Ecotourism Society to cater to larger village needs and involving the youth from the village to manage ecotourism activities professionally. The institution is further divided into different teams taking care of different project domains. By protecting, reconnecting and restoring the life of the Mangalajodi Marshes, this community owned venture is a paradigm shift in the way communities world over relate to wetlands. It adheres to principles of ecotourism, by making a positive contribution to ecology, environment and economic upliftment of the local community. The project is able to build partnership with different organizations to initiate development work in different areas.

Why Ecotourism?Different organizations have intervened in the past with diverse livelihood options for communities residing on the bank of Chilika with a vision to improve their economic condition and decrease dependence on the limited fishery resources, but failed due to lack of interest from the local communities. Chilika is an important support system for the local communities residing on its bank and influence their lifestyle, culture and environments. Ecotourism is a potential livelihood option for communities due to following reasons:

Ï% Birding and Responsible Tourism: In the last decade a movement was initiated by Chilika Development Authority and local NGOs to stop poaching activities by motivating and transforming poachers to conservationists. Poachers turned conservationists have the knowledge of Birds- their habitat, spatial distribution and breeding cycles which make them suitable for generating awareness to bird lovers through Eco Guiding. The National Survey reported that, in 1996, Americans spent approximately $29 billion on observing, feeding and photographing wildlife (The Texas A & M University System 1996). Similarly India has an emerging class interested in visiting Birding, Photography & Responsible Tourism destinations.

Ï% Strengthening Conservation Efforts: The Bird Protection committee consists of poachers turned conservationists who were earning hefty amounts from bird poaching. Presently committee members are involved in conservation through regular monitoring and patrolling in the area since there is always a threat of their reverting back to earlier profession of poaching, if conservation efforts are not supported by adequate income generating activity.


Ï% Opportunity to Diversify Livelihood Activities through Community based Ecotourism:: Villagers are involved in availing livelihood through fishing in Chilika lagoon, which is proving as an ecological threat due to depletion of biodiversity available in Chilika. There are around 132 fisherman villages in and around Chilika. Total Fisherman population in the area is 1, 04,040 out of which 27,200 are active fisherman (Kishore S. and Shibalal M. 2003). Ecotourism will help in diversifying the livelihood and decreasing undue pressure on natural resources of Chilika. Lake Chilika has its own ecological, cultural, social, economic and physiological balance (Pattnaik S.). Economic incentives through Ecotourism resulting in conserving the ecosystem can help in saving Chilika which if deteriorated is a true ecological loss globally.

Experiences from First Tourist SeasonProject team was apprehensive whether Mangalajodi will receive enough tourists in its maiden tourist season. Fortunately as the birds started arriving in the November 2009, tourists also started coming in great numbers with 80 tourists on New Year eve. Feedback from the tourists highlighted their satisfaction not only due to the birds, but also due to witnessing the diehard conservationists, who tell their stories of transformation.

The erstwhile poachers today actively patrol and protect Mangalajodi from bird poachers. Born naturalists, they monitor the bird population, co-ordinate with the forest department, assist in research and take tourists around on birding trips into the marshes. For them, protection of Mangalajodi wetland comes first. They have apprehended poachers in past and even in the current season and handed them over to the forest department, as well as provided hospitality to approx. 611 tourists from India and abroad (South Korea, France, New Zealand, USA etc.). The current conservation experience at Mangalajodi changes perception of tourists towards nature and help them in transforming to become responsible tourists. The maiden tourist season helped the project team in answering various questions.

The first tourist season helped the project team in formulating new strategies. The first question was who should be our target market? Is it high end tourists/ nature lovers or only birders? Majority of tourists who visited in the last season were keen birders who want to see new bird species and were not looking merely for leisure tourism. In their feedback, they appreciated the bird life and community conservation efforts and expressed desire to visit Mangalajodi again.

Second, which other areas can provide employment to more individuals from the village? Hospitality and catering is the new addition in the project which is supporting young individuals from the village.

Third, State tourism Department and Chilika Wildlife Division are coming forward to help Mangalajodi in relation to tourism and conservation initiatives


respectively. This will help in linking the project to the mainstream and providing continuous resource and policy support. Moreover improving the traditional livelihoods of fisherman by adopting sustainable fisheries practices is coming up as a promising step in saving the larger Chilika ecosystem. There are approximately 100 fishing boats which venture into Chilika Lake, using kerosene for lighting purpose. Provision of solar lanterns will help in providing clean affordable energy solutions.

The Way Forward1. Keep community conservation initiative in Focus: Community based

tourism activities in wildlife habitats should be initiated only if the local communities/ inhabitants advocates and practices the conservation activities in the area. Investment in infrastructure etc. should come second to investment in capacity building of local communities. This will help in sensitizing tourists to conservation practices. Naturalists/ guides are heart of Ecotourism (The Nature conservancy 2004) which is true to a greater extent in Mangalajodi case which is testified by the regular mention of poachers turned conservationists in published literature by visitors and researchers. They act as interpreters by helping tourists in identification of birds as well as conservationists by educating tourists on responsible tourism and taking part in research and monitoring projects conducted by various organizations.

2. innovative livelihoods Strategy: Since community conservation initiatives are initiated mostly with livelihood and conservation in focus, innovative livelihood strategy to include maximum number of people should be adopted.

3. let the locals decide: In case of even trivial issues let the communities find the solution. It will help in establishing democratic processes in decision making. Project staff should act as facilitators to take decision in the right direction.

4. ecotourism as a tool for Sustainable development: Ecotourism is an innovative tool to bring holistic development to the destination and help locals in generating livelihoods and supporting conservation activities. It may not include a considerable number of people directly but surely will bring a change in the larger village context.

5. prohibition of construction in Bird habitat: First and second NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute, Nagpur) Report of 1995 recommended “Prohibition on conversion of agriculture lands and salt farms into commercial aquaculture farms”. Majority of land in Manglajodi bird habitat are either encroached or owned by individuals from the local village. Individuals initiate construction activities in the important breeding area for initiating commercial aquaculture practices which is a


threat to bird population. Regulation prohibiting such construction should be in place to protect the important bird habitat used by many birds as breeding ground.

6. adopting ecotourism policy: Ecotourism policy highlighting different conservation measures should be adopted to mitigate effects of tourism on local biodiversity. Mangalajodi is adopting ecotourism principles like prohibiting use of motor boats, not allowing tourists without local guide, discouraging littering, following a designated route etc. Moreover there are few important bird breeding areas where tourism activities are prohibited.

7. promoting Sustainable Fisheries practices: As DA-JICA study (2009) based on fishers opinion revealed that Fishery resources are reduced due to use of zero nets, killing of juveniles, constructing Gheris for prawn culture, using of pesticides at close land areas, and fishing operation by a large number of motorized boats. The Orissa Fishing in Chilka (Regulation) Bill, 2002 say “traditional method of fishing” shall include methods of catching fish which are locally known as Banani, Jano, Uthapani, Dian. Bazza, and Dhaudi, but shall not include any method of fishing which involves artificial stocking, external feeding and application of drugs and chemicals. Traditional equipments use locally available materials like bamboo and are practiced since ages. They give the option of harvesting the palatable species and leaving the ones trapped but not consumed by human. Wetlands like Chilika are providing ecosystem services to human population dwelling on the banks of Chilika since ages but introduction of modern fishing gears like zero nets (Nylon nets) which even capture juveniles pose a threat to its aquatic and avian biodiversity. There is another concern which involves shrinkage of Chilika Lake area, which is decreasing by 1.45 to 1.6 sq. km per year (NEERI’s second Report, 1995).

Wetlands and the ecosystem services they provide are hugely valuable to people worldwide has been a key finding of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report. Ecotourism potential zones in Chilika should include improvement of Chilika biodiversity through promoting sustainable fisheries can prove to be a promising idea.

8. policy level Support from government: Chilika Development Authority and Chilika Wildlife Division can help in providing policy level support in putting right policies in place. All recommendations mentioned above need help from policy formulators to implement them with help of civil society organizations working in the area.

ConclusionEcotourism destinations where communities and biodiversity exist together need to change the perspective from being “tourist centric” to “community conservation centric” wherein number of tourists, revenue and facilities can


be compromised to protect the native culture and environment. Countries like Costa Rica are proving to be ecotourism destinations where tourism is helping in protection of various wildlife habitats and local communities. Ecotourism is a double edged sword and needs stringent regulation while managing ecologically and culturally sensitive destinations.

Mangalajodi Ecotourism Project is in infancy stage and final conclusions can only be drawn after some time. But surely it’s on the right path where communities are moving ahead on the learning curve. It also conveys a message to the communities and policy makers across the world that Community Conservation and tourism can work, provided the communities are sensitized to work for conservation and conservation can bring sustainable economic benefits as against poaching. The approaching tourist season is again a test for this social venture to prove itself and come up with new learning for practitioners and people round the globe who believe “If given a chance, communities can also lead themselves better.”

Acknowledgement: We would like to thank Wild Orissa & Mangalajodi villagers for their conservation initiative and supporting Ecotourism activities. Moreover we would like to thank the Council of Professional Social Workers for implementing this innovative project.

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85Promoting Livelihood Security through Vegetable Growers’ Cooperatives in Three Districts of Orissa

Promoting Livelihood Security through Vegetable owers’ Cooperatives in

Three Districts of OrissaMadhyam Foundation

Madhyam Foundation, Bhubaneswar implemented this pilot project from October 2009 to December 2010 in the Khurdha, Malkangiri, and Kalahandi districts of Orissa in partnership with ten NGOs, such as, Darbar Sahitya Sansad in Khurdha, Puspac, Parivartan, Social Development Service, ODC, and SOMKS in Malkangiri, and Mahasakti Foundation, DAPTA, Lok Yojana, and Parivartan in Kalahandi and with support from AWO International of Germany. The target group comprised of 2500 women members selected from 186 self help groups (SHGs).

The overall objective of the project was to improve the quality of life of marginalized communities through livelihood focused cooperative’s efforts.

Major activities undertaken by the project included imparting training on crop planning, developing house hold level crop calendar, providing critical irrigation facilities, mobilizing working capital loan, setting up a storage cum gradation centre, and a sales centre, promotion of vegetable growers’ cooperatives (VGCs), and vegetable growers’ capacity building of on financial literacy and management of cooperatives.

The Context The state of Orissa is located on the eastern coast of India and its economy is a classic example of failure of the trickledown effect. Despite rich forests, abundant mineral resources and a long coastline, it has failed to generate adequate employment, reduce poverty or improve income distribution. Over 47 per cent of Orissa’s population lives below the poverty line. Compared to the national per capita income of Rs. 16,487, Orissa’s per capita income at Rs. 8,547 is extremely low. Distress migration to neighbouring states is rampant. Thus, Orissa faces the challenge of creating almost 200000 new livelihoods each year besides protecting the current ones. An analysis of the livelihood pattern of the state shows that agriculture, and the allied sectors provide direct or indirect employment to 65 per cent of the population, and contributes 28 per cent to the Net State Domestic Product (NSDP).So, an increase in agricultural production and farm productivity is essential for achieving any significant growth in the income levels of the people.

Vegetable cultivation as an agricultural sub sector has the potential to provide ample scope for the poor, small, and marginal farmers to improve their household income and prepare them for the next level of economic

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competitiveness. The soil profile coupled with the availability of land and water in the project districts is suitable for any kind of vegetable cultivation. In the project districts of Malkanagiri, Kalahandi and Khurda the existing soil is well drained, and free of salinity with a moderately fine to medium texture, which is suitable for vegetable cultivation. Even small and marginal farmers with a landholding of 0.5 acre to 1 acre can go in for vegetable cultivation. The water table in the proposed areas varies from 6 to 10 meters. Of late there has been a trend of crop diversification from paddy to vegetables. As per a recent report, the area under vegetable crops increased by 0.08 per cent and 2.66 per cent during the kharif and rabi seasons respectively. Small and marginal farmers need to capitalize on this changing trend.

Vegetable cultivation is skill oriented. This is very important when vegetable cultivation is taken up as a commercial enterprise rather than as a household subsistence activity. Timing the ’market highs’ would necessitate precision farming practices. The farmers need to have knowledge and skills for seed quality, soil testing, fertilizer application, diseases and pest control, critical stages of crop growth, etc. They require more of working capital than investment capital. The proposed beneficiaries have been organized into self help groups (SHGs) by the partner NGOs, who have provided loan funds to them to undertake different income generation programmes. At present, there is a gap in the demand for vegetables, and the supply from local producers. Vegetables are imported in large quantities from the neighbouring states of Jharkahand, Chhatisgarh, and Andhra Pradesh to meet the demand within the state. Hence, the vegetable sub-sector provides ample opportunities for creation of livelihoods for the poor people.

The vegetable sub sector predominantly has unorganized players at the production end and partly organized ones on the market end. Farmers produce and sell individually, and the traders who have their own cartels dictate the terms of the trade. The sector has a high growth potential; the level of competition is imperfect. It is mostly a buyers’ market as the farmers are unorganized and lack the support system that would allow them to have a greater say in the market mechanisms. The market size is such that there is an increasing demand for vegetables. In general, since the market size is quite huge as compared to the supply, there is no highly pitched competition among producers from the various locations. Producers face no barriers in entering into vegetable production, but creating their own consumer base and market credibility is very challenging. They have to enter the market through the trade channels.

In view of the abovementioned analysis of vegetable cultivation as a sub sector, there exists a strategic space for NGOs/co-operatives, who would be primarily engaged in mobilizing small and marginal farmers, and providing them access to credit. There is a strong need to mobilize the vegetable growers into an organized entity, a mutually aided cooperative. Orissa is one of the nine states in India to have legislated the Act for promotion of mutually aided cooperatives


which are member friendly with very little government interference. Such a vegetable growers’ cooperative is ideally suited to provide credit and other related support services such as training, and market linkage, which dovetail with the various government schemes.

Unique TargetingPrior to designing the project, Madhyam and its partner NGOs undertook a detailed baseline survey in the proposed 82 project villages. It was a conscious strategy to identify small and marginal farmers with less than one acre of landholding as the potential target group of the project. Thus, the target group may broadly be classified as primarily survival and subsistence-oriented, lacking access to critical resources such as land, labour, and credit.

Promoting Livelihood Security through Vegetable CultivationThe project concept was a logical outcome of Madhyam’s experience while working with majority of its existing partner NGOs (for the project), on improving the managerial capability of the women SHGs promoted by them. Prior to designing this project, Madhyam Foundation undertook a sub sector mapping study in all the project locations, where vegetable cultivation was identified as a key sub sector. The project envisaged a two pronged strategy of enhancing the production and productivity and creating forward linkages for marketing.

Key achievements

• 1897 acres of land brought under vegetable cultivation

• Vegetable production increased to the tune of 45 to 50 quintals per vegetable grower.

• Household level income increased between Rs. 25,000 and Rs. 30,000 per year.

• A total of Rs. 71,20,523 mobilized as loan fund from different banks and financial institutions.

• 11 vegetable growers’ cooperatives registered and became functional.

Enhancing Production and ProductivityA whole range of support services were provided under the project for enhancing production and productivity.


household level crop planning

The livelihood promoters were trained to undertake vegetable crop planning at each household level. In view of the size of the landholding, specific household level crop calendars were developed clearly indicating the amount of working capital required in different months or seasons. This practice contributed significantly in enhancing the household income, and crop diversification acted as a safety net against any potential loss in case of the failure of a particular vegetable crop. For example, Smt. Rambha Saa of Kalahandi district got an income of over Rs. 50,000 by following a crop calendar in her 52 decimal of land.

Mobilization of Working capital

Madhyam and its partner NGOs played a proactive role in mobilizing the required working capital for the vegetable growers. Thus, Rs. 71,20,523 were raised in loans from various banks and financial institutions such as the State Bank of India, RGVN, MFIs (Adhikar, SMCS, Mahasakti, Sanginee), etc. Such timely availability of credit was very crucial for undertaking round the year vegetable cultivation.

promotion of organic Manure and pesticides

The project promoted preparation and use of organic manure and pesticides reduce the input cost and adverse effects of chemical pesticides. There was an initial reluctance among the farmers, but once they saw the benefits, its use spread across all project locations. By the end of the year, over 80 per cent of the assisted growers switched over to organic cultivation, thereby reducing input cost substantially and improving profit margins.

creating access to critical irrigation Facilities

All project locations, specifically those in Kalahandi and Malkangiri districts, have a low supply of surface water and the ground water level is also low in a number of places. T this problem, the project provided portable water lifting pumps to be used for protective irrigation. Madhyam also developed a guideline for management of these pumps by the farmers. The fact that 1762.5 acres (cumulative) could receive critical irrigation bears ample testimony to the utility of such a simple intervention. Additional construction of 10 bore wells at a later stage of the project proved to be a boon for all farmers as availability of protective irrigation facilities would no doubt increase manifold.


Storage cum gradation centre at Jambhali, Kalahandi by Mahashakti Foundation

The storage cum gradation centres seem to be of a great help to the small and marginal vegetable growers who use these for bulk storage after grading the vegetables. These centres have turned out to be the key contact points for traders. The grading of vegetables has also attracted better prices from traders.

vegetable Sales counter

Vegetable sales counters have been opened in each strategic location. Members of the VGCs give their vegetables and are assured of its sale, getting a better price, and accurate weighing of the produce. A common brand name ‘Satej’ is used to sell vegetables across all locations in order to create a brand name over a period of time. .

promotion of vegetable growers’ cooperatives (vgc)

For the first time in Orissa, eleven vegetable growers’ cooperatives were registered under Orissa Self Help Co-operative Act, 2001 and became functional. Handholding and training for the members of the cooperatives, on governance, record keeping, financial management, and design of new products were ongoing activities under the project.


table: list of vg cooperatives

# name date of Registration

no. of Members

name of promoting

ngo

district

1 Sabuja Krushi Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

22-05-10 250 DSS Khurda

2 Dharitri Krushi Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

30-06-10 150 DSS Khurda

3 Basumata Pariba Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

30-06-10 317 Mahashakti Foundation

Kalahandi

4 Basundhara Pariba Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

30-06-10 275 Parivarttan (kalahandi)

Kalahandi

5 Kusaleswari Prathamika Pariba Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

28-07-10 252 Lok Yojana Kalahandi

6 Mahalaxmi Prathamika Pariba Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

30-06-10 200 DAPTA Kalahandi

7 Brundabati Prathamika Pariba Utpandanakari Samabay Ltd

26-07-10 200 SDS Malkangir

8 Jibanjyoti Pariba Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

26-07-10 260 ODC Malkangir

9 Matimaa Paribva Utpandakari Samabay Ltd

26-07-10 200 PUSPAC Malkangir

10 Malyabant Pariba Utpadanakari Samabay Ltd

26-07-10 216 Parivartan (Malkangir)

Malkangir

11 Chitragiri Vegetable Growers Cooperative Ltd

12-10-10 205 SOMKS Malkangir

total- 11 cooperatives 2525 10 pngos

publication of information education communication (iec) Materials

Madhyam Foundation developed an information booklet in Oriya which provides detailed information on a district-specific model vegetable crop plan, cost-benefit analysis, common diseases, seed selection and treatment, mulching, pest control, grading, sorting, packaging, and marketing. All the vegetable growers used this for reference extensively.

training on Financial literacy

The vegetable growers were imparted regular training on financial literacy. Training inputs on life cycle needs, financial behaviour, savings and loan management, investment opportunities, cost-benefit analysis, insurance, etc. were provided using various audio-visual aids and practical exercises.


A training manual on financial literacy was also developed by Madhyam as reference material for the project staff as well as the vegetable growers.

tracking progress and impact

Madhyam Foundation developed a unique Livelihood Assistance Card (LAC) in Oriya to track the progress and impact of the project introduction. The LAC is maintained at the vegetable grower level, and captures information like types of vegetable cultivated, details of investment, loans, profits, consumption at home, sale of vegetables, sources of sales, types of training received, visits by project staff and experts, etc. All this information is collected on a monthly basis for reporting. Recently, MIS software was developed and installed at DSS, a partner NGO, on a pilot basis to track all the relevant information. It has been planned that the software will be installed at all the cooperatives during the next phase of the project.

Plan for the Next Three Years (2011–2013)In view of the encouraging success achieved during the pilot project, AWO International, Germany was happy to extend the project for another three years. Madhyam and partner NGOs have planned the following activities during the extension phase:

• Mobilizing an additional 2500 vegetable growers

• Training of vegetable growers on crop planning, preparation of organic manure, soil testing, financial literacy, management of cooperatives, a road map for cooperatives through BDS training, etc.

• Supplying 9 additional water lifting pumps to address critical irrigation

• Supplying 10 soil testing kits

• Registering 9 additional vegetable growers’ cooperatives

• Installing the MIS software at each cooperative

• Arranging an annual interface with government officials/ line departments

• Arranging buyer and seller meets

• Conducting a study on value chain analysis

• Arranging a state level advocacy workshop for leaders of the cooperative

• Mobilizing loans to the tune of Rs. 150 lakhs towards working capital requirement of vegetable growers


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SRI as Sustainable Livelihood Approach Looking from Food Security, Gender Equity and Climate Change Perspectives

Centre for World Solidarity

‘SRI has the potential to meet the food requirement of my family for the entire year & I appeal that all small farmers like me should practice it’

— Sri Jubada Mandal, Kaithapada village, Gajapati District

Orissa has an agrarian economy and 85 % of its total population is dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. The Orissa State Agriculture Policy, 2008 also reiterates that around 85% of the total farming population has small and marginal land holdings1. It is nevertheless to say that food security of these farmers has close linkage with agriculture as a major occupation and is considered as a macro level issue. On the contrary, contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product of the state is only 27 %2. This is due to multiple factors and more importantly, the farmers still resort to conventional system of cultivation resulting in low level of farm income. For this reasons at Rs. 5958 a year3, the per capita income in Orissa is one of the lowest and almost 46.8% of the total population lives below the poverty line.

Among various food crops cultivated in the state, paddy is considered to be the major crop. Out of total arable land of 4.8 million hectares4, paddy is grown in more than 4.2 million hectares. Thus, it can be inferred that livelihoods of a significant population depends directly on production and performance level of paddy. Moreover, though conventionally paddy is grown in submerged condition requiring high amount of water, only 33 %5of the total paddy cultivated area in the state is covered under irrigation. This implies that paddy cultivation in the state is largely dependent on the monsoon. On the other hand, field experience shows that irrigated patches of land mostly belong to big farmers. In this context, relevance of an alternative cropping practice like System of Rice Intensification (SRI) is quite high due to its specific characteristics like requirement of less water and less inputs for enhanced production.

1 Land Holding of Small Farmers is between 1.0 to 2.0 ha and that of Marginal Farmers is <1.0 ha(<2.5acre),thestandardfixedbytheDept.ofAgriculture,Govt.ofOrissa

2 www.youthkiawaaz.com3 nSDP and per capita income: Computed from CSO, Various years, Poverty Ratio, Planning

Commission, Planning Commission Poverty Estimates, computed from nSS 61st Round, 2004-05

4 Orissa Agriculture Policy Document, 20085 Orissa Agriculture Policy Document, 2008

93SRI as Sustainable Livelihood Approach Looking from Food Security, Gender Equity and Climate Change Perspectives

Journey of CWS in SRI: A Sustainable Livelihood ApproachSRI is an alternative system of rice cultivation developed in Madagascar in early 80s by Father Henri de Laulani, S.J. This system offers many advantages and gives substantial increase in yield. SRI is based on principles like early transplanting, transplanting of single seedling, wider spacing, weed management, less water requirement and use of organic manure. Here, the cost of cultivation is minimized to a great extent as requirement of seeds is very low.

Centre for World Solidarity (CWS) started its flagship programme ‘Upscaling SRI in Orissa’ in collaboration with NGOs in Southern and North-Eastern Districts in a consortium approach. There are altogether 32 partner organisations upscaling SRI in 13 districts in active engagement with around 12,000 farmers in 950 villages. A large part of these intervened villages are tribal dominated and more than 95% of the covered farmers are small and marginal.

CWS started its initiative of SRI promotion way back in 2005 and came to an upscaling mode in 2008 through the above programme. The above process is based on 3 principles – livelihood enhancement of small and marginal farmers through adoption of SRI, adhering to eco-friendly cultivation practices and involvement of women farmers. Implementation of SRI programme by CWS has undergone 3 phases:

• Phase I - Information sharing and initiation of dialogue with various stakeholders

• Phase II - Promotion on a pilot basis

• Phase III - Upscaling SRI in a consortium approach

SRI and Food Security SRI offers many advantages over irrigated rice cultivation and can produce substantial increase in the yield with fewer plants utilising fewer inputs than conventional methods. The fact that rice is an aquatic plant and can only thrive in submerged condition is denied in this system. But, less water in the field ensures better aeration thus enhancing the rate of physiological activities in plants thereby increasing the yield. So far, SRI method when used properly is found to have potential to at least double the yield. Disease and pest incidence is less due to the fact that rice field is not flooded rendering unfavourable environmental condition for them to thrive and attack.

Meeting requirements of food through adopting SRi

Jubada Mandal, a small farmer from Kaithapada village of Gajapati district is happily meeting the food requirements of his family of five members from his


2 acres of land. This has been possible due to SRI. It was in 2008 when he came across the idea to go for SRI on half acre of his land. Seeing the remarkable increase in harvest to 30 qtls from 10 qtls (which he got from conventional methods), in the subsequent year he brought his entire landholding of 2 acre under SRI. Furthermore, SRI has enabled him to take up a second crop on the same patch of land. Thanks, to SRI Jubada’s family now gets sufficient food for the entire year and he no longer needs to go outside for wage labour. Realizing the importance of SRI, he has started encouraging his fellow members and has been successful in bringing another 24 farmers under the fold of SRI.

Apart from enhancement in the yield, SRI has many other direct and indirect benefits as shared by the farmers which help in bringing new farmers under its fold;

• Crops grown just after SRI is giving higher return, as SRI adds biomass to the soil accelerating soil microbial activities

• Grain to chaff ratio is higher due to the fact that SRI grains are bolder in size

• Disease and pest infestation is less due to better inter cultural practices

• SRI has a better adaptability to water scarcity in comparison to conventional practice

• Increased social cohesion among the farming community due to activities such as exchange and sharing of implements, seeds and information

• Enhanced spirit among the farmers making modification in existing practices of SRI, implements used and replication of SRI principles in other crops

• As SRI is a low input technology the women farmers are appreciating the process and increasingly playing the role of change agents in dissemination of SRI

SRI and Gender-Equity Women’s role as a farmer is hardly recognised which restricts their access to productive resources, decision-making and market. Owing to this ground reality, special efforts to create space for women farmers’ voice have been undertaken under this consortium initiative in terms of institutional arrangement and capacity building:

• institutional arrangements to create Space for Women Farmers - The initiatives undertaken by the implementing NGOs represent diverse institutional models. For instance, in some regions exclusive women farmers’ groups are facilitated in different names such as, Self-Help Group, Women Sub-Circle and Village Knowledge Centre6. In other cases, mixed groups

95SRI as Sustainable Livelihood Approach Looking from Food Security, Gender Equity and Climate Change Perspectives

of men and women farmers have been constituted. These institutional structures help set examples of strong synergy among the women farmers for spreading SRI. Further, the farm based women SHGs has been of great help to the farmers in ensuring timely availability of seeds, implements and organic manure which remains a challenge for the farmers.

• capacity-building interventions to enhance the skills and knowledge of women farmers - Enhancing the capacity of women farmers has also been a focus. Capacity-building inputs do influence the performance of women farmers and their organisations. Inputs like cultural shows, video shows, field trainings, exposure visits, sharing of pictorial IEC materials etc. were channelized towards enhancing the capacities and skills on SRI methods; preparation of organic manure, vermi-compost and bio-pesticides etc. Besides, special efforts like annual meetings, using IEC materials and ICT (mediated video disseminations) on women farmers’ involvement in different aspects of SRI and organic practices has been a real learning opportunity for them.

With these institutional and learning foundations, there has been a key transformation in the role of women farmers i.e. from doer to facilitator contributing to wider dissemination and replication of SRI practices. Besides, the interventions have have enabled access of women farmers to credit linkage, motivated them to make innovations in implements, and expand application of SRI principles to diverse crops like paddy, wheat, ragi (millet) etc.

Most remarkably, the programme has seen the emergence of leadership among women with increased institutional space. Some members among these women farmers had multiple memberships in different community-based organisations (CBOs). With this strength the women members have played a significant role in spreading the message of SRI and organic practices by undertaking the role of trainers. There has also been increasing interest within them to practice SRI, as they strongly feel that SRI gives many benefits like increased yield, reduction in input cost, reduction in health hazards (as they no longer have to stay for a longer period in fields sprayed with chemical pesticides), reduction in drudgery due to use of weeders and so on.

SRI and Climate Change SRI on the other hand is claimed to have positively contribution towards mitigating the impacts of climate change. Paddy cultivated in submerged condition is considered to be a major source of green house gases (GHGs) like Methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (NO2). Another reason of concern is that rice field alone accounts for about 15 -20% of the global atmospheric CH4 budget (Neue et al., 1995). As rice is conventionally grown in flooded condition, it provides a suitable environment for these gases to be released at an increasing

6 Representation of women in these institutions range between 30 – 50%.


rate into the atmosphere. Orissa, being a major rice growing area there is a need to give special attention to various intercultural operations required for cultivation of rice in order to minimise emission of these gases. The farming system approach like SRI practiced in well drained condition is best devised to reduce emission of GHGs in comparison to input and energy intensive conventional agriculture.

There are also other dimensions relating to how SRI can address the multipronged issues in the context of climate change - use of less seeds and locally produced organic manure consumes less energy in producing and transporting them to the places of their use. We need to understand that agriculture has done collateral damage to climate in several ways and climate change is affecting the agricultural production adversely and SRI is one of the many solutions for it.

Way ForwardA considerable number of farmers have adopted SRI in almost all the districts in the state. SRI has also found a place in the Government Schemes related to Agriculture and Livelihood. Though there are various actors actively involved in promotion of SRI in the state there is a need for bringing them together under a common platform for greater learning by sharing of experiences and enhanced understanding among them. This will ensure bringing synergy in their work for the benefit of small and marginal farmers.

On the other hand, there is a general feeling that Odisha as a state is new to SRI and rate of adoption is low. However, various field studies and farmers’ opinion imply that SRI has now become a technology being adopted by large number farmers. Moreover, there are numerous success stories regarding adoption of SRI by farmers across the state but these have not been documented properly and shared in larger forums for their replication. This is also important to expand the coverage to rest of the districts of the state covering more number of farmers in order to build the case for SRI and set example for other states.

case study book

Documents

rhizome rot

upscaling

broiler poultry

carbon emissions

public private

kalyani rural

high yielding

ensuring sustainable