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PURPOSE

The purpose of the proposed action-advocacy is to build upon the social capital base to make a clear larger impact on the livelihoods of the poor by regenerating their natural resource base, developing the skill & knowledge base and strengthening pro-poor livelihood infrastructure.

The strategy will be founded on a sound institutional base of the poor; a convergent platform of the Mandal Mahila Samakhyas (MMS) and PRIs will anchor the program. Three mandals - Kosgi, Daulatabad and Bomraspet are proposed for the initiative. The MMS in these mandals were formed under the earlier South Asian Poverty Alleviation Project (SAPAP) and several activities are being taken up under the present Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP). Large social capital base was built over the last 10 years in these mandals

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INNOVATIVE APPROACH

The proposed program is envisaged to be a big-leap forward in terms of integrating diverse range of experiences into a scalable larger institutional model for impacting livelihoods of the poor in a substantial way.

The innovations in this program are envisaged to be the following:

• Evolving a comprehensive approach based on a synthesis of a diverse range of existing experiences on several themes

• Integrating a large area approach (like watershed development) and a focused livelihoods approach (like the approach of Indira Kranthi Patham).

• Building larger scale NRM based livelihood initiatives on the base of the existing social capital.

The proposal is an action-research proposal, where several methodologies, tools and institutional processes would be developed for the purpose

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PROJECT FACILITATION

The project team consists of the Cluster Resource Persons and Village level workers hired by the MMS in each mandal and facilitated by the team of WASSAN. Institutionally the VO and MMS anchor the program implementation.

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CONVERGENCE

The program would be supported by converging investments mainly from four programs viz., APRLP (Watershed Development), IKP, CLDP and NFFWP. It would also liaison with various other government departments and programs to converge in the action plans of the community. Support from the Planning Commission for developing operational mechanisms for integrating the national employment guarantee schemes with reviving rainfed agriculture and livelihoods would be explored.

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OBJECTIVES

• To regenerate the natural resource base of the poor (soil fertility, water availability and biomass) including lands owned by them and common property resources

• To invigorate the employment opportunities and wage incomes for the poor and migrants by building skills and knowledge, developing locally controlled efficient production systems, developing appropriate support services, infrastructure and enterprises

• To develop institutions and their capacities to facilitate and sustain the growth processes

• To promote institutionalized services in health and education for all

• To establish systems of community monitoring of public / government investments in development

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OUTCOMES

1. The productive potential of all the natural resources accessed by the poor will increase at least by 25% so as to make a measurable impact on the mandals.

2. Reduction in the external inputs and internalising the costs of production by at least 30% by promotion of sustainable, diversified agriculture, livestock and fish production systems.

3. Reduction in pesticide usage by about 40%

4. Increase in wage employment and wage incomes by about xx %.

5. Distress migration would be reduced by xx%

6. Increased fodder production and institutional systems to mitigate the adverse impacts of seasonal fodder scarcity. Fodder equivalent to the quantity of fodder imported and supplied through the summer cattle camps by the Animal Husbandry department in the mandals will be produced and supplied locally- this mechanism would be institutionalised in an enterprise model.

7. Livestock asset holdings of the poor will increase by xx% and community based livestock health services will be established to provide regular preventive services in all the villages.

8. Promotion of diversified farming systems in about xx acres.

9. Promotion of enterprises with a total of Rs. xx lakhs turnover anchored in CBOs and catering to the local markets of agriculture and allied sector inputs, servicing, processing, marketing and other value added services.

10. Institutional bottlenecks in health and education identified and appropriate institutional mechanisms for removing these bottlenecks are initiated.

11. Increased access to welfare schemes of the government for the poor in the destitute category.

12. Streamlined institutional mechanisms to sustain the processes initiated.
    a. 80 to 90% of all the non-functional SHGs revived
    b.All the Village Organisations are revived/ strengthened strengthened
    c. Improving the functional capacities of the Mandal Mahila Samakhyas
    d. The small ruminant and fisheries cooperatives are reformed and/ strengthened.
    e. The linkages and functional mechanisms between the Panchayat Raj Institutions and the CBOs are established i.e. a sharing platform
    f. New institutions or networks of existing institutions will be evolved as per the functional needs.
     

13. All the above together at a household level will make an impact on poverty - about xx rupees net incremental asset value and income would be created in about xx number of poor households.

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PROGRAM PHASES

The program initially will have a time frame of one and half years. Depending on the success, the program can be intensified in the next 3 years.

Inception Phase: (3 months)

• This phase covers situation analysis of the natural resources, institutions and livelihoods. Evolves program strategy and processes, works out human resources requirements, builds liaison with all the line departments, banks, PRIs etc. A detailed plan of action will be evolved. A platform for MMS & PRIs will be established by the end of this phase.

• A compendium on the government programs, their eligibility, approximate budget allocations for the mandals etc., will be prepared and supplied to the CBOs & PRIs.

• About 300 households in the poverty group would be selected for working intensively to improve their livelihood base. Base line data on the asset base and present livelihood strategies of these households would be generated in this phase.

Implementation Phase: (15 months)

• Initial grounding of the program in 15 of the villages. This experience will help in building capacities, streamlining processes and showing outputs. Placing the total human resources and building capacities of all the institutions and related individuals will be the focus.

• Along with the situation analysis community based monitoring systems of the public investment programs like NFFWP will be established.

• The program will be grounded in about 5 contiguous villages in each Mandal i.e. a total of 15 core villages on an area approach. During the course of implementation the activities would be taken forward in another cluster in the Mandal, thus covering a total of 30 villages (15 core + 15 peripheral). The lessons learnt from this initial experimentation will help in upscaling to all the villages in the main implementation phase.

• A detailed assessment of the initiative will be taken up during the last three months on this phase and a plan for upscaling to all the villages will be prepared.

Intensification phase. (3 years)

• Working intensively in all the villages of the three mandals. Reworking on the strategy based on the experience and preparing policies for up-scaling would be the basis.

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PROGRAM PRINCIPLES

The program will be founded on the principles of equity, gender and livelihoods. The rootedness of the program in the women MMS and involvement of the Panchayat Raj Institutions and cooperatives would provide the necessary gender balance and orientation. The poverty focus is clear and mandatory. There would be conscious effort to build gender strategies in the program design across all aspects

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PROGRAM APPROACH

Two approaches are central to the initiative viz., integrating large area and family centered approaches and segmental saturation.

• Integrating Large Area & Family Centered Approaches

• Segmental Saturation Approach

  • Segment 1: Drainage lines

  • Segment 2: Land resources

  • Segment 3: Biomass

  • Segment 4: Livestock

  • Segment 5: Agriculture

  • Segment 6: Human & Social Infrastructure

Integrating Large Area & Family Centered Approaches

• The program will follow a twin-track approach in promoting natural resources management and livelihoods. A Larger Area Approach will be followed in regenerating and developing natural resources while a family centric approach will be followed in enhancing livelihoods of poor. The program will evolve the necessary process design to integrate Large Area Approach to NRM & Family Centered Approaches to Livelihoods. This will be the unique and innovative contribution of the program.

• The Large Area Approach is to restore and develop the natural resources (including assets and infrastructure) and their productivity over a large area. For e.g., restoring all the small and medium water harvesting infrastructure like irrigation and percolation tanks, conserving soil in all the lands in the area, reclamation of the problem soils, regenerating all the common and forest lands, restoring and developing livestock drinking water sources in all villages etc. Such a comprehensive restoration of the ecological base and improvement in its productivity would lay a sound foundation for growth processes.

• Such a process of restoration needs proper institutional base. Another essential element of the Large Area Approach is to revive and strengthen all the community based institutions and improving their relations with the PRIs. Apex institutions with professional back-up relevant for addressing women’s issues like violence will also be evolved. New institutions may also emerge as per necessity. These institutions facilitate the larger processes of productivity enhancement, marketing, maintaining and managing social and human infrastructure.

• This approach also envisages improving the technical knowledge base and bringing in institutional forms of managing resources like water.

• Family Centered Livelihoods Approach essentially identifies the vulnerable and poor in the community and work with them and their institutions to enhance their livelihoods base. Improving their livelihood assets and their knowledge and skill base, creating opportunities for gainful full employment, developing access to credit and human services like health care, education etc. Assuring wage employment for few years will be a major component of the program.

• The focus of the program will be on enhancing livelihood opportunities for the poor households within the process of overall revival of the natural resources. This will be in creating access to resources, improving their asset base, reducing the costs and creating access to education and health services

• About 300 poor households (20 per village and 15 villages) would be selected for focused work to increase their livelihoods asset base. The program would develop special mechanisms to target these households. Their growth paths and asset building would be tracked over the period of the program as a part of monitoring.

• Such focused work with the poor will help in enhancing their livelihood options and creating more assets so as to make a substantial impact on their present living standards.

• Labour situation

Segmental Saturation Approach

This approach first maps the segments of the larger area and households, and evolves plans to saturate their needs and integrate them within the overall program in terms of institutions and linkages. The following are some of the segments for illustration:

• Segment 1: Drainage lines

• Segment 2: Land resources

• Segment 3: Biomass

• Segment 4: Livestock

• Segment 5: Agriculture

• Segment 6: Human & Social Infrastructure:

Segment 1: Drainage lines

• Drainage based irrigation systems:

  • Restoring all the chain of tanks along the drainage system of a tributary includes -restoring the feeder channels, reviving tank based institutions, repair of the tanks and their inter-linkages

  • Revitalising the ground-water infrastructure related to these drainage lines through institutional innovations

• Water management reviving/ forming the water users’ associations, developing shared norms on water use,

• Improving productivity of water: includes initiatives in sound water management/ use, promotion of System of Rice Intensification etc.

• Reviving tank based livelihoods

  • Fisheries in all the tanks: Improving infrastructure related for fisheries to take off  like shaping (& deepening) the submergence area digging small fish storage ponds within etc.

  • Mechanisms for silt use:

  • Others

Segment 2: Land resources

• Land Belonging to the Poor: Mapping all assigned lands and bringing them into diversified production. Convergence with the CLDP will help in mobilising the needed resources

• Treating all untreated areas watershed approach or even lands left out in the present watershed programs

• Identifying and treating all the fallow and common lands

Segment 3: Biomass

• Regenerating all the Fallow Lands: Mapping the fallow lands, solving the constraints and facilitating appropriate production systems

• Regenerating Common lands: natural regeneration & augmenting biomass through institutional interventions and ensuring usufruct rights

• Regenerating forest lands: through reviving/ forming VSS, reinforcing the protection mechanisms

Segment 4: Livestock

• Drinking water for livestock: Developing drinking water infrastructure in all the grazing tracts and villages, particularly for small ruminants.

• Enhancing fodder base: Building fodder surpluses to tide over the crises in summer and droughts. This also needs developing fodder for small ruminants in their grazing areas, promoting fodder cultivation in the orchards, tank beds, fallow lands etc.

• Reviving/ developing community managed livestock health & breeding services:

Segment 5: Agriculture

• Promoting Non-Pesticidal Management of Pests: This involves reducing the usage of pesticides by promoting non-chemical approaches. This approach also promotes several local enterprises catering to the needs of NPM.

• Seed self-sufficiency: Local seed enterprises and institutional systems to cater to the needs of the entire mandals in the principal crops.

• Restoring soil fertility: This initiative in all the lands of poor- particularly in the degraded lands - through tank-silt application, production of manures, green manures etc.

• Revitalising rainfed agriculture: A particular focus on rainfed agriculture and how to provide necessary support services for the same.

• Others: like promoting crop-diversification, horticulture, promotion of better implements, water management etc.

Segment 6: Human & Social Infrastructure

• Reviving all the SHGs and their federations: this will provide a strong institutional base.

• Building platforms of SHG federations and Panchayats at village and Mandal levels: These platforms will provide the institutional base for the program

• Ensuring drinking water for all habitations

• Situation analysis of education and health services and a plan for their revival

The above segments are illustrative. These segments and the areas of action within them will be clearly defined during the inception phase of the program along with the participatory platform of the CBOs and Panchayat Raj Institutions.

While the planning is based on a larger area approach, focus and action will be centered on the poor-households within the villages.

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UPSCALABLE MODEL

The initiative will be founded in the community based organisations and convergent platforms with Panchayats. Initially it will be grounded in three adjacent Mandals viz., Kosgi, Daultabad and Bomraspet in Mahabubnagar district. These mandals have capable MMS to anchor the program. At the end of the project period, based on an assessment of the outcomes, the program can be upscaled into such 3 Mandal clusters in several districts where community based organisations have been strong. This program can be built over the institutional investments in IKP

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PARTNERSHIPS

The project would facilitate a strong convergence among various community based institutions, Panchayats, line departments and organisations already working in these areas like APMAS, BASIX and Indira Kranthi Patham (Velugu). As per the needs the program may also seek inputs from AMR-APARD.

WASSAN will anchor and coordinate the program in developing the conceptual framework, process design, facilitating implementation and convergence, capacity building and documentation.  

• As a part of its ongoing programs with Mandal Mahila Samakhyas, APMAS may provide support in strengthening the community based organisations

• SERP (Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty) may provide the necessary expertise and institutional linkages in marketing and institution building  

• Several organisations, departments and individuals will provide support services in the program. Efforts will also be made to access resources from the Tank Restoration program of the Government of India anchored by the Irrigation department.

At the district level a monitoring committee consisting of representatives from various departments, Zilla parishad, lead bank, and the local public representative will be formed; this committee will be headed by the district collector.

At the ground level the CBOs - Mandal Mahila Samakhyas, and cooperatives like fishermen cooperatives, sheep rearers’ cooperatives; Panchayat Raj Institutions will provide a joint platform.

• The Mandal Mahila Samakhyas, Village organisations, cooperatives and PRIs will implement the program.

• The line departments and local banks will be effectively integrated into the program institutional structures.

Resources allocated for the mandals per year (Rs. in lakhs) under various programs: 

Source: District Perspective Plan for NFFWP, Mahabubnagar

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WORKS ALREADY INITIATED

WASSAN has been working in these mandals in partnership with the MMS and NGOs. The following initiatives are already in place:

• Non-Pesticidal Management of Pests: This is in progress supported by IKP in 3500 acres in about 50 villages in the three mandals

• Kosgi -  CLRC: Kosgi MMS is anchoring a cluster level livelihood resource centre to provide capacity building services to the watershed programs in these mandals

• Livestock health services: Vaccination of livestock is institutionalised within the village organisations and coordinated by the MMS in Kosgi

• Work to strengthen the Sheep Rearers’ cooperatives has been in progress for almost a year with about 50 sheep rearers’ cooperatives in these mandals. The members of these cooperatives formed into SHGs and are also starting savings

• CLDP proposals from 30 villages in the three mandals are generated for regenerating the assigned lands under CLDP. They are being finalized and submitted to the district administration

• Assigned lands development program has been initiated in one village- Mushrifa in Kosgi

• Fisheries - Institution-strengthening work has been initiated in 29 cooperatives across the three mandals- in all IB-Tanks. In one cooperative community managed fisheries work has also started- in its second year

• One watershed program has been taken up under NABARD-WDF support in Kosgi. Three other projects are identified

• System of Rice Intensification is in its second season - about 250 farmers have taken up SRI this year

• Fodder initiatives - fodder procurement by MMS and assured supply during lean seasons

In addition the MMS have taken up several initiatives on their own. They have their Village Organisations in all the villages. The staff of these VOs and MMS is supported by these CBOs themselves. They have a very mature initiative on Redgram marketing, which covers all the three mandals. The MMS also takes up several social sector projects in eradicating child labour, health services etc. These MMS also have the experience of NRM through the Sustainable Dry-land Agriculture project.

Above all, these MMS have a strong institutional base upon which the proposed program would build NRM and livelihoods initiatives.

APMAS has included these mandals in one of their clusters under a program of SERP to strengthen CBOs. 

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RANGE OF INITIATIVES TAKEN UP

* These initiatives already grounded - they are at different levels

Key Questions being addressed

The following key questions are addressed in evolving each activity

• What are the constraints

• What support systems are available

• What financial mechanisms

• What institutional systems

The Focus of all the initiatives is on

• Reaching a scale

• Embedding in the CBOs/ PRI / other institutions

• Impact on asset building

• Mostly business models with support for critical investments

• Capacity building

Approach

• Situation Analysis & understanding the constraints

• Small experimentation

• Drawing lessons and scaling up within the program

• Scaling up outside the program

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