Promoting Coconut-Based Agro-ecosystem and Efficient Product Utilization for Augmenting On-Farm Income, Improving Quality of Environment and Conserving Natural Resources (SGP/GEF/IND/OP3/03/07/KER 10)

Project Details & Results

The project aimed to strengthen coconut-based agro-ecosystem and promote livelihood enhancement opportunities through community initiative in order to strengthen the ecological base of farming, create local sink for green house gases and to ensure continuous availability of biomass.
The project was a necessity because in Pattankkad, the project site, coconut based activities particularly spinning constitute major source of income and employment for over 60% of the families in six panchayats out of eight and over 80% of these families fall below the poverty line.

The project has been initiated by PEEKAY TREE CROPS DEVELOPMENT FOUNATION in Pattankkad in Kerala State, covering eight panchayats.
The project will cover 1,500 farm households with an effective area of 250 ha under medicinally important tree species. It will be establishing production units with the self help groups for regular income and employment, and empower farmers and socio –economically disadvantaged women to earn more income.

The project strategy envisaged in the project is to improve the quality of environment and conserve biological diversity through development over a period of time of coconut based agro-ecosystem models.

The direct beneficiaries include 1,740 farmers with holdings of less than one ha, 200 women and 100 men belonging to 100 families falling below poverty line, 170 women belonging to 17 SH Groups.The indirect population of over 2, 00,000people will derive indirect benefits from the project.

Notable Community Participation
Community participation will be enlisted through two advisory committees: one at the Block level and other at panchayats’ level at different stages of programme planning and execution. In all the enlisted areas the project participants will make contribution both in cash and kind and will be made shareholders of the production units. Engaged in Multispecies cropping, which engaged 1500 households over an area of 250 ha. 35,000 seedlings and 14 tree species of medicinal value raised in community nurseries.

Capacity - Building Component
Training will be provided to 8 project participants. Multi-species cropping, intensive integrated farming will be done on 250 ha and 50 ha area respectively.Conducted capacity building sessions through trainings and seminars as Approved in the MOA. Establishment of a permanent training centre by the name ‘Rural Technology Training Centre (RTTC)’ for skill development of project participants.
1 geo-textiles mats and mattings production units, 4 biomass fired indirect dryers, 1 coir pith compost units and 4 women managed food and non-food production units will be created. Number of saplings to be raised by the community nurseries by women SH Groups is 40,000.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
The project has provided sustainable livelihood to 145 families engaged in coir processing. These families could generate regular income from the working of 145 pairs of motorized coir spinning wheels made available under the project and the processing the daily output of coir fiber from ‘Valayar Fiber Mills’. The project could also contribute to sustainable livelihood of 64 workers attached to the three production units besides 30 members of the three promoter groups. By dispensing community nurseries and food processing unit families of 25 women have gained sustainable sources of income and employment. In all these activities locally available resources were harnessed and utilized for generating income and employment without causing damage to the local ecosystem.
The strategies adopted include proper identification of local needs, assessment of the locally available raw material resource for processing without degrading the local environment and enlisting the connected families as effective participants in and beneficiaries of the project.

Gender Focus
The major economic activity of the project area is coir processing. As women form the dominant workforce in this sector thrust was given from the beginning itself to women- centered activities such as coir spinning. Consequently, both men and women were given representation in the advisory and functional committees constituted o plan and execute the project components at different stages. In the processing sector women outnumber men as beneficiaries and are closely involved in all the connected activities.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
A number of awareness campaigns were held in the project area to create public awareness on environmental issues. The thrust was on agro forestry practices as a means of rendering protective benefits to the local community. The role of tree components in the farming system was highlighted in carbon sequestration, conservation for soil and water resource and in promoting better quality environment. These aspects also received coverage in print media. As a result, farmers in the neighboring panchayats have started evincing interest in adopting similar programs.

A women crushing coconut to extract fiberr	The bunches of extracted fiber	Process of prparing the Fiber beds	Final output of the extracted fiber of coconut
coconut fiber threads are made of te extracted poweder of coconut	Brochure, Page 1	Brochure, Page 2