Project Detail

Community managed germplasm banks to preserve agro - biodiversity and conserve traditional land - races

The project has set the following objectives:
? A well stocked gene-bank of local varieties of crops, vegetables is established
? The genebank is easily accessible to the farming community of the area
? Farmers grow and nurture local varieties of crops
? Farmers are reintroduced to the benefits of growing crops adapted to the existing soil conditions and rainfall pattern
? Farmers realize the benefits of growing local varieties through savings in purchase of costly external inputs i.e. hybrid seeds, fertilizers, plant protection chemicals, etc.
? Farmers in peri-urban areas where the project is going to be grounded, will be linked informally to a discerning urban clientele.
? Demonstrate the virtues of crop diversity to foster productive agriculture.
? Demonstrate to the farming community of the area the importance of having a reliable locally-managed seed supply system
? Strive to reduce costs of farming through popularization of organic / low external input sustainable agriculture technologies.
? Link rural producers to urban consumers

Output:

The project would achieve the following outputs:
o A community-managed gene bank showcasing local agro biodiversity, is established and functioning.
o Agricultural productivity is increased by at least 25% to 30% through adoption of diversity-based low external input / organic farming systems
Activity:
Sensitizing the community to the issue. Forming cohesive groups to act on the issue. Scouting for / reintroducing local varieties / land races in the area. Demonstrating the virtues of this germplasm in the local agro-ecological context. Linking to an urban market so that remunerative prices can be obtained for organically produced food.

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Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Agriculture man Ecology Foundation

Country:

India

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity

Operational Phase:

OP4 - Y2 (Jul 08 - Jun 09)

Grant Amount:

US$ 32,484.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 7,111.00

Project Number:

IND/SGP/OP4/Y2/RAF/2009/45/KAR 15

Start Date:

6/2009

End Date:

6/2011

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

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Project Characteristics and Results

Project sustainability

During the project implementation, establishment of Medicinal plants park and small processing industry have been given prime importance for the sustainability of project activities. The park is now giving seed materials of different medicinal plants and raw materials for production of simple medicines. These activities bring income to the project, which is helpful in sustaining project activities. Community has been empowered to utilize the medicinal plants produces from Park which motivated them to bring newer medicinal plants identified to the park for planting and strengthen the bio-diversity conservation process. Empowering the community to sustainable utilize the available resources and creation of long run income generating resources are the two important experiences that can be utilized by other projects to promote sustainability.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

Encourages development of the farming system in dryland areas and increases biodiversity on the farm .Better managment of natural resources -soil,water and biodiversity-will ensure high level ofproductivity.More trees growing on agricultural landwill help to sequester atmospheric carbon and mitigate the effects of global warming.Increased soil organic carbon as aresult of better composting techniques will be another way that carbon is sequestered

Policy Impact

Eventhough it is not a community driven project, community participation is ensured at all levels of project implementation. In this project, community has been given freedom to utilize the medicinal plants park plants for using their day to day problems. The people is provided with the Medicinal preparation at subsidised rate. The herbal garden seeds and seeds for cultivation have been given at reduced cost. The supply of medicines and seeds at reduced price have motivated large number of beneficiaries to utilize the medicinal plants for their problems.

Notable Community Participation

Farmer Intrest groups/Self Help groups will be introduced to ideas and concepts concerning agricultural biodiversity conservation in addition to savings and thrift strategies so that they create a fundwhich they can draw upon,This will be one of the way that community contributes to the furtherence of the project.

Gender Focus

The project beneficiaries viz., villagers, traditional healers, farmers, self help group members, rural youths and NGO extension workers are effectively involved in planning, implementing and evaluating the project. The project has been initially conceived based on the feed back received during regular farmers meeting organised by CENDECT KVK. For identification of medicinal plants, the elderly persons and traditional healers have been utilized. While preparation of simple medicines, the locally available traditional healers are invited and under their Monitoring and Supervision medicines are prepared. In our project, both gender is given equal importance. There is no bias in participating in our activities. Because we feel, everybody has the right to participate in the biodiversity conservation.

Planning non gef grant

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

The project received co-financing from the NGO (project implementing agency) through Donations and Loans and the community. The NGO has its own lands and agriculture fields. The income received from them are also used in this project. The NGO has contributed Rs. 1,86,544.60 (13.45% of the total project cost) Community has given co-financing in terms of kind but not in cash. The community has been involved in land preparation, survey, medicinal plants collection, planting. Generally people are ready to give their valuable time and energy. But they are reluctant to support by giving cash. Hence, in any project expecting community contribution in the form of cash can be avoided.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

The village communities in the area whose livelihood is dependent on agriculture .The primary benefits will flow to small and marginal farmers who will be dierectly involved in the projectinterventions.The project forsees that atleast 40 small farmers will get benefits from the project.

Planning gef grant

There is a greater possibility for upscaling this project in medium sized GEF project. This project has been successfully implemented in only one district (Theni) of western ghats. Western ghats is spread to the following 8 districts of Tamilnadu viz., Coimbatore, Nilgris, Dindigul, Madurai, Theni, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu with abundant scope for Bio-diversity conservation. If 25 NGOs are brought under a Network, the upscaled project can be successfully implemented. CENDECT is the Convenor of Dynamic Network, a Network of 800 NGOs in Tamil Nadu. The previous experience of CENDECT in Networking the NGOs will be a additional strength for implementing the upscaled project. If Rs.1.5 crore can be financed through UNDP-GEF-Medium scale programme, to CENDECT, the Bio-diversity Conservation of western ghats medicinal plants will be done successfully for the benefit of future generations.

Linkages gef projects

There were links between our medicinal plants park project and the overall GEF. GEF places importance for the Conservation indigenous bio-diversity. Through this project, with the support of Mr.P.S. Sodhi, National Co-ordinator, UNDP-GEF-SGP, New Delhi, we have established rapport with MAPPA and OXFAM for strengthening our bio-diversity conservation initiatives. The experiences of our project can be shared to various GEF partners and the strategies implemented can be utilized with suitable location specific modifications. The GEF has provided the opportunity for bio-diversity conservation through this project. We as a fore-runner in the field of environment, has received recognition from various institutions, NGOs and communities. Through GEF /SGP, we have networked 50 NGOs for the bio-diversity conservation. Individual efforts will always results in development of particular area, But if a lot of NGOs are brought under a Network, the major biodiversity conservation areas can be covered. Through this project, we have established rapport with various research stations, NGOs for sharing their knowledge and information for effectively implementing the projects. Through this project, contacts have been established with State Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Agriculture Engineering, Animal Husbandry and Forestry, NABARD, Lead Bank, DRDA for the effective implementation of this project. The existing contact can be utilised in sustaining the bio-diversity conservation activities without any difficulty.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

This project was not run by indigenous people. But the Paliyar tribal communities located in the Varusanadu hills of Theni district are involved in our project activities. Their rich medicinal plants knowledge have also been documented. We could observe lot of differences between the people living in plains and the tribals living inside the hills. Tribals are still having rich medicinal plants knowledge. We feel, a different project strategy should be adopted for involving the tribal communities in our project activities.

Capacity - Building Component

Through participatory techniques,conduct three meetings with the community to assess their intrest and guaruntee their involvment in the agro bio diversity conservation program.Conduct training programs for the community members to explain the concept of agro-biodiversity conservation .Estabilish seed banks which is easily accessible to all.

Policy Influence

Traditional healers are not getting due recognition from the Government for practising traditional healing. During our traditional conference, the inherent problems existing have been analysed and it has been proposed a Network of Traditional healers for projecting their efforts. The establishment of this Network and the further contacts with Government may influence the Government policy to recognise the genuine traditional healers in practising without any difficulty. The GEF/SGP can play a major role in facilitating this task by financing. The Network of genuine Traditional healers may revitalize the Local Health Traditions in a rapid way, which is the only cost affordable option in meeting the health care needs of millions of rural people in India.

Replication of project activities

Yes, this project is suitable for replication in other regions of India and other countries. But location specific suitable modification should be carried out in the project activities. For this, a preliminary base line survey can be conducted by the project proposing organisation, before replicating this project activities. There is a greater possibility for upscaling this project in medium sized GEF project. This project has been successfully implemented in only one district (Theni) of western ghats. Western ghats is spread to the following 8 districts of Tamilnadu viz., Coimbatore, Nilgris, Dindigul, Madurai, Theni, Virudhunagar, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu with abundant scope for Bio-diversity conservation. If 25 NGOs are brought under a Network, the upscaled project can be successfully implemented.

Project Results

Our medicinal plants park has been identified as a model park for replication by NGOs in Tamil Nadu. The Dynamic Network (a Network of 800 NGOs in Tamil Nadu), Joint Action for Sustainable Livelihood (JASuL), a initiative of 150 NGOs in Tamil Nadu supported by Siemenpuu Foundation, Finland have recognised our Park project for providing technical guidance to various NGOs.
We are the resource and technical persons for the S.V.N. College, Madurai, Sermathai Vasan College, Madurai, S.N.College, Madurai, N.S. College, Theni, Madurai Kamaraj University College, Andipatty and many schools in Theni district. We are guiding them to establish Herbal gardens in their institutions.

We have been appreciated by Honourable Minister Mr.H. Raja, Ministry of Environment and Forests, Govt. of India, Mr.P.S. Sodhi, National Co-ordinator, UNDP-GEF-SGP, New Delhi and Prof. Krishnasamy, Member, National Steering Committee during their visit to our Exhibition Stall organised during International Conference on "Education for Sustainable Future" organised by CEE, India at Ahmedabad, appreciated our activities.

Many Agricultural Scientists of ICAR Institutes, who visited our Exhibition Staff have appreciated our project activities.

Two panels on our project activities have been displayed during the ESF conference
Dr.P. Marimuthu, Project Investigator, CENDECT Medicinal Plants Park have been awared with Young Scientist Award during the National Seminar on "Alternative Extension Approaches in Technology Transfer held at Mitraniketan KVK, Kerala during February 21-22, 2004 for the paper presentation on "Tribal ITK for sustainable development and Rigid Extension Approach".

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