Capacity building of existing community institutions will be done for long term adoption and extension of sustainable livelihood practices like poultry, agriculture and animal husbandry. Training and capacity building of selected individuals will be done as master trainers and a network of resource persons/ master trainers at cluster and block level will be set up.
Identification and selection of beneficiaries will be done primarily through self-help groups. This will ensure group learning, institutionalization of interventions and timely repayments. In extraordinary conditions, beneficiary selection will also be done outside groups.
Notable Community Participation
In both the clusters several community based groups like women's SHGs and men's groups will be formed. The activities of the project will be micro-planned, implemented and monitored in a participatory manner with the community at all stages. The role of organizational team members will be facilitative. For cost sharing, there is an existing strategy of encouraging and ensuring community contribution in various activities. The project has several components where contributions in cash or kind will be taken from the community.
Gender Focus
Our concerns lie with the tribal and marginal communities, especially women, and the project will focus on such households, but as the project is also related with agriculture so it will be necessary to interact and collaborate with medium and large farmers who are usually non-tribal. All project activities will be initiated and extended with the help of local resource persons and women?s SHGs, which will encourage owning of the project ideas. These SHGs will be given capacity building trainings and linked with formal credit systems for enterprise development.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
Periodic community workshops will be conducted at village and cluster level on relevant issues along with development and dissemination of extension material.
Policy Impact
The issues to be covered in the project were common with several national and state level organizations, working with the communities for biodiversity conservation and promotion of sustainable agriculture. Networking is aimed at sharing of knowledge, skills and experiences during work and also for participating in policy advocacy on related issues at the state and national level. The project team will also ensure that institutional linkages are nurtured with the agricultural department, research centers and agricultural universities in the project areas so that project learning can be shared with their representatives and can affect future policy in favor of sustainable agriculture and biodiversity conservation. Documentation and sharing of project outcomes will also be used as inputs for policy advocacy. NGOs, CBOs and communities from nearby areas will be encouraged to visit project areas, interact with participating community members and observe interventions at the grass root level. The project includes issues and activities, which require a synergetic relationship between line departments and community groups so that duplication of effort and communication gaps are avoided. By the end of the project, there will be a system for regular dialogue between the community and the line departments. Similarly, a close interaction with expert institutions like the Krishi Vikas Kendra and agricultural colleges will be initiated during the project for knowledge and skill sharing. This relationship will be maintained even after the project period. Such collaborations will have favorable impact on government interventions at the grassroots level as penetration and reach will become more effective.
Capacity - Building Component
The objectives will be achieved through capacity building of the community in all the relevant areas through trainings, demonstrations and networking. Coordination with relevant line departments will be done to prepare packages on organic composting (multiple methods), integrated pest management, bio-diverse/ sustainable agriculture and backyard poultry management (improved practices and varieties to be introduced). These packages will be implemented through training and field demonstrations and decentralized trainings at village and cluster level.
Replication of project activities
The project has no component that is absolutely location specific, highly technical or costly. It is a participatory project with an active role of local women and men. The organisation has a facilitative role in organizing the community, interfacing traditional wisdom and modern science, training and building the capacities of the community and creating a synergetic relationship between government line departments, community and the organisation. The current project will produce documents recording processes, techniques and results, which can be shared with other interested groups and organizations.
Such an initiative can be replicated in other areas by NGOs or CBOs without any major hurdle.
Project sustainability
The work will be done in selected clusters intensively and across the two blocks extensively so beneficiaries will be covered across the two blocks. Identification and selection of beneficiaries will be done primarily through self-help groups. This will ensure group learning, institutionalization of interventions and timely repayments. In extraordinary conditions, beneficiary selection will also be done outside groups.
These facts will bring together the community; self help groups, entrepreneurs and line departments together and will ensure sustainability.
Project Results
During the first year of the project, 183 village level meetings and trainings were organized with participation of 4175 members. This resulted in 25 farmers allotting land for organic farming and committing that on getting profit in the future from organic cultivation, they will expand the same on the rest of the land. 18 paravets and 30 agriculture extension officers were also trained at the community level. 65 vermi composting pits were constructed and filled including 3 demo pits. Government line departments have provided worms worth USD 569 to the farmers and USD 307 worth for earthworms were contributed by the farmers. NADEP pits have been constructed and made ready in each cluster. 1200 poultry chicks were distributed to 60 families with a contribution of USD 455 from the communities. 6 micro credit trainings were organized for Self Help Groups to improve general management and accounting practices for the SHGs. Total 40 participants have taken part in the trainings. A vision building exercise was done to develop vision about evolution of micro credit institutions in the next five years. 58 SHGs have adopted the Simplified Microcredit Accounting System. 6 micro credit trainings were organized for Self Help Groups to improve general management and accounting practices for the SHGs. Total 40 participants have taken part in the trainings. A vision building exercise was done to develop vision about evolution of micro credit institutions in the next five years. 58 SHGs have adopted the Simplified Microcredit Accounting System.
