The “Wadi” project, named after a system for land-based production in local parlance, is doing wonders for rural livelihoods in northeastern distirct of Raigarh in chhattsigarh state. The programme has especially promoted agro-horticulture and agro-forestry, thereby enhancing the socio-economic status of the resource-poor families, and has so far helped about 200 households in improving their livelihoods and crossing the poverty line. This project is sponsored by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), and running in 4 villages of the tribal-dominated Gharghoda block . Raigarh based non-government organization JanMitram is implementing the project sanctioned by NABARD under its Tribal Development Fund with the objective of bringing about a transformation in the rural landscape within the next couple of years. The initial results have depicted an increased access to nutritive food, better resource maintenance and reduction in migration to cities.
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| Talking of Development |
The project's main beneficiaries are Below Poverty Line (BPL) families whose annual income is below Rs.25,000 per anuum. Their livelihood portfolio comprises agriculture, animal husbandry and labour, which is only of subsistence type due to small land holding, degraded pasture and forests, low-yielding animals and large extent of wasteland farms. Except during the monsoon, people in the region do not get any work opportunities and their livelihood shifts to uncertainties, forcing them to depend mainly on daily wages in distant labour hubs. JanMitram’s President Dr. Mukesh Goswami says the project's main strategy is to initiate plantation of permanent nature, including fruit, fodder, timber and fuel trees, with an integrated resource management. Other activities have addressed important aspects of horticulture, forestry and allied systems, which can yield high productivity.
The project is bringing a steady improvement in family resource management as well as in the productivity of land and water units for the poor families, says Dr. Goswami. The project is also designed to address vulnerability of target families, including those in the BPL and near poverty line, against fluctuating climatic conditions. it shall strengthened the rural livelihood scenario by successfully connecting missing links of resource management in agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and fruits.
Mahesh Pahadsingh, The district Development Manager of NABARD in raigarh, says that major component of the strategy is poverty reduction through improved access of resource-poor families, which also take part in formulation, implementation and monitoring. A cluster approach has been adopted for implementation so as to have better replication, while long-lasting effects of sustainability of the promoted practices will be attained through family-based livelihood planning for effective use of existing resources.
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| A Wadi Site, showing fruit plantation with inter cropping |
Mr Pahadsingh told that activities undertaken as part of the project include plantation, construction of piped water courses and storage tanks, vermicomposting, nutritional gardening, field training camps, gender sensitization, chlorination of water sources, installation of solar lighting systems and awareness camps on water-borne diseases and control.A survey conducted at the project's initiation included the indicators of agricultural production and economic value, existing trees and their productivity, cattle population, farm practices and fodder production. On the basis on these inputs, the results of livelihood interventions shall be estimated. The project is all set to reduce input costs in agriculture and animal husbandry systems on the one hand and enhance production on the other in the years to come. Support in the shape of Wadi would strengthen the economy of primary production in wastelands.
Dr. Goswami says -JanMitram had laid emphasis on providing an important role to women in decision-making and involved them in a big way in economic activities and non-traditional roles. Besides, the village communities have been organized under Village planning committee, so as to sustain efforts for production enhancement and equitable benefits. He tell that cost of the project was initially estimated at Rs.80 Lakh, while the community's contribution during the implementation would bring it down to Rs.73 Lakh. The economic changes would especially benefit the poor community, whose major land holdings are the sloping wastelands and eroded stream banks.
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| Onsite Training of Farmers |
Additionally, the village development programme (VDP) is also running parallel in these villages for the families who did not covered under WADI. This prgramme is designed to build capacity of farmers and availing assistance through convergence of different government schemes. This has brought an environment of cooperation among various departments i.e. Agriculture, Horticulture and animal husbandry. all such departments are now reaching these villages to make demonstration of techniques. Over 200 acres of land has now brought under SRI ( Seed intensification in rice), over 50 acre land under vegetable cultivation. 3 New farmers clubs have been formed.
While tribal communities in the region earlier had a forest resource based livelihood, large-scale deforestation forced them to shift to farming activities on a sloping land and caused degradation. Continued and damaging run-off resulted in the loss of agricultural land along the stream course and led to an adverse effect on the ground water conditions in the district.
According to Dr. Goswami, NABARD had extended financial help to JanMitram for enhancing skills, improving resources and building new institutions in the field of land-based production mainly through resource development and management. “Recycling of nutrients is an added advantage of the project,” he says.
On its conclusion, the project is expected to make the target tribal households “drought-proof” with better nutritional resources and increase per hectare unit yield of different crops. With the livelihood available locally, production efficiency is set to improve and linkages for sustainable development strengthened.
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