livelihoods. learning. sharing.

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July 2013

LIVEwireLIVEwireVol. I No. 2

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on LIVEwireThis Month

The Livelihoods Learning Group (LLG) is an active nation­wideelectronic group with over 100 members representing differentorganizations, academic institutions, research institutes, civil societyorganizations, donor and promoter agencies, professionals fromNational Mission Monitoring Unit and State Rural Livelihood Missionsas well as practitioners working on livelihoods in formal and non­formal spaces. LLG is an open platform which seeks to shareknowledge and help build a community of learning and practice onlivelihoods.

The purpose of this newsletter is to provide a glimpse into ongoingdialogues and knowledge regarding livelihoods in India. Thisnewsletter is published in the electronic format to communicate withthe stakeholders in the livelihoods ecosystem and is released everyquarter.

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB) alongwith The Livelihood School (TLS), XLRI School of Management(XLRI), Entrepreneurship Development Institute India (EDII), TataInstitute of Social Sciences (TISS), Chaitanya, ManagementDevelopment Institute Gurgaon (MDI) and Indian Institute ofManagement Udaipur (IIM­U) have set up a consortium calledLivelihoods MANTHAN (Management Academic institutes Networkfor Transforming Human Resources through Action and Knowledge).

Supported by the Ford Foundation, this consortium is a collaborativeeffort to contribute to the development of livelihood professionalsfor serving the increasing demand from state livelihood missions,civil society organisations and livelihoods promotion agencies.Towards this effort, Livelihoods MANTHAN is involved in curriculumdesign for managers at the state, block and district level managers;training programs like certificate courses and ManagementDevelopment Programmes for senior decision makers; networkingand mentorship to bring young professionals into the sector;developing knowledge products and learning platforms to create anecosystem of actors and resources for livelihoods in India.

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National workshop on livelihoods curriculum­ XIMBA two day national workshop on “Rethinking Livelihoods:

Innovations in Teaching Livelihoods” was organized by

XIMB on March 13­14, 2013. The workshop was an

effort to encourage collaborations between academic

institutions, practitioner organizations, State Rural

Livelihood Missions (SRLMs) and others to share

curricula and address pedagogical issues on training

livelihood professionals. The workshop saw participation

from over 40 organizations like IRMA, IIFM, TISS, MDI,

APU, APMAS, TLS, Chaitanya, representatives from

NRLM, state missions from Odisha, Bihar and

Maharashtra as well as others.

Access the workshop resources here

News updates from the Livelihoods MANTHAN consortium

­ 2 ­

IInntteerrnnss SSppeeaakk

Rural Livelihood Internship ­ TISS

TISS, Mumbai on behalf of Livelihoods MANTHAN

initiated the second batch of “Rural Livelihood

Internship” programme for mentoring committed

livelihood professionals. Following successful

completion of the scheme in 2012, twenty interns

(collectively from TISS, XIMB and EDI) were placed

with SRLMs across India. An orientation and induction

workshop was held on April 25­26, 2013 at TISS,

Mumbai following which the interns worked on

different assignments in Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra,

Odisha, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh & Chhattisgarh.

The students have since completed their internships.

Learn more about the internship here

"My internship studying inclusion and livelihood status of

the extremely vulnerable Kondh tribes in Odisha taught

me more than a classroom could ever teach."­ Ankita Swaroopa, XIMB

"Working with the Chhattisgarh Mission has taught me

how an SRLM can influence change at the grassroots."­ Priya Jaiswal, EDII

"Interacting with SHGs involved in woollen knitting

helped me understand the challenges women

entrepreneurs face in the villages."­ Sudarshan Kumar Saggu, XIMB

"Studying the NTFP interventions in the villages of

Goilkera block, Jharkhand has been a rich experience."­ Priyanka Topno, TISS

"Analyzing the mushroom value chain in Balasore

district has helped me learn about the linkages

between government departments, private players

and the institutional structures at the village level."­ Pradeep Sharma, XIMB

LIVEwire June 2013

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National Workshop on Innovative Strategiesfor Livelihood Promotion ­ TLSThis workshop organized by The Livelihood School on

May 1, 2013 was intended to reflect on its half a decade

experience with livelihoods promotion and towards

further developing its competencies in consultation with

key professionals in different thematic areas. The

participants shared insights on how TLS can work

further on promotion of Natural Resource­based

Livelihoods, Off­farm Livelihoods with reference to

Agriculture Value Chains; and PRI – Decentralized

Government and Livelihoods.

MANTHAN partners identified as capacitybuilding organizations for NRLMThe Livelihoods School, Chaitanya, Entrepreneurship

Development Institute (EDI) and XLRI (with SRIJAN and

Udyogini) have been shortlisted as capacity building

organizations for NRLM in the areas of staff induction,

social mobilization, institution building, financial

inclusion, and capacity building of community

institutions and cadres.

Academic­practitioner partnerships are keyto NRLM success: NACPartnerships with academic institutions and practitioner

organizations were considered a positive step towards

making NRLM successful, in a report submitted to the

National Advisory Council (NAC). It was reported that

partnerships with NGOs and management institutions

like XIMB, XLRI, TISS and MDI will help NRLM and

SRLMs meet training and other requirements of the

programme.

Read the full report here

News updates from the Livelihoods MANTHAN consortium

­ 3 ­

Short film on Chaitanya’s coursesA short film has been made on the impact of

Chaitanya's courses on Microfinance Development &

Management (MFDM) and NGO Management. These

certificate courses offered in association with TISS,

Mumbai offer specialized training in diverse

management areas as well as values for efficient

professional practice. All the modules and manuals

have been developed in­house and also used

extensively in providing strategic organizational

planning training to other NGOs.

Watch the video here

Future Leaders Program at IIM UdaipurIIM Udaipur in collaboration with Duke University has

set up a summer school program that will train

students and practitioners for leadership in the

development sector. The 'Future Leaders Program' is

intended to attract talented students and practitioners

from India as well as students from Duke. The full

program will be launched in the summer of 2014, with

a one week pilot module being launched from July 21­

27, 2013.

For more details on the program, click here

XLRI's online forum on inclusive financeThis knowledge sharing and peer learning forum on

inclusive finance was initiated at XLRI Jamshedpur.

The forum provides opportunities for the practitioners,

academics as well as policy makers to share their

experiences, research and innovative experiments in

the broad areas of financial inclusion.

Participate in this forum here

LIVEwire June 2013

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On SFAC's concept of Bharat Kisan ProducerCompanyFollowing the request for feedback on Small Farmers’

Agribusiness Consortium's (SFAC) concept note in March

2013 on setting up a potential Bharat Kisan Producer

Company Limited (BKPCL), several members in the LLG

responded with critical observations and suggestions.

Liby Johnson of

Kudumbashree suggested

that the proposed entity

should protect the interests

of all kinds of farmer­

producers since many farm

products are substitutes

and compete against each

other in the market. It is

also important that the different financial needs (start

up and working capital) are provided through viable and

decentralized processes, for example, through interest

subvention by mainstream banks. Providing adequate

market access, intermediate infrastructure and means to

increase productivity will also be critical before

implementing a national level umbrella organization for

all Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).

Others observed that the BKPCL should play the role of

an incubator for grassroots FPOs ­ provide financial

support for some years, offer specialized training

programmes for staff and encourage decentralized

operational models.

Shashidharan Enarth of The Livelihood School added

that operational issues of FPOs are seldom addressed.

These need to be revisited in the BKPCL plan by building

capacities of those who run

the operations, and find

durable solutions to problems

external to the FPOs. An apex

level body, he said, should

play an enabling role right

from their inception so that

the FPOs in turn demand

leveraging services from the

apex. This relationship can be sustainable only if the

apex body has transparent and accountable governance

mechanisms and remains accountable to the FPOs.

KV Raju of IRMA submitted that the BKPCL should

play the role of a promoter and analyze the resource,

demand, industrial and institutional to evolve business

models and offer solutions to the FPOs. KS Gopal

wrote that BKPCL will have to clearly envision the

basis and the outcomes for its recommendations. This

needs to be grounded on key issues such as

exploitation by middlemen and monopolies,

information asymmetry, and provide ways by which

markets can be integrated for producer benefit.

Radha Gopalan of Rishi Valley Education Centre

mentioned that sustainability of farmers’ collectives

need to be strengthened through extension services ­

for technology, credit, and other inputs. In addition,

support for exchange of experiences through

exposure visits and pilot efforts will have to be

provided through existing infrastructure before going

forward with a federated structure.

On the National Policy and guidelines forFPOsA National Policy for the

Promotion of Farmer

Producer Organisations has

been announced as a

mainline activity under the

Rashtriya Krishi Vikas

Yojana (RKVY). Revised

FPO Process Guidelines

have also been released

and came into effect from April 1, 2013.

Sankar Datta of Azim Premji University suggested

that existing processes of forming FPOs through

budgetary allocations and providing strict guidelines

for FPOs need to be relooked at. The focus should be

on promoting collective and community leadership

where farmers are encouraged to create their own

local guidelines for administering FPOs.

Navin Anand of Solution Exchange emphasized the

need to clarify the functional roles of FPOs at various

levels: pre­cultivation, cultivation and post­

PPooll iiccyy CCoonnnneeccttOpinions on policy matters, shared in the Livelihoods Learning e-group

­ 4 ­LIVEwire June 2013

Affordable credit,specialized training,extension services,technological inputs,and marketingsupport are key forstrengthening FPOs

Transparent,decentralized andaccountablegovernancemechanisms arecritical to an apexlevel body like theBKPCL

National FPO policyand guidelinesshould promotecommunityleadership andmaximize benefitsfor all farmers

to support. Smita Premchander of SAMPARK urged

that a distinct line needs to be drawn between policy

measures and incubation support on one hand, and

building organizations with official support on the

other. The right incentives and purpose will ensure

the creation and sustainabilty of the FPOs.

cultivation. The National FPO Policy can then maximize

benefits to farmers at all levels of the value chain.

Others added that the policy should support the

diversity of grassroots collectives so as to meet the local

needs. A centralized approach as envisioned in the FPO

guidelines may erode this diversity and may even

eliminate the livelihood opportunities they were meant

­ 5 ­LIVEwire June 2013

NNeewwss WWaattcchhLivelihoods related news and updates in the media

Changes approved in Aajeevika (NRLM)Key changes have been made in the implementation of

NRLM: (i) Improved targeting of poor through

Participatory Identification Process (PIP) (ii) Enabling

women SHGs to avail more loans and an award of

additional 3% interest subvention (iii) Financial

assistance to be provided through Community

Investment Support Fund (CISF) instead of capital

subsidy linked to bank credit (iv) Setting up of the

autonomous National Rural Livelihoods Promotion

Society (NRLPS) to implement NRLM in mission mode.Source: Press Information Bureau (PIB) Release No:

95655

50,000 jobs for youth in 24 extremistaffected districts under Roshni schemeThe Ministry for Rural Development launched a new skill

development scheme "Roshni" for rural youth from 24

districts in states most critically affected by extremism.

The scheme will be implemented at a cost of Rs 100

crore over the next three years.

Source: PIB Release No: 96474

Tamil Nadu livelihood mission gainsmomentumA pilot NRLM study was launched at Nagamalai

Pudukottai. With the Puthu Vazhvu Programme (PVP) in

place in Theni district, the community professionals from

Theni would help set up the Village Poverty Reduction

Committee (VPRC) to implement NRLM in the pilot

district.

Source: "A boon for the poor", The Hindu, May 16 2013

Haryana expansion of NRLMThe Haryana Government has decided to extend NRLM

to cover all the 21 districts in the state with the extra 19

now covered from the state’s own financial resources.

Source: "Haryana mulling to expand scope of NRLM",

The Economic Times, May 19 2013

Gujarat High Court rules that Centre cannotrule on cooperativesThe Gujarat High Court has declared that the Centre

cannot enact laws or issue notification with respect to

cooperative societies as it is a state subject. The bench

held that certain provisions of the 97th Amendment

pertaining to cooperative societies violated the

Constitution and hence have been stuck down.

Source: "Centre can't legislate on cooperatives: Guj HC",

The Economic Times, April 22 2013

Odisha repeals liberal Self­Help CooperativesAct 2001The Odisha government repealed the liberal Odisha Self­

Help Cooperatives Act 2001 by promulgating an

ordinance, thus bringing all cooperatives under the

Odisha Cooperative Societies Act, 1962. In effect, the

cooperatives are now answerable to the state

government which can take up audit and examine their

books of accounts.

Source: "Ordinance in place to set right co­ops", The

Economic Times, June 7 2013

Farmers have decreased, farm labourers haveincreasedThe 2011 census report has revealed that only 54.6% of

total workers in India are now engaged in agriculture

with a decline of 3.6% from 2001. However, there has

been an increase of 44% and 24.5% in the number of

male and female agricultural labourers. This suggests

that the number of farmers in India has decreased by

8.6 million in the past decade.

Source: "Farmers have decreased, farm labourers have

increased", Down To Earth, May 1 2013

Poverty indices and sustainable livelihoodsLLG members discussed the effectiveness of research

methods for identifying the poor. The Progress out of

Poverty Index (PPI) and its implications for the revised

guidelines of NRLM were discussed. Members also

examined how the language of sustainable livelihood

approaches has changed over the past two decades and

is now being linked to discourses on resilience, political

and social change rather than just a set of desired

outcomes.

The push and pull of skillingWith 15% of NRLM funds being allocated for financing

skill development initiatives, members wondered if the

efforts of NRLM could be

converged with the National

Skill Development Corporation

(NSDC). There was some

concern that NSDC's focus is

industry­oriented and not self employment in the

"unorganized" sector. Issues like these and others such

as the high attrition rate among the trainees who get

placed need to be addressed in the NSDC.

The emerging role of civil societyThe group discussed the constituents and role of civil

society following the release of the 2013 WEF Report on

“the Future of Civil Society”. Members discussed that

CSOs need to reposition their priorities with changing

times. It was urged that the promotion of

decentralization and autonomy among the poor and

participating institutions has become critical for CSOs

today.

Experiences in forming cooperativesSmita Premchander reflected that the mainstream was

losing hope in cooperatives and considered them

expensive, time consuming and politicized. In response,

Manjeet Kaur of CGSIRD shared her experience in

forming a cooperative called “Nawa Anjore Silai Sahkari

Samiti” in 2006 in Chhattisgarh. The tailoring and

knitting based samiti had participated successfully in

several bids for various government projects, as long as

there was mentoring support. Once the support was

withdrawn, the efforts of the samiti also withered away

gradually. While appreciating the experience shared, the

members acknowledged that unless cooperatives are

encouraged to lead on their own from the start, they

may not succeed in the long run.

Social innovations in ICT for livelihoodspromotionInformation and Communication Technology (ICT)

innovations in promoting livelihoods were shared. The

impact of video based training for promoting

livelihoods education and the utility of community

radios for enabling communication in interior parts of

India were discussed. Further, the impact of

interactive electronic games was also appreciated. It

was suggested that such innovations be showcased at

the innovation forums promoted by different SRLMs.

Writing case studies for livelihoodspromotionThe members discussed that even if only one case

was to be documented from each district in India,

then there would be a repository of 600 cases!

Consequently, some shared

their plans to write first person

case studies. Dinesh Awasthi

of EDI suggested a perspective

plan to document these cases

via a case writing workshop to

outline guidelines and then

form teams to explore different regions. Some

practitioners said that they were ready to host writers

if they volunteered to visit the field locations and

document their stories. Suryamani Roul of ACCESS

suggested a timeline to collaborate in writing cases

and publishing them as part of the annual Livelihoods

India Conference.

Research­practice tension in the MFIdebateMembers discussed the widening gap between

research and practice in livelihoods. The existing

tensions between the commercial and social goals of

microfinance institutions were discussed in particular.

It was mentioned that practitioners generally highlight

positive news while researchers belittle practitioners'

efforts without adequately engaging with them.

Increasing the interdisciplinary academic engagement

on such debates was emphasized.

CCoommmmuunnii ttyy EExxcchhaannggeeDialogue and debate in the Livelihoods Learning e-group

­ 6 ­LIVEwire June 2013

Can the efforts ofNRLM and NSDCconverge?

Can we write acase each foreach of the 600districts in India?

Do you have events, research or publications to share in this newsletter?Are you looking to collaborate with others?Would you like to be part of the Livelihoods Learning Group?

Email us at manthanlive@ximb.ac. in

If you have any comments or feedback on this newsletter, please email us; we would behappy to revise, refine and innovate in future editions of LIVEwire.

Editorial TeamJoseph Satish VC Shambu Prasad

Produced byXavier Institute of Management,

Xavier Square,Bhubaneswar - 751 013

Odisha, INDIAPh: + 91 -674-6647 720

Email: manthanlive@ximb.ac.inWeb: http://livelihoods-manthan.net/

Sitaram Rao Livelihoods Case StudyCompetition 2013Access Development Services and Fr. Arrupe Center for

Ecology and Sustainability (FACES), XLRI Jamshedpur

have jointly announced the Sitaram Rao Livelihoods

Case Study Competition 2013. The theme for this year is

“Enhancing the Livelihoods of the Urban Poor”

2nd International Workshop on InclusiveFinanceXLRI Jamshedpur is conducting the 2nd International

Workshop on Inclusive Finance during September 13­15,

2013. The workshop brings together academicians,

practitioners, microfinance institutions and NGOs to

deliberate on research as well as contemporary issues.

The Workshop 2013 ­ 17th Praxis AnnualCommune on Participatory DevelopmentThe workshop is organized by Praxis Institute for

Participatory Practices in Thrissur, Kerala from 21­28

October 2013. It brings together development

workers and policy makers from across the world to

share and learn about the latest in the field of

participatory development. Participants of this year's

workshop will also get to attend a session by Robert

Chambers from IDS, Sussex.

EEvveenntt SSccaannUpcoming livelihoods events across the nation

­ 7 ­LIVEwire June 2013

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