By virtue of our focus on the poorest of the poor, many of

IFAD assisted projects are implemented in the most

remote and difficult areas and with some of the most

marginalized communities. The difficulties that projects face

are multi layered—ranging from geographical, sociological,

developmental, economic to historical—and manifest

themselves in myriad ways to challenge implementation at

various stages, and in some instances every day. Successfully

overcoming these odds is one of the most significant

achievements of projects, and one which is often

inadequately reflected in the numbers and data that are

presented in reports.

In recognition of the tremendous courage,

dedication and hard work that is put in by

project teams, especially the last mile worker

who faces hostility of terrains and mindsets

alike, we decided to dedicate this edition of the

newsletter to the theme of Overcoming

challenging situations to bring development to

the poor.

This edition covers human interest stories that

attempt to capture the diverse forms of hardship

that projects have faced, and continue to face

and how they have dealt with them in the course

of implementation. We recognise that these may

be too complex to present in a short and

simplistic story format. But at least they give a

flavour of the context and the odds against

which the results are achieved. If some projects

are not covered in this edition it may simply

mean that capturing and putting their challenges

into words was not possible for one reason or

another.

On behalf of the IFAD India Team I thank you

for sharing your experiences with us and hope

you find it as inspiring and useful as we do.

Meera Mishra

(m.mishra@ifad.org),

India Country Coordinator

Ms. Mary Hmar, (merihmar@yahoo.co.in)

Project Technical Officer, NCHCRMS, Haflong,

Assam

Dima Hasao district (formerly N.C Hills

District), is one of the hill districts of Assam

known for its diverse cultures and many

rhythms representing a fascinating ethnic,

cultural and tribal mix. A major portion of the

area is covered by hilly terrain and 80% of the

land is categorised as non-agricultural barren

land. The district is sparsely populated with a

density of only 38 people per square kilometre.

Most of the project villages are not easily

approachable by road, which makes it difficult to

provide immediate relief during any emergency

situation.

The district once had a vast area of forest

coverage with valuable forest resources such as

bamboo. But due to population increases,

unemployment and a decline in crop

productivity, the people’s dependency on the

forest as a source for livelihood has led to its

rapid degradation, and is now a major

environmental challenge. The main source of

livelihood of local communities is through

shifting cultivation (Jhuming) which the

communities consider as a traditional and

ritualistic system. Jhum produce is sufficient for

only for 5-6 months of the year (per family) and

the source of livelihood for the remaining

months are daily wage labour and collection of

NTFPs from the forest and selling them in the

local market in return for a handful of grains.

The regeneration of vegetation and formation of

secondary forest has become constrained due to

the shortening of jhum cycles, which does not

allow sufficient time for regeneration. These

communities, dependent on the increasingly

denuded land become increasingly marginalized,

leading a subsistence life style. This in turn adds

to their ecological and economic

impoverishment. The district has been plagued

with under development for a long time, which

is further exacerbated by a huge unemployment

problem.

The struggle against such growing odds and the

demand for identity and development by the

local communities gradually gave birth to

militancy and insurgency. Economically too the

Dima Hasao (NC Hills) is slow to progress. In

this backdrop, insurgency became dangerously

authoritative over the recent past. One of the

factors fuelling insurgency in the district is the

cornering of most political and economic

benefits by the dominant ethnic group. This

creates insecurity and tension among the other

ethnic communities afflicted by scarcity of

opportunities and resources.

Lack of development is, no doubt, a serious

problem, but the root cause of insurgency and

the growing strength of secessionist sentiments

lie in these deeply-rooted grievances. Ethnic

militias have also become part of civil society.

In the process of ethnic conflicts, social

institutions are affected the most, developmental

activities suffer and effectiveness of governance is

eroded. The unending conflicts are reflected in

the breakdown of public order and the

deterioration of inter-community relationship.

History, tribe wise location of villages,

communal feeling and biased allocation of

developmental schemes among the tribes in the

district council have combined to make the

people feel isolated and alienated from each

other and also from the rest of the district and

state.

The on-going ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ launched by

various outfits against the innocent civilians can

be traced back to the late 80’s onwards. But only

few people know the genesis of these ethnic

conflicts. While the neighbouring districts are

experiencing changes economically, politically

and socially by going through a process of

transition from shifting cultivation to settled

agriculture, from village control of land to

private ownership, Dima Hasao district

remained the same until the intervention of

NERCORMP.

Through the facilitation of district support teams

and partner NGOs, communities were mobilized

and organized to form Self Help Groups (SHGs)

and Natural Resource Management Groups

(NaRM-Gs). The main functions of the

Community Based Organizations (CBOs) was as

follows:

a. The NaRM-G groups looked into over all

community development and economic

assets that largely contribute towards the well

being of the community members, thereby

enriching their livelihood

b. The self help groups provided micro credit – a

form of economic security (for income

generating activities and for consumption

purposes) and to develop self esteem among

the members.

Many assets were created for the communities

through the project such as community forests,

inter-village roads and multi purpose

community building.

In 2003, a major ethnic conflict took place

between the Dimasa and Hmar tribes that lead

to the displacement of thousands of both these

communities and also affected most of the

project villages. Many assets created by the

project were burned down.

In 2009 again, ethnic conflict took place between

the Naga Zeme and Dimasa and once again,

most of the project villages were affected and

there was displacement of thousands of

Zeme Naga and Dimasa communities. A total of

61 project villages were affected out of the 131

Dimasa project villages, Hmar and Zeme Naga

communities and more than a thousand people

belonging to these three communities had to

take shelter in nearby Cachar district and in the

refugee camps.

During the period of clashes both the

communities had to abandon their agricultural/

jhum land for fear of being attacked by the

opposite parties leading to scarcity of food crops.

A few religious organizations had extended their

help by providing food grains and reconstruction

of their houses. State Government had also

pumped in some financial assistance, but this

could not calm down the

anger of the villagers.

Since some of the project staff also came from

the same community there were times when fear

of being attacked by the militants’ outfits gripped

the staff also.

During the initial period of project start-up and

after major ethnic clashes as mentioned above,

there were many occasions when the project staff

had to encounter various militants groups asking

them for their identity or been interrogated by

Army personals on the way back from field visits.

Sometimes, the project staff were warned by the

village Headman, not to make a night halt for

security and safety reasons as many of the project

villages happen to be the hide out for

underground militants. To overcome this

constraint, the project had organized several

District and Block level meetings with various

stakeholders (Line Dept, NGOs, Policy Makers,

Army personals and communities) on how to

implement developmental activities and to work

hand in hand with various line departments.

Besides this, district level training/capacity

building were organized so as to ease the

tension between the affected communities by

making them sit together and by organizing

inter cluster Farmer to Farmer Exchange

programmes for learning and sharing. Most

importantly it was to bring them under one

umbrella to promote peace among the different

communities. The project also organized district

level workshop on Conflict Resolution; the

outcome was that a Peace Rally organized by

Cluster Association and SHG Federations at

their respective clusters particularly in affected

areas like Mahur and Harangajour areas.

In spite of all these constraints, the project staff

continued their regular field visits particularly in

the affected villages to provide moral support as

well as financial assistance to take up on farm

and off farm activities such as kitchen garden,

piggery, weaving, handloom, tailoring etc. By

engaging in such activities the affected villagers

did not need to go far off to the jhum field.

Vegetables from the kitchen garden were sold to

security personals/army camps near the villages

and handloom products (traditional shawl) were

also purchased by the army personals through

the facilitation of project staff. Availability of

green vegetables in the kitchen gardens also

contributed towards improving the nutrition of

the family members besides providing a source

of income during the crises.

Promotion of Non-Farm Enterprises resulted in

increased income, formation of marketing

committee within the NaRM-Gs and availability

of new services in the affected villages.

Intervention made by the project in income

generating activities, particularly during the

crises has uplifted the most affected villages and

individual households that have created a

stronger bond between the project staffs and the

communities.

With the project intervention, women have

started taking active role in decision making by

participating in NaRM-G meetings and in Village

Development Committees’ These served as

platforms to express their views and ideas in

conflict resolution besides allowing them to take

part in the overall development of the village,

which in turn resulted in improved unity and

cohesion among the villages.

With a little moral support and financial

assistance from the project, the Dimasa

community marched ahead in improving their

economic status and regaining the confidence to

face the world again, which they expressed could

have never happen without the support and fa-

cilitation of NERCORMP staff.

Since then, changes have been observed in the

mind set of the people and cultural

transformation has taken place as a result of the

many capacity building /training programmes

organised by the project. The project has also

been able to witness community harmony

among the various tribes within the project

operational areas. In spite of various issues and

constraints, the uprising of many insurgencies

and separatist movement flourishing in the

district pose the biggest challenge for the

project staff and also for other government

officials. In fact, the project staff has to a great

extent been able to overcome the constraints

with militants group as most of the militants are

now familiar with the project staff (NGOs) and

even caution the project staff to work properly

and seek their help during the implementation

of any developmental activities, as and when

required.

Developmental activities can be used as an

important instrument for sustainable human

development. Although NERCORMP’s

intervention is highly people oriented with the

communities implementing the activities, the

extent to which this organization could provide

is like a spoon of sugar dropped in the ocean. A

key lesson has been that the community’s needs

could be addressed only by giving the right

platform to the Hills people so as to hear their

voices which had hitherto remained unheard.

Located in one of the most remote areas of West

Singhbhum districts of the state of Jharkhand,

covering five hamlets, this tribal village of

Godaduba had seen great destruction of its

natural resources over the years rendering the

communities helpless in the face of climate

change with little or no recourse to help.

The village was heavily involved in clearing

forest lands for agricultural purposes.

Environmental degradation increased in the area

due to deforestation resulting in adverse climatic

Mr. Rajeev Kumar Ranjan,

(iit.rajeev82@gmail.com)

Agriculture Engineer, Chaibasa DPIU

conditions manifested through water scarcity,

rain deficiency, drought, famine etc. One of the

major challenges of the area was severe water

scarcity affecting their livelihoods, primarily

agriculture. High runoff velocity of rainwater

from the mountainous slopes occurring as a

result of deforestation caused soil erosion and

depleted soil fertility and ground water tables.

Water run-off harmed the paddy cultivation

practiced in the low land areas. Irregular rain

patterns posed threats to cultivation in the

middle and upland areas. There was an increase

in the forest fires occurring in dry summer

months in the area.

Consequently, food insecurity forced many to

migrate as wage labourers to adjacent states of

Bihar, Odisha, and West Bengal.

Initiation of programme in the area, in terms of

community mobilization, through community

participation, gender equality, afforestation etc.

was very challenging, as all the major decisions

were taken primarily by male dominated ‘Gram

Panchayats’ (village governing body).

Social conflicts were prevalent among the five

hamlets, as a result of which JTDS (Jharkhand

Tribal Development Society) faced tremendous

challenges in implementing its programmes

initially. When the project started to work in the

village and the neighbouring hamlets, the staff

faced stiff opposition. A few hamlets completely

rejected the project and did not allow the staff to

enter their area. Jamjori hamlet was especially

distrustful of the project as they had faced land

encroachments by external agencies in the name

of development projects. This proved to have an

adverse effect on the resource planning for the

watershed.

The project initiated the empowerment of the

communities by establishing and

institutionalising village meetings or ‘Gram

Sabha’. Though this was a prerequisite across the

country through the Panchayati Raj Institutions

(Local Self Governance) Jharkhand did not

have elections from the time the state was

formed in 2000 till recently.

In the year 2005, in its first phase, around 150

hectares was covered by JTDS for addressing the

socio- economic and environmental issues that

the villages were facing. Specifically designed

capacity building programmes were organised

to bring women and men together to think and

deliberate on the development of their villages.

Implementation of various land husbandry

practices resulted in generation of employment

opportunities for all households. The

community was also mobilized to

institutionalise adaptive measures to check

forest fires, especially during the months of

March to May. Improved seeds of paddy,

vegetables (cabbage, tomato, potato, brinjal

etc.), pulses and legumes (pigeon pea, ground

nut etc.) were distributed among the

beneficiaries. Fishery, duck, goat and pig

rearing were promoted as backyard livestock

management for added income and nutrition.

The community was provided with several

trainings to build their capacity to sustain the

new interventions.

Social problems manifested in the form of

conflicts for the project sponsored wage labour

opportunities due to high demand for work

during the initial implementation of land

management activities. Later these issues were

resolved by the community itself with the help

of trained CLSPs (Community Level Service

Providers), also members of the Gram Sabhas

through meetings and development of job

charts which ensured all households got work.

The project conducted several rounds of legal

awareness trainings for the community with a

special awareness on women’s rights.

Significant environmental effects could be seen

towards the end of 2005 due to the soil and

water management initiatives undertaken.

Water run-off dropped dramatically thus

checking soil erosion. New and repaired

catchments stored rain water, at the same time

absorbing large volumes of water. This in turn

increased moisture content of the soil. Ground

water tables were recharged and risks to

cultivation on middle and uplands were

minimised. Paddy cultivation (Kharif crop) of

Doensora village increased in particular, through

addition of rabi crop. From 2006 to 2007, the

villagers of this hamlet took up three crops

namely, kharif (winter) paddy being main crop,

Rabi (autumn) where legumes were the main

crop and summer paddy. Within two years,

water tables were recharged resulting in

increased agro-forestry produces, consequently

resulting in surplus food availability and

reduction in distress migration though the

project does not have this data.

Practical demonstrations of the other hamlets

inspired the community of Jamjori, who later on

decided to actively participate in the project.

Land and water management/conservation

programmes were laid out in the existing Gram

Sabha of Godaduba and were implemented in

Jamjori.

JTDS’ consistent efforts resulted in changes in

people’s approach from exploitation of natural

resources to its management, which

consequently had positive impact on the

environment and led to higher yields in

agriculture and other livelihoods. The

programme has helped create community

ownership of natural resources among the

residents.

Dimple S Das (dimkimson@yahoo.com)

Communication Officer, NERCORMP

Due to the absence of effective developmental

models for the upland areas and want of

adequate delivery system of the existing

“When we told them about IFAD and that it is

based in Rome, Italy, the villagers thought that we

had come to convert the community to

Christianity. Though we tried hard to convince

them about the main objectives of the project,

they refused and finally the village had to be

dropped from the list of potential project

villages”.

Project staff, Mr Abraham Teron from the Dima

Hasao district in Assam

government schemes and other service agencies

in the region, , the North Eastern Region

Community Resource Management Project

(NERCORMP) was a development paradigm to

work for the up-liftment and sustainable

development in the remote areas of the North

East of India. Bringing people and their

traditional practices and beliefs and trying to

blend them with the modern day approach to

development was a task well confronted.

The journey in the initial days of the project

intervention was not easy or smooth. The

reasons may be varied but the major issue was

the lack of trust that the villagers had on the

developmental schemes undertaken by the

government and other agencies. In some areas

communities had little or no knowledge of the

developmental initiatives of the government.

These factors along with the presence of local self

government institutions, i.e. the traditional

institutions which are unique and have inherent

strength, and customary laws that govern and

preside over every aspect of village life, was a big

challenge that the project had to deal with.

Taking these matters into consideration,

NERCORMP, as a community development

project initiated by the Government of India and

IFAD adopted a participatory and bottoms up

approach in its implementation process. In

North East India particularly among the

indigenous communities, cohesiveness and

strong bonding exists, which was platform on

which NERCORMP built . The tribal

communities have well structured traditional

institutions namely the Village Councils or

Dorbars, comprising of a hereditary village chief

and composed of elders and clan representatives.

These institutions overlook the customary law

and also the elected chief, who is the overall in

charge of the village development activities.

These include both secular and church based

groups. Therefore, identifying the existing

traditional strengths of the communities and

slowly building on these strengths to find

synergies was a challenge for the entire project

team.

In order to win the confidence of these

traditional institutions, right from beginning of

the project, clear cut guidelines which also

included the role and responsibilities,

limitations and expectations for each

stakeholder were laid down. For this,

NERCORMP established a social agreement

with the communities. For all activities, the

project took the Traditional Institutions (TIs)

into confidence and adequately sensitized in a

transparent manner so as to leave no room for

ambiguity. The Project adopted a deliberate and

conscious approach to trust communities and

entrust them with corresponding

responsibilities, so that they start owning the

project and work towards their own

sustainability.

The project staff had to visit each village a

number of times to convince the headman of

the project villages. Since the project staff also

comprised the waring tribes, it made it difficult

for the conflicting tribe staff to go to the village

where the other tribes reside. This delayed the

activities in the initial stage of the project and

was dealt with steadily with constant village

visits and meetings.

The project was mandated to mobilize the

communities to form self reliant Community

Based Organizations (CBOs) like the Natural

Resource Management groups (NaRMGs) and

Self Help Groups (SHGs). NaRMGs were

mobilized for the purpose of implementation of

the project activities and also as a village

planning body for managing their natural

resources while the SHGs are predominantly

women groups formed especially for thrift and

credit.

A flexible approach was adopted in order to

cater to the different socio-cultural

character-istics of the various indigenous

communities. As most traditional community

institutions exhibit deficiencies which impair

their management for sustainability

development under the project, communities

were encouraged to form NaRMGS and SHGs

with greater focus on vulnerable groups and a

broader representation including women, youth

and the marginalized.

Greater accountability and transparency in the

operations of the project, including increasing

involvement of women in community affairs,

were ensured by these CBOs. These groups work

along side the traditional institutions with local

customs and all activities are implemented

based on consensus of the entire community.

This strategy brought about a strong sense of

ownership of the project interventions by the

communities.

Being a multi state Project with a vast

geographical spread on the ground, reaching out

to the indigenous people, set against very

challenging and difficult working environment,

NERCORMP continues to bring forth many

contended smiles to the indigenous

communities of the region.

Mr Om Prakash Rath, (om@otelp.org )

Communications Officer, OTELP

Not only does Orissa have one of the highest

poverty ratios (47%) in India, but it has also

emerged as one of the states worst affected by

Left-Wing Extremism (LWE). Livelihood and

poverty are widely seen as one of the core

issues responsible for the growth of LWE in

Orissa. There are fifteen Naxal infested districts

as identified by the state government. In order

to address the challenge of the livelihood of

poor tribal and to enable them to access markets

and credit, the Government of Odisha launched

the flagship programme Odisha Tribal

Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme

(OTELP) in seven (of the fifteen LWE) tribal

districts Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangapur,

Rayagada, Gajapati, Kandhamal, and Kalahandi

in the year 2005 with joint support of IFAD,

WFP, DFID and Government of Odisha. The

programme mainly focuses on empowering the

tribals and enabling them to enhance their food

security, to increase their income and improve

overall quality of their livelihood.

The communities where OTELP is being

implemented are scattered across undulating

terrain and very far from mainstream access.

Some areas are totally cut off from the mainland

and it takes two to three hours walking to reach

the village. Most of the agricultural lands are

uplands and people depend on the monsoon for

cultivation. Low production, due to traditional

cultivation methods, has resulted in migration

which has become a regular phenomenon in

these areas.

Low level of literacy and health is affected

adversely where children and women are the

most affected. Services of the government do not

reach due to strikes called by naxalites and

overall the pace of development is very low.

Government institutions which are meant to

safeguard the entitlement of the marginalized

have achieved very limited results due to the

continued disturbances of the naxalites

“We participate in the developmental work of our

area. We are involved in planning and executing

our own work. Government schemes have

reached our doorsteps. People have varied

livelihood options due to the diverse

programmes implemented by OTELP. We do not

migrate to cities and towns any longer in search of

employment.”

VDC members of ‘Niyamagiri’, Rayagada

movement. This situation remains a present

challenge to implement any development

programmes.

OTELP is a community managed programme

directly implemented by the Community Based

Organizations (CBOs) with facilitation and

handholding support from the local NGOs. The

government run Integrated Tribal Development

Agency (ITDA) at the district/ sub division level

provides technical assistance to both NGOs and

CBOs in implementation and facilitation of the

programme.

OTELP started the implementation of

programme covering 1034 villages distributed in

358 micro watersheds and includes 56180

households. The programme adopted an

integrated micro watershed management

approach covering a cluster of 10 to 12 micro

watersheds situated contagiously with an

approximate area of 500 ha per micro water-

shed. Care was also taken during the selection of

the micro watersheds to ensure that the

boundary of one watershed covering 10-12 mi-

cro watersheds was to be co-terminus with the

Gram Panchayat administrative boundaries.

OTELP has adopted a seven year project cycle

management which is further divided into three

distinct phases. The initial two years are called

the probation phase dedicated for the institution

and capacity building ensuring people’s

participation in the different CBOs; the next

three years are the main implementation phase

and the last two years of the programme the

consolidation phase/ withdrawal phase. Looking

at the sensitive issue of naxalism, OTELP in its

implementation strategy ensures strong and

active participation of community. So in the first

two years, OTELP strategically emphasised on

building institutions like Village Development

Committee (VDC), Women Self Help Group

(SHG), User Group (UG) etc. at the village level.

The NGOs play the role of the facilitator at the

community level in capacitating them for

planning, implementation, monitoring their

activities and governance.

Community being the primary stakeholder of

the programme plays the role of the

implementer by directly executing the

programme activities through the VDC, SHGs

and UGs. The lowest level of the Panchayat i.e.

Palli Sabha representatives are nominated to be

the members of the VDC of micro watershed

area which is a registered body and the apex

organisation for project management. The VDC

manages the work that is carried out in the

respective watershed areas while OTELP

transfers the money to the VDCs to make the

wage payment for the different activities.

This process of payment has ensured more

participation and has stopped pilferage as it

appears in other government programmes.

Participation of women is also realised through

the SHGs and are provided with various capacity

building activities to increase their leadership

skills and income. Now the women groups have

been able to take up their own business ventures

independently and increase household’s

incomes. Other livelihood avenues like poultry

and goat rearing, fishery etc. have given the

women additional income. The project has also

made it compulsory for women to be members

of the VDC. One of the most particularly

vulnerable tribe i.e. Bonda women have been

provided trainings in different livelihoods and

enterprises which previously was unavailable .

Unemployed young men, who were finding

solace with the naxal movement, are now

prepared to stand on their own legs through the

various vocational trainings offered by the

project. The project has also strategized the

involvement of the government officials who

were earlier alienated from these communities.

Their presence in these areas has built the

confidence among the tribal community to avail

the various schemes of the government.

The mode of operation by OTELP has been

accepted by the people in these disturbed

communities due to its transparent

decentralisation of work. The watershed

approach of development has taught the

community to use the land in a more scientific

and sustainable manner. The sustainable use of

these resources has been able to restore the

degradation that had occurred due to the over

exploitation of the natural resources.

OTELP’s work is not affected by the LWE

activities as the Extremists feel the work has truly

benefited the tribals and the poorest households.

The villagers are strengthening their institutions

to run the programme in a sustained manner.

The government periodically reviews the

programme implementation and has instructed

also other departments to follow the similar way

of intervention of OTELP for tribal projects. This

model has become a flagship programme for the

state government who has up scaled it to the

neighbouring three districts with the

government’s own funds.

Mr D.Nath (dhruba.jn@gmail.com)

Finance/Accounts Officer and

Dimple S Das (dimkimson@yahoo.com)

Communication Officer, NERCORMP

Until the early 1950’s, business transactions of

the people of Ukhrul district of Manipur in the

North Eastern part of India, were almost non-

existent with the exception of the occasional

market days on festival days which was on a

barter system of trade and within the limits of

the village.

Some stray animals, salt, handloom materials,

pottery products, wood and bamboo craft works,

blacksmith etc. were traded then and are still

traded today. But back then, the people could

maintain to meet their requirements for their

day-to-day subsistence and livelihood. This way,

one can conclude that they were self-reliant and

self-sufficient. One major reason was also that

population was still smaller and there were

enough of resources available for everyone’s

consumption.

But with the advent of modernity, they were

suddenly exposed to capitalistic trends of fierce

market competitions and urbanization. Their

limited sources of income and resources could

not meet both ends and soon they were reduced

"The challenges of a poor widow were many but

NERCORMPs ‘UDWIM’ gave a new meaning to

my life. With credit facilities and with confidence,

I can trade chilly and potato from my village to

the capital city, Imphal and on return bring pigs

for sale in my villages. From the proceeds of this

brisk business I can meet the expenses of my

children's education." - Ms. Jasper of Sirarakhong

to living below the poverty line.

NERCORMP was launched as a development

model for the people residing in the upland area

of three states of North East India. The fund-

flow of the entire project starting from Regional

Society to District Societies and to the

community groups is based on approved AWPB,

which the communities make, and through bank

account transfers.

The Community Based Organisations (CBOs) in

the project namely the Natural Resource

Management Group (NaRM-G), Self Help

Groups (SHG) utilise the project fund as per the

approved AWPB. The fund is then withdrawn

from the bank as per the decisions taken during

the group meetings, and utilised for the group as

well as individual household activities. Majority

activities are for income generation supported by

minor investment in social sector activities,

infrastructure activities, natural resource

management and marketing support. In order to

receive the funds from the project, the CBOs

must have bank accounts. All financial

transactions are audited by a Chartered

Accountant at the end of every financial year.

The challenge for the project team as well as for

the communities are that there are very limited

bank branches, long distance from the village to

the bank, low cash availability in the bank, and

the cumbersome bank transaction/ formalities

for the illiterate communities.

Ukhrul is one of the project districts where the

banking facility is a big challenge not only for

the District Team but also for the communities.

With the presence of only one bank namely,

United Bank of India, until recently, banking

transaction was a difficult task with low cash

availability, irregular internet facility for

transaction and low human power.

The bank could hardly provide the much needed

credit facility to the people in the district, which

has also lead to an increase in number of money

lenders. They charged high rates of interest and

sometimes made the people mortgage their

homes and assets for small loans.

Adding to this situation was the unsafe security

situation in the state. The extremist movement

made it difficult for banks to keep large sums of

money, and many times forced people to part

with whatever they had with them. Many times

different factions within the state called strikes

that lasted for 100 days and more.

In such situations, many of the community

groups could not open any bank accounts thus

slowing down the implementation of the

activities. Most of the time the bank would not

allow the group to withdraw more than INR

10,000/- (USD 200), at a time or as per cash

availability which was frequently low as they had

cash shortages.

Frequent visits to the bank and high travelling

expenses have in turn increased the

administrative costs of the groups. Transfer of

funds by the District Society to the CBOs was

also an equally challenging task as the cheques

took a long time, sometimes months to be

cleared, which resulted in delays in

implementing of the project activities.

NERCORMP aims at women empowerment, and

the Ukhrul District Women Institute of Micro

Credit (UDWIM) is one such example of women

taking a lead for their own socio-economic and

sustainable livelihood development in a

patriarchal society accentuated by gender bias,

illiteracy and poor economy. The UDWIM is the

federation of SHGs promoted under the

NERCORMP Ukhrul district unit, set up in the

year 2007, to help the communities to manage

the much needed thrift and credit facility by

themselves. The project supported the federation

with the concept, management procedures and

also by giving a part of the corpus fund.

Ms. Ringyuichon Vashum, Credit Manager,

UDWIM says “We started with a financial status

of INR 98, 18,500/- (USD 204,552) and with a

membership of 473 SHGs across the district in

2007. Today we have 702 SHGs covering 151

village federations and 5 zonal federations in

UDWIM with a total outstanding amount of INR

1,94,55,200/- (USD 405,316) as on 31st

December 2011”.

The institute managed their operational

expenses out of the interest earned from credit

and also have provided the much needed timely

credit support to the members with one simple

loan application form. The spirits of the saving

habits and thrift has become far fetching in

bringing about the habit of thrift by the

communities.

Women in general have benefited from the

various capacity building workshops of UDWIM

like gender sensitization, livelihood skills (food

and fruit processing, bakery) livestock rearing,

handloom and handicraft unit, micro enterprise

development programmes etc. The

organisational and financial management

training has also helped the communities in

their day to day household and group financial

management.

However NERCORMP has to be implemented

within a fixed period, the project activities need

to be carried out against the set targets and in

challenging situations, such as inadequate

banking facilities, which stand in the way of

achieving the objectives of the project.

Dr. Nafisa Priti Sanga

(monsoonbeats@gmail.com) Fisheries Officer

(SPMU), Mr. Debajyoti Kundu

(debajyoti24@yahoo.com) Micro-finance Officer

(SPMU) and Mr. Atonu Sen

(atonusen@yahoo.co.in) Fisheries Officer DPIU,

Ranchi

Omanburu is a small hamlet under Humta

panchayat of Bundu block in Ranchi District.

This village is about 41km away from the state

capital (Ranchi) of Jharkhand. The village

consists of two small hamlets namely Birhor and

Munda tola (hamlet), which in turn comprises

of 52 and 38 families, respectively. The villagers

are mostly peasant with an average land holding

area of 1-2 acres (0.4 - 0.8 hectares) per family.

Out of 52 households only 4 families are

landless belonging to the “Birhor” community,

one of the ‘Particularly Vulnerable Tribal

Groups’ (PTGs) of Jharkhand, who are the

surviving remnants of almost pure hunter-

gatherers facing threats of extinction due to

various socio-economic problems.

Among the two communities, mentioned the

situation of the Birhors was worse because they

are nomadic in nature and relied mainly on

hunting and rope making for their livelihoods.

They number less than 10,000 in the country.

The Birhor economy presents a mixture of forest

economy, agriculture and labour. For the Birhor,

the forest is the still main means of livelihoods.

They collect food available in the form of roots,

shoots, flowers, seeds, etc. in the forest.

Partly forced by circumstances, partly

encouraged by government officials, some of

them have settled into stable agriculture, but

others continue their nomadic life. However it is

seen that when they settle down in a village,

their tendency is to lead a nomadic life for their

livelihood.

Prior to the Jharkhand Tribal Development

Society (JTDS) commencement, the village

condition was very poor in terms of household

food security, nutrition, literacy, access to

government aided social/health facilities etc.,

though their proximity to the state capital

Ranchi. This was due to the poor extension

services of the government in the tribal area.

Agriculture was the main occupation which was

highly dependent on the monsoon. Paddy was

the only crop cultivated during the rainy season

which provided less than six months’ food

security. For the remaining months, peasants

took up wage labour for their living, which

forced them to migrate to neighbouring states of

Bihar, West Bengal, and Uttar Pradesh.

JTDS intervention started with identifying the

livelihood problems of the poor tribals. It was

recognized that settled agriculture for this

nomadic tribe would lessen their vulnerability

though it would require much handholding and

capacity building as it was a new activity for the

tribe who were used to fending from the forests.

As a result irrigation facilities (renovation/

construction of irrigation well, check dams,

ponds etc.) along with several agricultural

trainings with improved seeds (paddy, brinjal,

tomato, potato etc.) and agricultural equipments

were provided to the hamlets, in addition to the

ICRISAT grant supporting groundnut and pigeon

pea cultivation.

In order to preserve their traditional occupation

of rope making, JTDS provided raw materials

(plastic sacks), replacing the disappearing

climber barks used for the same. The programme

facilitated formation of two SHGs (female only)

namely Suryamukhi and Gulanchi Mahila Samiti

(15 members each) at the Birhor hamlet and

provided INR. 10000/- (US$ 200) seed capital

for various income generating activities.

The SHGs took up goat, duck rearing and fishery,

in addition to their primary (agriculture) and

traditional (rope making) occupations for

additional income.

Fishery was never practiced in the area prior to

the programme’s intervention and was

introduced through training and carp seed

stocking in 2 ponds.

An integrated Fish cum Duck farming system

was also promoted by the introduction of

improved duck breed (Khakhi campbell) for

added income and nutrition. For improvement

of their poultry, two cocks of ‘Red divyayan’

variety were also provided at the initial phasing,

which has now become a large activity for the

community.

All the activities were carried out with visits to

various organizations like Birsa Agriculture

University, local markets etc. Various in-field

capacity building trainings were also organized

by JTDS for the women on gender and

community empowerment.

Consistent efforts of JTDS is now showing a

good harvest which is manifested through

improved living conditions, health, nutrition,

food security, livestock and increase in incomes

of the households. Irrigation wells and ponds

constructed or renovated are providing irrigation

water throughout year for vegetable, legumes,

and two crops of paddy.

Construction of a small check dam in the area

has helped harvesting of rain water for

improvement of the ground water table in

addition to agricultural irrigation. Renovation of

“We were facing chronic food insecurity before

JTDS intervened our village. Our agricultural

practices followed traditional methods and we

had indigenous livestock varieties. JTDS trained us

on scientific agricultural, fishery and livestock

practices for breed improvement, production

enhancement, income generation and food

security. We now have food throughout the year,

clean drinking water, our children are receiving

education. JTDS has worked as catalyst for the

hard works and determination of birhors which is

now bringing prosperity for our society.” - Sangrai

and Durjon Birhor

a drinking water well near the village has

ensured access to pure and clean drinking water

at the same time decreasing drudgery for

women. The four landless families have been

included into the existing SHGs and other

village development income generating activities

promoted by the programme.

The Birhor community in the villages were

assisted by the project to access various

governmental development schemes that were

designed for their tribes. Access roads had been

built by JTDS as a result of which

communication channels have improved

between the village and the block offices.

Residents’ have access to medical/health

facilities from the government doctor, the

government nurses and community health

volunteers.

Through convergence with ‘Birsa Aawas Yojana’

the Birhors have availed social benefits such as

housing and toilets constructed from funds

received through the District Water and

Sanitation Department. The Jharkhand

Renewable Energy Development Agency

provided solar lanterns to 46 families, 22 pairs

of oxen by the Micro Enterprise Support

Organisation, and through MGNREGA

(Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment

Guarantee Act) they constructed 3 irrigation

wells in the area.

Out of 52 families, 9 have gained permanent

government jobs. There is 100% attendance of

Bihor children in the nearby primary and

middle as they are now becoming aware of the

benefits of literacy.

State Programme Management Team, MPOWER

(mpower.raj@gmail.com), Ms. Mary Hmar

(merihmar@yahoo.co.in), Project Technical

officer, NCHCRMS, Haflong, Assam

Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan

(MPOWER) is a poverty reduction initiative that

is supported by IFAD, Government of Rajasthan

and Sir Ratan Tata Trust. The project is regional

in scope with a special emphasis on the

relatively poor and backward six blocks, within

the drought-prone, food insecure districts of

Western Rajasthan, namely Jodhpur,

Jaisalmer ,Barmer, Pali, Sirohi and Jalore.

The project area is characterized by low

population density, high ratio of population

dependent upon agriculture and livestock

sectors, unreliable rainfall patterns, limited or no

potential for irrigation, fast depleting ground

water and frequent occurrence of drought. The

project area includes all 1045 villages of 245

village panchayats in these six blocks.

In western Rajasthan, agriculture is almost

completely dependent on rainfall. As rainfall is

low and scattered, people are able to have only

one crop during the monsoons. Animal rearing

had been an important source of living for

people in western Rajasthan. However over a

period of time, with the increase in population

and biotic pressure on natural resources, the

common lands which were very crucial to

support animals have gone under private control

and the livelihood profile of people has changed

completely. Now the poor in western Rajasthan

earn their livelihoods mainly from wage labour

their qualification and preferences were mapped

out. If there was a match with their

qualifications and the job offered, they were

selected for the job, otherwise career counselling

was done for them.

A Job Fair was organised in every Block where

companies, organisations and interested people

were invited. A total of 1897 young men turned

up for the job fairs. This event provided an op-

portunity to the young men to boost their confi-

dence. Leading companies like Reliance affiliates,

Bajaj, Nari Self employment Kendra, Dr. Reddy

Foundation, and CAIRNS India participated in

the job fairs.

Out of a total target of 5200 youth, 3700 youth

have been identified for job opportunities. A

total 651 have been trained on trades, security

guard, computer operator, tailoring, and

embroidery. A maximum number of youth has

been placed with security agencies as these jobs

are locally available in the nearby towns of

Phlodi, Baap, Jaisalmer, and Barmer where a lot

of Solar Energy and Wind Energy companies are

establishing units which have created lot of

demand for security personnel.

This has become one of the successful models

for youth development in the state.

and many of them migrate to town and cities in

search of work. The youth are affected the most in

this heavily patriarchal society where their

marriage worthiness is weighed against their

employment status. In turn, the youth have very

few and meagre choices of occupations left for

them.

Achieving full and productive employment and

decent work for the unemployed Below Poverty

Level young men has been one of the main

livelihood interventions of MPOWER project

through the provision of skill training. In the

beginning, the number of youth who showed

their interest in these trainings was less and had

little interest in it as there were no corresponding

job opportunities available. They became unsure

of whether they could secure employment in

reputed offices after the training as their low caste

status could create problems. There were high

rates of retention.

Apart from this reality, convincing the rural youth

was difficult as they were not interested to move

out of their villages for the residential trainings.

The project had to rethink how to go about the

intervention so that there could be more stability

for the youth in their jobs.

The project decided to move from only

mobilisation of youth to also placements of the

trained youth in different companies and

organisations. The SHGs were used as a platform

to disseminate the information to the young men

about the programme. FNGO staff members also

played an important role in dissemination of

information. A feasibility study was done to

identify the existing employment opportunities in

the local areas. Based on that, trades were

identified which could provide employment in

the local areas only.

After a strong mobilization process the young

men were called for a selection process which

would entail them to identify their preferred job

based on their skills set. In the selection process

4 May – 15 June 2012

Jharkhand Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood

Project—Appraisal Mission

2-16 July 2012

Post Tsunami Sustainable Livelihoods

Programme—Joint review mission

2 – 17 August 2012

Odisha Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood

Programme, Odisha—Joint Review Mission

17 – 30 August 2012

Jharkhand Tribal Development Programme—

Project Completion Mission

3-21 September 2012

Mitigating Poverty in Western Rajasthan— Mid

Term Review mission

5-17 September 2012

Tejaswini Rural Women’s Empowerment

Programme, Madhya Pradesh— Joint review

mission

Trail blazers: Lighting the way ahead (2011)

www.ifad.org/pub/gender/india.pdf

Inter-Agency Task Force on Rural Women (led by FAO,

IFAD & WFP) MDGs rural women factsheet (2011)

www.un.org/womenwatch/feature/ruralwomen/

documents/En-Rural-Women-MDGs-web.pdf

Investing in the future: Creating opportunities for

young rural people (2011)

www.ifad.org/events/gc/34/panels/invest_future.pdf

Strengthening women’s access to land into IFAD

projects: Experiences from the field

www.ifad.org/english/land/women_land/

WomenAndLand_SynthesisReport_Eng.pdf

Lightening the load: Labour saving technologies for

rural women

www.ifad.org/gender/pub/load.pdf

Agriculture-Pathways to Prosperity in Asia and the

Pacific (2011)

www.ifad.org/pub/apr/pathways.pdf

FAO-IFAD-ILO Making migration work for

women and men in rural labour markets

http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i2008e/i2008e06.pdf