Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
JAERD
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Jeyanth K. Newport1*, Jason J. Möller2, Keny J. Newport1, Aroshaliny Godfrey4 and Godfrey G.P. Jawahar5 1 57-A, Yesudian Street, Nagercoil – 629001, Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu, India.
2,4,5
,4,5 SNIRD, Railpet, Ongole – 523001, Prakasam District, Tamil Nadu, India. 3 Bishop Heber College, Vayalur Road, Puthur, Tiruchirapalli – 620017, Tamil Nadu, India.
The occurrence of natural disasters is currently one of the major developmental challenges that the world is facing. The Society for National Integration through Rural Development (SNIRD), an NGO working with the fisherfolk communities in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, has long been working towards reducing community vulnerability and strengthening coping mechanisms. As there were no preparedness measures among the communities, the impact of the disaster was worsened, often destroying their livelihood support mechanisms. Hence SNIRD initiated a project to organize the community and imparted trainings towards disaster coping mechanisms. The project followed a community-based strategy, making use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques by involving the community. This paper deals with the techniques of vulnerability assessment by involving the community and in preparing alternate livelihood income plan towards disaster preparedness and management. The project was evaluated using an amended version of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) and found that the project was able to sufficiently increase their alternative livelihood mechanisms and therewith comprehensively and sustainable decrease community vulnerability to natural disasters.
Keywords: Community-based disaster risk reduction, contingency planning, Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), natural disaster, participatory rural appraisal INTRODUCTION The occurrence of natural disasters is widely accepted as a one of the key threats to development within developing nations, in their pursuit of eradicating poverty (Dilley et al., 2005). In more recent years, the definition of poverty itself has evolved from observing income, into a more holistic approach of evaluating their well-being, with expanded criteria for evaluation (Yodami, 2000). Thus, when reducing community vulnerability to natural and anthropogenic disasters, it is proposed to not only conventionally reduce their vulnerability, but also to create a more equitable, resilient and sustainable future for them (O‟Brian et al., 2008; Leichenko and O‟Brian
2008). In order to address social, economic and environmental vulnerabilities, there has been an emergence of four specific research and policy communities, namely (Thomella et al., 2006):
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Newport et al. 060 As discussed in current scientific literature (O´Brian et al., 2008), there are complex interrelations between these aforementioned „communities‟. This is evident in literature such as that by Yodmani (2000), where it is argued that in order to improving the economic resilience of such communities, the physical, social and political risks must also be recognized and managed. Even so, there is still much ambiguity within the various sectors towards addressing disaster risk and vulnerability. There is a marked need across various researches, policies and practice disciplines to foster greater synergy of ideas, planning and practices to more effectively address community vulnerability. This is evident in that there are still many varying opinions and definitions of disaster risk, community vulnerability and disaster management (Twigg, 2007). This divergence is further exacerbated by the fact that at regional, national and sub-national level, many researchers, practitioners and policy makers choose to adopt specific concepts and ideologies within the field of disaster management which are best suited to their localities and the associated social, economic, environmental and cultural conditions. This has made it more difficult to clearly and comprehensively identify a framework towards sustainable actions to address community vulnerability to disasters (Schipper, 2008). Great strides have been made in addressing vulnerability, but this is still inadequate as global statistics indicates that the loss of human life and property resulting from disasters is still high (IFRC, 2004). This is further compounded by the fact that economic loss estimation seldom focus on the magnitude of such losses, relative to the communities who experience them (i.e. the value of $1 may greatly vary between and within specific communities). The global concern herein, lies in the fact that many research bodies have concluded that due to climate change, there is expected to be a higher frequency and/or magnitude of natural disaster occurrence in the future. Technical responses have been favored in the past to address hazards and the occurrence of extreme events, but over the past decades this focus has shifted to vulnerability and in particular the role DRR can play in reducing vulnerability to hazards and extreme events (O´ Brain et al., 2008). In order to improve efforts towards minimizing disaster risks, many organizations have accordingly placed greater importance on lessons learned from past initiatives. This has not only provided knowledge sharing through proof of concepts, but has also allowed for greater innovation at various levels and scales. Presented in this paper, are lessons learned from a community-based Disaster Risk Reduction Program, through employing specific evaluation criterion. METHODOLOGY
This approach was implemented by an NGO, the Society for National Integration through Rural Development (SNIRD), towards addressing community vulnerability to
natural disasters. This was taken up as part of its mandate to support development of impoverished and marginalized groups within the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The project is presented in a case study hereafter, and is further discussed within the context of disaster risk reduction through reducing community vulnerability. The assessment of the intervention and resultant discussion thereafter was based on the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA), which has been amended to provide a more practical assessment of such an intervention. The Hyogo Framework Action as an evaluation tool The HFA, was developed as an overarching instrument that covers a broad range of issues which directly relate to Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and community resilience (or vulnerability) and has been internationally agreed upon (UNISDR, 2005). The five thematic areas enshrined within this framework are accordingly:
1. Governance 2. Risk Assessment 3. Knowledge and Education 4. Risk Management and Vulnerability Reduction 5. Disaster Preparedness and Response
A more elaborate discussion on these themes can be found in Twigg (2007). Importantly, he notes that most practitioners will usually only focus on certain of these themes and certain aspects within these themes. The format as it is may well be a valuable guide for planners and practitioners towards evaluation, but in the context of community-based projects, it does not make specific considerations for efficiency (use of project resources), sustainability and replicability. These three sub-themes have thus been added under a sixth theme, effectiveness, for project evaluation and discussion. In addition to this, it must also be noted that not all actions are able to consider and holistically address all these themes for two specific reasons:
1. In most cases, there are limitations to what can be done based on various factors, such as availability of time, funding, political impasses etc.
2. Within any given action, there may be trade-offs between various sub-themes, e.g. losing community interest or involvement (especially in more rural communities) when scientific processes and technology are given priority
For these reasons, these types of practical impasses were carefully considered while conducting the evaluating, as Twigg (2007) notes, each project is context specific and should accordingly be treated individually. Case Study: Reducing risk and strengthening vulnerability in Chandrasekhapuram The socio-cultural framework in Chandrasekharpuram fisherfolk village of Vidavalur Mandal in Nellore District of
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 061 Andhra Pradesh, India represents a unique set of problems and challenges. This Village has faced multiple disasters over the past years, including storm surges, cyclones and the tsunami of 2004. The increasing incidence of disasters has made the community believe that disaster preparedness is critical in protecting their lives and property thereby reducing their vulnerability. This project was thus planned in conjunction with the village leadership and sought to address their vulnerability to the occurrence of such disasters, through a community-centered approach. This was espoused through a community developmental concept, namely, the Alternate Livelihood Income Plan (ALIP). The keynotes of this method was to address the target beneficiaries‟ preparedness measures to reduce risks and vulnerability- thereby sustaining their livelihoods, and in establishing community level emergency response mechanisms. This project was carried out over the period of one year and was done so by three field staff members. Their functions were mainly facilitation of informal community discussions, meetings with community leaders and organizations and various training initiatives for the community. The Alternate Livelihood Income Plan (ALIP) The Alternate Livelihood Income Plan takes shape when the community assesses the situation in the village and develops a list of activities that they agree to follow to minimize the vulnerability and risks in the event of a natural calamity. The plan also has specific actions to be taken by individuals of the community so that each one knows what he/she has to do when a threat warning is received. During this process, the community is able to simultaneously plan business activities which will be best suited to utilize their available resources in a sustainable manner, which offers such development minimal risk to disaster occurrence. In order to enact the ALIP the following objective and strategic framework was designed and implemented: Project Objectives:
To minimize the loss of lives and community assets due to natural or man-made disasters, and contribute to preparedness and resilience building for all
Formation of Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Mutually Aided Cooperative Thrift Societies (MACTS), towards community organization, economic interventions, capacity building of leaders, for the benefit of improved community-based risk reduction and disaster preparedness
To raise community awareness about their vulnerability to natural hazards and to organize
them in various task force teams in dealing with the impending disasters as first responders
To strengthen DRM policy instruments through the preparation of a Contingency Plan at village level that will contribute towards change through people-centered vulnerability reduction, thereby sustaining their livelihoods
To Inculcate a culture of preparedness within the community and ensure that the preparedness initiative gains are not lost through future calamities/disasters
Project Strategies:
Participation of community in the development of a community-based DRR initiative (Newport and Godfrey, 1996)
Building a pool of internal facilitators within the community, and enhancing their skills towards hazard assessment and risk management efforts (Newport and Godfrey, 1998)
Creating mechanisms that ensure meaningful participation by rural women in all project components and sub-components (e.g. women´s Self Help Groups)
(Newport and Kumar, 2005)
Promotion of women empowerment through facilitation of women leaders in the community
Promoting project sustainability through economic development initiatives and formation\strengthening of CBO structures
Developing linkages with institutional first responder Government Departments by the target group at the community level.
Forming linkages with various development institutions in sustaining livelihood interventions (Newport and Godfrey 2001)
SNIRD‟s approach towards community disaster preparedness was to involve the community in vulnerability analysis and initiate preparedness measures, thereby planning alternate livelihoods that would sustain their income during periods of disasters and minimize loss during occurrence of disasters. The participatory Contingency Plan development process incorporated a number of fundamental building blocks, in which the community actively participated in making the Village level Contingency Plan a reality. The processes included were: Community mobilization - The project supported the engagement of community members to orient themselves to the project objectives to attain a state of readiness for full operation of the disaster preparedness project. Participatory Planning - The project used the techniques of community-based Participatory Planning, such as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) to involve the community in the formulation of their own village level
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Contingency Plan. Task Force Formation - The project developed the capability and the capacity of the community members to form village level taskforce teams to plan for the implementation of its operations during disasters. Village Level Contingency Plan - Response Plan of the community is the present document that puts forth the response and coping mechanism of the village members. Build Capacities for implementation of Contingency Plan - The project will follow up the Plan Process and emergency response mechanism through Mock drills as an integral part of the emergency preparedness project. Alternate Livelihood Income Plan - Based on participatory planning, considering the seasonality of the village the Alternate Livelihood Income Plan was prepared and implemented by involving the CBOs/MACTS for vulnerability reduction through enhancement of livelihood options. Village Profile History of the Village In 1975, people of this village lived adjacent to the seashore. During this period disasters affected their village due to their proximity to the sea and the losses were substantial. They faced many problems like salt water infusion into drinking water sources, diseases and transportation problems. In 1978, the government forcibly shifted them away from that locality to the high level area located about 1 km from the shoreline. The location of the village is given in Figure: 1. Administration - The Kapu System The Kapu means a person who is the Village Leader and he is responsible for social control among the community. The Kapu system is hereditary in nature and reduces the
possibility of conflict among the various sections of the community, settle grievances, dispense justice and maintain peace. Totally three persons are appointed as Kapus‟ of a fisher village with the first being the headman and the other two being his deputies. In Chandrasekhapuram village, the headman is Bhichamgari Laxmaiah and Krishnapatnam Chandraiah and Mamidi Venkateswarlu are the deputies. In this leadership system, only men may participate, while women would not even be allowed to attend village level meetings.
Social Conditions
People of Chandrasekharpuram belong to the Pattapu community. This community migrated to Andhra Pradesh from Tamil Nadu many centuries ago. Parents typically take their sons for fishing along with them right from the age of 12 years. Currently, men wear dhotis and shirts but some of the elders still wear the Gochi (a strip of cloth that passes between their legs and is tucked into a string tied around their waist). The head is covered with a piece of cloth that is tied around the ears leaving the middle of the scalp bare. The women wear saris. Pattapu people speak the Pattapu language, which is a mixture of Tamil & Telugu. This language has no script. Most of the men, not only the elders but also the youth are addicted to alcohol. The men are generally physically well-built, courageous and confident by nature as they face many dangers in life and threatening situations while at sea. The villagers are Hindus, who worship Lord Rama and thus far there is no temple for worship within the village.
Education
In this village there is no school (formal or informal); consequently the children attend the school at Ramatheertham, an adjoining town, for their primary education. They go by auto rigshaw, for which they pay monthly fee to the driver. The literacy level of this community is around 25% and not even 15% of the women are literate.
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 063
Table 1. Seasonal desease prevalence in Chandrasekhapuram
Diseases Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Diarrhea Malaria Cold Fewer
Table 2. Yearly family income and expenditure
Expenditure Amount $ Income Amount $
Rice & Grocery 266.67 Sale of Prawns & Fish 500.00 Medicines 133.34 Agriculture labour work 166.67 Clothing 60.00 Millet Cultivation 100.00 Alcohol, cigar, etc 46.67 Groundnut cultivation 116.67 Gear & Boat maintenance 133.34 Kerosene & Electricity 90.00 Diesel for Fishing 133.34 Miscellaneous 16.67
Total 880.03 883.34
Health Facilities Previously the Government Public Health Centre Nurse used to visit this village thrice a month but of late she is not coming. In any emergency situation, the villagers have to go to Ramatheertham or Vidavallur which is 4 km from this village. Further, the prevalence of disease during particular seasons is given in Table: 1. Infrastructures There are a total of 22 families in this village and 13 houses are RCC houses and the remaining 9 houses are huts. All 22 houses have electricity supply connections. There are totally 12 electric poles, which are in good condition. In this village, the Panchayat (administrative block) leaders had a pipeline installed for the supply of water, but currently there is no water supply because of bore well failure. The villagers are using water from small hand bores for their cooking and cleaning purposes, of which the details are given in the social map, presented later in Figure: 2. This village does not have a drainage system because of the sandy soil, which does not allow for the stagnation of water. There are no household toilets and open defecation is the prevailing practice, leading to unsanitary condition of the village.
Road and Transportation
The access to Chandrasekhapuram village is by mud road only. A gravel road from this village leads to Ramatheertham main road and there is a cross road inside the village. The distance from the village to the main road is 300 m. There are bus facilities from Nellore to the nearest main village, ~2 km (Ponapudi
Pedapalem). The bus makes 15 trips a day. Auto rickshaw facilities are also available. Livelihood Situation 90% of the villagers are engaged in marine fishing. The women are often engaged in agricultural labour during the off seasons of fishing. There are 6 women who are head load fish vendors. Majority of the families belong to below the poverty line, as they are dependent solely on fishing and marine resources are being depleted at an alarming rate, due to over fishing and destruction of fish habitats. Middlemen exploit the fisher-folk because they are unable to avail credit facilities from formal banking institutions. Further, the Government is providing pension to 4 village members only, of 3 $ (1 $ = Rs. 66) per month.
Village Trade The approximate details of income and yearly expenditure of one family is given in Table: 2. Wealth Ranking All the villagers are fishermen. The main criteria taken for wealth ranking is fishing, fishing assets, land holding, livestock, employment patterns, house types and dependents. Based on these criteria, all 22 families belong to below poverty line category. The occupation details are given in Table: 3. Land Ownership Two persons have 2 acres of agriculture land and they are cultivating paddy. 20 persons have occupied
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Newport et al. 064
Table 3: Chandrasekhapuram occupation details aggregated based on gender
Occupation Male Female Total
Fishing 19 0 19 Fish Vending 0 6 6 Agriculture 3 0 3 Agriculture Labour 0 19 19
Total 22 25 47
Figure 2: Chandrasekhapuram Social Map, compiled by Task Force (not to scale)
Figure 3: Chandrasekhapuram Hazard Map, compiled by Task Force (not to scale)
forestland. They have 30 cents per person and they are cultivating raagi (millet). The details of agriculture seasonality are in Table: 4. Village Level Institutions There are 2 women Self Help Groups (SHGs) in this
village. One group is 18 months old and have a savings of 98.67 $ per member and the other group is 6 months old have a savings of 22.67 $ per member. There is a fish workers union (Samudra Theera Matsya Karmikula Union) that represents the issues of fisher folk at wider level. There are 12 members who have enrolled in this union from this village.
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 065
Table 4. Chandrasekhapuram agricultural seasonality of main crops in village
Diseases Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Paddy × × × × × × Ground nut × × × × Raggi × × ×
(Millet)
Table 5. Potential hazards sites near Chandrasekhapuram
Risk Site Distance (Km.) Current Situation
Sea (Bay of Bengal)
1 Km from the village
The height of the waves will rise very high during the spring tides. Due to the sea erosion caused post tsunami, the sea water is coming closer to the village
Stream (Buckingham Canal)
1 km from the village
During the high tides the level of water in the canal raises and poses a threat to the village because the path leading to the main road gets inundated.
Well 0.5 km from the village The villagers are not using the water.
Figure 3. Venn Diagram showing distances of various institutions from Chandrasekhapuram
Participatory Rural Appraisal Tools The community helped in a mapping exercise, as led by the task force during their vulnerability assessment, whereby the following maps were produced and the subsequent information was collected. Social mapping PRA technique has been used to conduct social mapping in this village. The details are given in Figure: 2. This village is situated 4 km from Ramatheertham. The
Population of Chandrasekharapuram is 65 living in 22 houses of which, 13 are reinforced concrete houses and the remaining 9 houses are thatched huts. The entire village is comprised of the Pattapu community, which has been classified as a Backward Community, according to the Indian caste system. Infrastructures that can be used as shelters during calamities There is no “Cyclone Shelter” in this village. Hence the villagers will be shifted to the nearby village called
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Newport et al. 066
Table 6. Chandrasekhapuram Resource Map, compiled by Task Force (not to scale)
Table 6. Village livelihood assets
Occupation Asset Total Nos. Value in $
Fishing Fibre Boats 3 8525 Nets 5000 kg 34100 Theppa Large 2 3200 Theppa Small 5 2275 Agriculture Wet Land 2 acres 2275 Dry Land 6.6 acres 690
Table 7. Seasonality of fish varieties
Varieties Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
Busagadipalem, which is situated at a distance of 100 meters from this village. In Busagadipalem, the cyclone shelter can accommodate the Chandrasekharapuram families without any difficulty. In this village 5 families are having bicycle. Hazard mapping The villagers were involved in hazard mapping and the details are given in Figure: 3. The details of risk sites and the distance from this village and the vulnerability situations are given in Table: 5, based on community discussions and site verifications.
Resource mapping The villagers were involved in hazard mapping and the details are given in Figure: 6. In the East, there are agriculture lands 200 meter from this village. The western extent comprises of agriculture and a sandy tract of land, approximately 50 meter from this village. The village Busagadipalem is situated in 50 meter to the northern side. The south side comprises of sandy land 40 meter to this village. The details of livelihood assets in this village are in Table: 6. The fish varieties and the fishing seasons are given in Table: 7. There are 3 Fibre Reinforced Boats, in which 4 people can go for fishing in each boat.
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 067 Table 8. MACTS Financial Statement (in USD, 1$ = Rs. 66)
Particulars Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total
2 large theppa (boats) in which 6 people can go for fishing in each one and 5 small theppa in which 2 people can go for fishing in each one. The fisherfolk use different varieties of nets to catch different fish varieties, depending on the seasons. The seeda vala (net) is used for catching pomfrets and Chinese pomfrets, chuttu vala for mackerels, sanna royya vala for prawns, vanjarau vala for seer fish, ring vala for small fish varieties and appa vala for multi-purpose catching. Time Line The time line exercise was conducted through discussion with the village men and women, which revealed the following information. Population Over the last few years, the population of the village has decreased due to livelihood constraints. Some families have migrated to other villages. At present, the population is 65 and total number of families is 22. Health In the past, there were many health problems in the
village and the community depended on home/herbal medicines. Now they are going to the nearest Public Health Centre for treatment and medication. Earlier the fisher folk were very superstitious, and believed diseases were caused by evil spirits and depended on faith healers but now the attitude has changed considerably. Food In the past the staple diet of the fisher community was finger millet, locally known as raagi. They used to make the raagi into porridge. Now they have become used to consuming rice and are cultivating paddy on their own lands. They also raise casuarina plantations on the shoreline and sell the wood of this tree, when they need money for celebrating village festivals. Social Customs In the past child marriages were very common. The age difference between the husband and wife used to be substantial. This has reduced considerably due to interventions by the government, NGOs and Mahila Sanghams, on awareness building. Drinking Water The availability of potable water is sufficient because potable water is available at a depth of 20 to 25 ft. The groundwater occurring beyond 25 ft is brackish and can
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Newport et al. 070 Table 9. SHG Financial Statement (in USD, 1$ = Rs. 66)
Particulars Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
e July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Total
Members (SHGs) Financial Resource Mobilization (USD)
only be used for cleaning purposes. Fishing The fishing community people are considered by other communities to be rough and uncivilized. They do not have much exposure to modern technology and are confined to their traditional ways of earning their livelihood. Middlemen exploit them, thereby leaving them poverty ridden and lacking development. Natural calamities like cyclones, floods and other disasters are other obstacles to their development. In the past, more fish resources were available during certain seasons. At present the declining fish resources are depriving them of their livelihoods leading to severe poverty.
Livestock In the past the fisher folk had few sheep or goats, which used to graze on the sea coastal plains. These livestock have gradually decreased due to most of the wastelands being converted into shrimp ponds, leading to lack of fodder availability.
Venn Diagram
The Venn Diagram exercise was conducted to collect the distance of various institutions that are used by this village. The details of information collected are given in Figure: 4.
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Newport et al. 072 Community Interventions During discussions with the villagers, they revealed that their demand was greater for infrastructure development. The community prioritized needs such as proper road facilities to the village, regular public transport, cold storage facilities for storing their catch, credit for procuring fishing gear and seed capital for agriculture and household latrines. Our observations however revealed that there was a greater need for livelihood enhancement towards vulnerability reduction, considering funding limitations and the state of community-based disaster preparedness. Hence livelihood interventions were planned along with community based disaster preparedness trainings and task force formation.
Task force members The villagers selected 7 men and 3 women between the ages of 24 to 38, as the task force committee members for this village. Each task force committee member was assigned with specific responsibilities during pre and post disaster management. The Task Force members are grouped and trained under Early Warning, First Aid/Water and Sanitation, Shelter, Rescue and Evacuation, Relief and Rehabilitation Committees. Livelihood support and enhancement It was decided to provide seed capital support for assets worth 30 $ for a fish pickling unit, to 3 women beneficiaries by the community and willingness/interest shown by the beneficiaries. Since the nearest major town, Nellore is 40 km away from this village, there was a potential demand for fish pickle in Nellore and nearby towns such as Kavali and Ongole. Hence, a total quantity of 3 600 kg was planned to be procured locally at the rate of 4 $ per kilogram and sold at the rate of 3 $ per kg. The quality of the product (pickle) was to be monitored by SNIRD, who was responsible for implementing the intervention. Further was identified to provide assets worth 35 $ for cold storage (ice box) to 3 beneficiaries, who have fiber boats. The total cost was 70 $ for each box, but the Government provided a subsidy of 35 $ for each box. The ice box was procured from Nellore through the governmental Fisheries Department. The cold chain process was used to preserve fish products, thereby ensuring a better price for their catch. As per the Alternate Livelihood Income Plan (Table: 9 and Table: 10), there was an additional income of 1160 $ earned by these 6 beneficiaries through the fish pickling business and cold storage as an alternate livelihood income generation activity. Community Investment There were 2 SHGs, which had a total capital of 1726.67 $. Additional loan fund were mobilized from banks, of
1516.67 $ by these SHGs and a seed capital of 76.67 $ was provided for 5 bore wells- to irrigate the 7 acres of land. The 23 members were sub-grouped into five common interest groups, as they were responsible for the maintenance of the bore wells and repayment of the loans for each of the bore wells. Further, each SHG member was provided additional credit, depending on their need for crop support. There is a demand for watermelon during summer months in this area. Hence, the SHG members were motivated to cultivate watermelon in February to March. Middlemen from Nellore were coordinated with, to come to village point and collect the fruit in lorry loads for sale in Nellore, Kavali, and Ongole, as well as in Chennai markets. In addition, the SHG members were motivated to cultivate ground nut during the period July to September. The produce was sold to middlemen who in turn sell it for oil production. The ground nuts were collected from the village point by the middlemen. Cultivation of watermelon and ground nut generated an additional income of 172 $ per annum for each family in the village. Role of CBOs/MACTS and SNIRD Mutually Aided Cooperative Thrift Societies, comprising of women members were registered at the District level, comprising of an Executive body. NGO staff in turn monitored the day to day activities of the MACTS. Regular meetings and trainings were organized for MACTS members towards capacity development in financial management, proper loan utilization and in book keeping. MACTS in turn, oversaw credit facilities for economic interventions at village level, through the SHGs. The MACTS members from this village elected 10 members for the Community Based Organizations (CBOs). These CBO members were given intensive training on risk reduction and community based disaster preparedness.
Project evaluation and discussion Based on the HFA, the evaluation was conducted after the project. This was done within the project context- specifically the size of the project, community, social and leadership structures and environmental setting. The limited amount of time and resources available to the implementing organization was also taken into consideration during the evaluation process. The HFA table, with the inclusion of the Effectiveness theme is presented in Table: 11.
Governance As this project was able to strengthen the local governance on DRM, through the promulgation of the village level Contingency Plan, there was moderate success achieved towards more sound governance. This
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
J. Agric. Econ. Rural Devel. 073 is based on the fact that Contingency Plans at village level are supposed to feed into district level, which consequently feeds into state level and ultimately national level. Additionally this was perceived as a success as it also integrated with community development and through fostering greater community involvement also ensured transparency and accountability. The only weakness in this framework, with regards to governance, was that there was not greater involvement in the planning and execution of the project with governmental agencies and competent authorities. Due to this fact, there was not political commitment towards DRR towards the benefit of the community. However, the target community, who have been made aware of their vulnerabilities, who were able to identify their needs and whose CGOs and relevant leadership structures have been strengthened may well be able to better negotiate with public entities for their rights and entitlements in future. Risk Assessment The risk assessment conducted was done in a non-technical manner by the community with the help of SNIRD through guidance, training and community organization. For this theme there was a minor level of success achieved. Herein lies a significant trade-off in the fact that more accurate scientific methods were not used, as this may have led to the community losing interest and imparted a feeling of condescension- as has been noted in past activities. Even so, the project framework may have reduced accuracy of the various assessment results (section 3), but did manage to incorporate the community into part of the technical process which creates a scientific and technical basis for the community to build onto in the future. To overcome this issue, there would need to be more networking and inclusion of research and tertiary education instituted, where information can be dispersed such as early warnings of natural disasters. Knowledge and Education The target community, specifically the women, was able to receive training in disaster risk and vulnerability assessment, DRM, leadership and financial management. To this end, the education and knowledge sharing of the project was a moderate success, as they have been empowered to take up a more active role in improving DRM and also in achieving financial and social security through reduced vulnerability. The sharing of knowledge about the project however was not optimized as the network of NGOs and various institutions are somewhat fragmented in this region and thus there was no easily accessible platform for workshops, trainings and conferences- this is partly owing to the fact that initiating such events were outside the scope of the project.
Risk Management and Vulnerability Reduction This theme was perhaps the greatest success of the project, in that all of the elements listed under it were addressed through the task force formation and training, and initiation of alternate livelihoods practices for the villagers. On average the project was able to increase the income of each household by ~19.5 %, while increasing the average annual disposable income by 172 $ from 3.31 $. Although the project was able to also provide credit facilities where they were previously unattainable, there was no incentive by the community to pursue other financial instruments such as insurance. This was mostly based on the fact that individually, none of the families had sufficient assets to warrant taking insurance, and jointly not all were in favor of spending money without any immediate and/or tangible benefit. This is partly because of a generational lack of education and partly because of traditional customs. Disaster Preparedness Response There was a high level of success achieved towards addressing the elements listed under this theme, as there was inclusive contingency planning, capacity building, emergency response mechanisms were put in place and community participation was 100%. It was however outside of the scope of the project to include neighboring villages in the initiatives, which does weaken the potential level of coordination. Also there needs to be greater coordination through inclusion of such programs under central networks instituted through the public and private sectors as many villages (hundreds), will most likely be affected by a disaster such as a flood. Effectiveness Given the relatively small scale of the initiative and resources used, this approach was quite successful, in that a good level of potential sustainability was achieved with relatively few resources. This success was based on the relatively big part the community themselves played in the implementation of the project. Making women a core element in the socio-economic development process was also a great innovation of the project, in that it addresses not only inequality, but may have many knock-on effects, such as improved education, gender equity, household security etc. as women are the custodians of the home and thus a core element of the larger community. Linking of the CBOs to the socio-economic development also ensures a level of project sustainability as there will be a need for ongoing development within such communities in the foreseeable future. This project was found to be easy replicable as it relied on relatively little resources and was not highly technical in nature.
Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness
Newport et al. 074 CONCLUSION Based on the practical experiences and knowledge of our intervention as diversified practices on fish related activities and agriculture will be replicable model in similar disaster prone areas. As previously mentioned not all thematic areas of the HFA can be implemented in one initiative, but there needs at least some of the areas of each theme need to be represented within a project framework to achieve a more holistic and sustainable approach. The main areas of concern however still remain institutional coordination and synergy between relevant stakeholders within the DRR community. As noted by Twigg (2007), there is also a need for synergy and emergence of a more common framework for DRR initiatives and their evaluation. Even though each initiative must be uniquely tailored to the prevalent circumstances, a more common qualitative assessment framework, may pave the way for more common quantitative assessment frameworks in the future. In addition, it was found that there needs to be more specific and clearly defined inclusion of the role of women and women empowerment in DRR. Also it is important that more such examples or case studies of DRR are placed in the public domain for wider knowledge sharing and further scrutinization by the scientific community, in order to enable more focused and informed policies and policy instruments. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT The authors acknowledged the contributions of Gertrud Buchenrieder, Nikolaos Hasanagas, Dr. Diana Marin and Triet Tran for donating their time, critical evaluation, constructive comments, and invaluable assistance toward the improvement of this very manuscript. REFERENCES International Federation of Red Cross Red Crescent
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Accepted 15 October, 2015 Citation: Newport JK, Möller JJ, Newport KJ, Godfrey A, Jawahar GGP (2016). Alternate livelihood income plan for vulnerability reduction through community based disaster preparedness. Journal of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, 3(1): 060-074.
