TRIBAL DEVELOPMENT, WOMEN AND LAND RIGHTS ISSUES ON FIELD LEARNING EXERCISE AND STATE LEVEL WORKSHOP

Solution Exchange is an initiative of United Nations agencies in India and the Gender Community is facilitated by UNWOMEN and UNICEF

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSOn behalf of all the cost-sharing/collaborating/facilitating partners to the on-field learning exercise and the state level workshop in Koraput, Odisha, Solution Exchange (SE) for the Gender Community takes this opportunity to gratefully acknowledge the contributions made by each of the partners, without whose interest and initiative the Koraput event would not be a reality. The cost-sharing/collaborating/facilitating partners of the event include IFAD - a specialized agency of the United Nations and Welthungerhilfe (formerly know as German Agro Action) along with its National Advocacy Partner, the Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS); and the partners of IFAD and Welthungerhilfe in Koraput/Odisha - Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP) and Agragamee respectively. On behalf of all the partners to the event, SE-Gender Community also extends special gratitude to Mr. N C Saxena (National Advisory Council), Mr. Vincent Darlong (IFAD India Country Office), Mr. Gopi Ghosh (FAO India Country Office), Ms. Vasavi Kiro (State Commission for Women, Jharkhand), Mr. Paritosh Chakma (Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network), Mr. Ramesh Awasthi (Masum, Maharashtra) and Mr. Rahul Banerjee (Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath, Madhya Pradesh) for their avowed interest and participation as resource persons and experts. Special thanks are due to Mr. Sachin R Jadhav, Collector-Koraput, for his encouragement towards such a learning event, which brings experts and practitioners from across the country and grassroots practitioners in Odisha together, giving both an opportunity to learn from each other. SE-Gender Community played a role that of a Knowledge Partner, in the Koraput event. For this, it would like to extend its gratitude to its facilitating agencies UNWOMEN, UNICEF - for their encouragement and constant support, which enables the Gender Community play its facilitating role, and connect practitioners to knowledge share, learn from each other and collaborate, across the country. Gender Community takes this opportunity to especially thank Ms. Judith Dsouza (IFAD), Ms. Saraswathi Rao, Ms. Vaishali Mishra (Welthungerhilfe), Ms. Shreya Mazumdar (IGSSS) for their role, assistance and support during the event and Ms. Sreetama Guptabhaya (Welthungerhilfe) for sharing her notes on the events proceedings. Staff and Management of Raj Residency Hotel, Koraput, deserve a mention for their hospitality services. Last but not the least, on behalf of all the partners, SE-Gender Community expresses heartfelt thanks to all the development practitioners from across Odisha, who attended the Koraput event, for their interest, compassion and participation.

For any additional information on the Koraput Event, please contactMalika Basu, PhD Resource Person & Moderator Gender Community Solution Exchange UNICEF India Office 73 Lodi Estate, New Delhi-110003 E-mail: malikabasu@one.un.org; mbasu@unicef.org Tel (office) 011-24690401 Ext.230 www.solutionexchange.net.in Judith D'Souza Gender and KM Officer IFAD Country Office 2, Poorvi Marg, Vasant Vihar New Delhi - 110057 E-mail:j.dsouza@ifad.org Tel (office) 011-45004000 Ext.2884 www.ifad.org

ContentsACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................... ii1. INTRODUCTION .................................................. 1Background, Objectives, and Purpose

2. ON-FIELD LEARNING EXERCISE ........................ 3Preparation, Methodology, and On-field Interactions

3. FOLLOW UP WORKSHOP .................................... 6Findings from the Field, and the Key Emerging Issues4. CONCLUSION ....................................................... 8

Suggestions and Recommendations

Annexure ................................................................ 12I. List of Participants

1.INTRODUCTION Background, Objectives and Purpose1.1 This report is based on an on-field learning exercise and a state level workshop, hereafter referred to as the Koraput Event. The event was facilitated by Solution Exchange for the Gender Community 1 as a knowledge partner, and supported by IFAD - a specialized agency of the United Nations and Welthungerhilfe (formerly known as German Agro Action), with additional logistical and field support provided by the national advocacy partner of Welthungerhilfe i.e. Indo-Global Social Service Society (IGSSS) as well as Orissa Tribal Empowerment and Livelihood Programme (OTELP) and Agragamee in Koraput the partners of IFAD and Welthungerhilfe in Odisha respectively. 1.2 The Koraput Event, 28-30 June 2011, was one of its kinds initiatives of the Gender Community wherein experts and resource persons from outside the state of Odisha and development practitioners in Odisha, especially those working at the grassroots were brought together, to jointly undertake field visits to four tribal villages; later at a state level workshop, with a lager group of state level practitioners, the findings from the field were shared and deliberations took place to identify the ways or processes that can facilitate gender sensitive development interventions in tribal areas such as Koraput. 1.3 Background - Koraput Event: The idea of the Koraput event emanated from two discussions that were initiated by IFAD and Welthungerhilfe on the Gender Communitys eplatform. IFAD and Welthungerhilfe work closely on issues of land, property, livelihood, literacy, womens empowerment and provide loans/technical support/grants in some of the backward/tribal dominated areas of the country. Based on their programmes and mandate, their respective queries on the Gender e-platform focused on issues related to tribal development,1

Solution Exchange (SE) is a joint initiative of all the United Nations (UN) agencies in India for accelerated achievement of Indias development objectives and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) through effective use of practitioners knowledge. The objective of SE is to bring out practitioners unstated (or tacit) knowledge and make it available to everybody so that no one reinvents the wheel. SE is currently facilitating 13 Communities of Practice (CoPs) one of them is the Gender Community. Since its inception in June 2005, the role of the Gender Community (facilitated by UN Agencies UNWOMEN and UNICEF) has been to bring together under an electronic platform and also other interactive ways, academicians, practitioners, consultants, government officials, policy makers and others to share, learn from each other, and collaborate on various gender related themes and issues. Information on Gender Community can be accessed on its website, www.solutionexchange.net.in/communities/gender The Community, has over 3500 members spread across the country and abroad, committed to make development gender responsive, thereby effective. Sharing on various issues among practitioners through Gender Community initiatives has gone as inputs and guidelines to facilitate Government Bills, programme interventions/strategies and advocacy/campaigns.

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empowering women, and land rights. 2 The discussions facilitated learning amongst community members and others; it also led some members to request that such discussions focusing on issues related to tribal development must not get restricted only to e-platforms; they must be taken forward in a way that it strengthens further cross learning among development practitioners working specifically on tribal issues. The belief was that any follow up would help to connect practitioners with each other for problem identification and problem solving, which can also throw light on effective implementation of tribal policies, projects and programmes. It was therefore proposed that following the discussions on the e-platform, the Gender Community now explores initiating an on-field learning exercise. The idea was discussed with IFAD and Welthungerhilfe, and found acceptance. Since both the agencies were working in Odisha, it was decided to organize the on-field learning exercise in this State. In consultation with IFAD and Welthungerhilfe it was further decided that the field work will take place in four tribal dominated villages of Koraput district of Odisha, two each supported by IFAD and Welthungerhilfe. 1.4 The Koraput learning exercise thus conceived and planned entailed a field exercise with a group of experts/resource persons from outside Odisha and a team of practitioners in Odisha especially at the grassroots to gain a first hand understanding of right/welfare/livelihood based programme interventions in tribal areas - what works, what are the challenges, what processes are involved, the success stories, etc. 1.5 Purpose of the Event: The purpose behind the Koraput event was to identify models of interventions or processes or guidelines, which can be shared at the policy level for consideration with regards to tribal development/welfare. It was decided that the event proceedings will be captured and shared (via this report) as information with concerned government departments, agencies as well as practitioners. It will also be put up on the IFAD, Welthungerhilfe and Gender Community websites for a larger community of practitioners to benefit from it. Specific objectives: a) To understand and present the nuances from the field in the context of the broad objectives b) Share and illustrate the lessons learnt in the field based on the various interactions which could be indicative of any rights-welfarelivelihood-based programmes (and can be carried forward)

1.6. All the cost-sharing/collaborating/facilitating partners 3 viewed the event as an opportunity to identify key concerns related to tribal development, women and land rights, which can also be disseminated at various levels. All were equally keen to learn and know more through the event the matters that have a priority for tribal communities and how those have been addressed through government or non-government interventions. In addition, the event provided the Gender Community as well as the partners an opportunity to establish links and contacts with many development organizations and practitioners from Odisha.

Specifically, the discussions initiated by IFAD and Welthungerhilfe gave members an opportunity to give inputs to developing a manual on tribal rights to facilitate IFADs programme on tribal development, and suggest ways to effectively monitor Welthungerhilfes empowering project focusing on womens access to literacy, land and property. Discussion summaries of these discussions are available with the Resource Team, Gender Community (segen@solutionexchange-un.net.in) 3 Cost-sharing/collaborating/facilitating partners covered various item heads of the event, which included covering costs of boarding and lodging of all outstation participants, transportation and all other logistics related to the event. Not all partners may have contributed financially but collaborated to provide other technical assistance and logistical support.

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1.7 Participants: Prior to the event, through various sources including references from partners to the event as well as community members a list of organizations was prepared. Since this was the first event of this nature for the Gender Community and given other constraints, it was thought best to limit the number of participants for the field exercise as well as the state level workshop. List of Participants attached as Annexure II. 1.8 Objectives: The broad objectives of the workshop was to help identify the processes, challenges, and best practices that addresses and facilitates the rights and entitlements of tribal groups/communities especially women in terms of their access to literacy, land and common property resources. 1.9 Event Agenda: The event duration was 2.5 days only. The first day of the event comprised of a half-day introductory cum orientation session with participants, wherein the purpose and the objectives were reiterated. The local partners OTELP and Agragamee also presented an overview of their development work in general and specifically in the Koraput region and focussed on the villages that were to be covered under the field work viz. Gunnar, Talagodla (Agragamee) and Kuijhankar and Ledriguda (OTELP). At the introductory session, IFAD, Welthungerhilfe and its national advocacy partner, IGSSS, too gave a brief introduction of their respective work 4 and welcomed participants, reiterating the need to make the Koraput Event a truly learning and interactive exercise.

2.ONFIELDLEARNINGEXERCISE

Preparation, Methodology and On-field Interactions2.1 The first day of the Koraput Event was dedicated towards laying the foundation of the onfield exercise. In addition to the participants getting to know each other, the local partners OTELP and Agragamee were requested to provide an overview of their programme interventions with specific reference to villages that had been identified for the field visits. The overview helped in providing the participants a broad idea of the area they were to visit the following day. 2.2 For the field visits, two villages each in the Dashmantpur and Laxmipur blocks of Koraput District were chosen viz Gunnar and Talagodla (Dashmantpur) and Kuijhankar and Ledriguda (Laxmipur). Agragamee was working in the two villages of the Dashmantpur block; while OTELP in the villages of Laxmipur block. 2.3 Preparation: As a preparation to the field visits, both Agragamee and OTELP 5 provided a profile of their organization and its mandates within which they operate in Odisha. This was followed by giving some insights into the socio economic profile of the region, particularly Koraput and the villages chosen for field visits, interventions and projects that are being undertaken in these villages, challenges and the success stories. 2.3.1 The presentation by the local partners enabled the participants to understand the objectives of their development interventions, which primarily included a) building the capacity of marginalized groups (especially tribal communities; nearly 50% of Koraputs population being4

Information on IFAD can be viewed at www. http://asia.ifad.org/en_GB/web/india and http://operations.ifad.org/web/ifad/operations/country/home/tags/india; Welthungerhilfe at http://www.welthungerhilfe-southasia.org/; and IGSSS at http://igsss.org/ 5 Organizational profile of Agragamee can be accessed at http://www.agragamee.org/; OTELP at http://www.otelp.org/

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Scheduled Tribes); b) strengthening livelihood options through enhancing the access of the poor (tribal) people to natural resources as well as increase productivity in agriculture through watershed work; c) encourage and facilitate off-farm enterprises and d) monitor the basic entitlements of tribal households, including specifically the needs and rights of women. 2.3.2 The presentations brought to the fore some key features of the area and the villages. For instance, it appeared that in the kharif season multiple varieties of millet, upland paddy, pulses and oilseeds were grown in the region, while in the rabi season, it was limited only to paddy and some vegetables primarily due to lack of irrigation facilities. High instance of mortgaging was also reported in Gunnar and Talagodla. It was noted by Agragamee that the land was mortgaged to meet the cash need for various ceremonies (e.g. marriage, death, etc) and the land was mortgaged to mostly non-tribals in the village or neighbouring villages. In Kuijhankar and Ledriguda, mostly inhabited by Paraja and Kondhas tribes, most of the initiatives taken up were in terms of improving livelihood options through watershed work as well as supporting the communities on improving their agriculture and increasing their income through horticulture and forest. This was done by setting up institutions at the village level. OTELP clarified that they work through village level sub committees, which prepare the livelihood plans; the monitoring and execution is done by the user groups of each of the activities taken up. Interestingly, while OTELP focused more on the need to build peoples livelihood activities, Agragamee focused on the need to enable access of people to land and natural resources. Both the interventions aimed at empowering communities (especially women, in the case of Agragamee). 2.3.3 While sharing about their interventions in the villages, Agragamee and OTELP also highlighted some challenges that ought to be addressed if development in tribal areas has to bear a true meaning. To meet many of these challenges perhaps calls for advocacy at various levels. (An overview of the challenges is mentioned in the box item Challenges) Challenges 2.3.4 Presentations made by OTELP and Skewed funding priorities that thwarts an Agragamee, led participants to put forth Integrated Development Approach specific questions for clarification. For More emphasis on Watershed and less on instance, questions came up a) regarding Livelihood with adequate forward linkages various livelihood options available to people, Lack of implementation of Government agricultural productivity, livestock, and Laws (e.g. FRA, PESA) leads to difficulties in income from the Non Timber Forest Produce consolidating womens gains (NTFP); b) clarifications were sought on the Lack of efficient and effective delivery of nature of land holdings in the area; specific government programmes questions like the gender division of work Value addition and processing of forest and also came up; c) since instances of other livelihood products mortgaging of land was highlighted, Literacy and education questions were asked if the mortgaging was happening within or outside the village, period of loans, etc; d) questions also pertained to understanding the contribution of forest in the food security of the area; e) questions also accrued to watershed intervention and the institutional mechanisms put in place; and f) the process of empowering women. 2.4 The participants felt that the villages chosen for field visits had more or less similar profiles and that the field visits would provide insights into some of the questions raised as well as the challenges highlighted by the partners. The emerging suggestions and recommendations from the visits, it was hoped will contribute to the policy discussions on tribal development by providing specific inputs for operationalisation.

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2.5 Methodology: Since there were four villages identified for the field visits, it was decided that the participants will be divided into four groups and each group will visit one village. Based on the profile of the participants, they were divided into four groups so that each group had 5-7 members. The group members were a mix of livelihood experts, agriculturists, gender experts, and practitioners working on social issues (e.g. education, health). A brief guideline was provided to all the participants which included a) keep the objectives in mind i.e. attempt must be made to understand the processes of interventions (and its outcomes); b) meet various groups in the village e.g. panchayat leaders, women SHG members, women leaders, frontline health workers, anganwadi workers, village level committee representatives, etc; c) the learning exercise was not aimed to evaluate the interventions made by either of the local partners; it was an effort to collectively understand some of the issues related to tribal communities and their livelihoods, issues of women and land rights. Participants were specifically requested to refrain from criticizing organizations efforts on the field; rather their focus was to be on identifying the gaps and engage in a dialogue to understand the context, the efforts, challenges and outcomes of development interventions. 2.6 Field Visits: The four groups formed, spent one entire day in their respective assigned villages. All arrangements were made by the local partners and their representatives, which also enabled the groups to meet several stakeholder groups. Once at the village, the participants were first given a brief introduction on the work that was initiated in the village, followed by interaction with the Community, wherein villagers talked of the issues pertinent to their village and how it was/were dealt. Discussions with the villagers did throw light on the nature of agriculture, various livelihood options available, and the interventions made by OTELP and Agragamee to better their situations.

Participants at village LedrigudaDiscussions also revolved around the delivery mechanisms by the Government departments and various development schemes reaching or not reaching the villages. Interactions in particular with the women groups helped to understand the nature of their participation in the larger village development process. At the end of the field visit, the participants interacted with the two Block Development officers within whose jurisdiction were included the four villages. The interaction led

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to discussions on the implementation of various Government schemes, particularly National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and Forest Rights Act (FRA). It also led to a discussion on the need to bridge the gap between NGO workers and government officials so that they could facilitate each others work (which rarely happens!)

3.FOLLOWUPWORKSHOP

Findings from the Field and the Key Emerging Issues3.1 The third and final day of the event was a State Level Workshop, wherein more practitioners and experts from Odisha including members of civil society and government representatives joined the workshop. The final day was dedicated to sharing of findings by the groups which undertook the field visits; thereafter, based on further deliberations with the larger group which joined for the workshop on the third day, come up with feasible recommendations for considerations at various levels of programme implementation and policy advocacy. 3.2 The workshop began with the four groups presenting their findings and observations from the field. It was found that all the groups based on their field visit and the interaction with various groups in the villages, highlighted issues that revolved more or less around six key themes viz. Agriculture and Livelihood; Natural Resource Management (with focus on access to forest produce); Institutional and Capacity Building (especially those of village level committees and womens groups); Issues of Governance and Accountability; Womens Entitlements and Empowerment. Added to this, was the question of Sustainability, which is relevant to any programme/development intervention. 3.3. In addition to some specific issues around the six themes (discussed below), all the groups shared a list of key learning from the field. It was felt that the key learning could act as a pointer to organizations undertaking development interventions. The key learning from the groups can be clubbed as follows:

Key Learning from the Field Linkages between Institutional Services (e.g. education, health, banking, livelihood, etc) are essential for an Integrated Development Approach Transfer Knowledge and Capabilities to Communities is an important facet of development interventions Wider Social Mobilisation and Awareness Strengthens Implementation and Performance of Programmes (e.g. an informed woman was able to access Janani Suraksha Yojna (JSY) for Institutional Delivery) Facilitating Collective Concerns Leads to Community Mobilisation Plan for Sustainability of Project Related Interventions essential (e.g. absence of youth in the development discourse at the village level raises questions on sustainability) Convergence is highly critical for Sustainability of Community Development Activities Involving Women in the Larger Canvas of Village Planning also addresses issues of their concerns as well as entitlements Community Asset Management helps in village development Access to Financial Services for all Households facilitates livelihood activities Involving Community to Implement the Project Activities (e.g. through village level

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committees) is a key to success of a programme Involving local high capacity NGOs with wide outreach as Partners in the Programme can facilitate efficient implementation of programme with peoples participation

3.3. Drawing from its field experiences, the groups highlighted a number of issues that led to discussions among workshop participants. These issues included specific to livelihood activities, access and management of common land, delivery system of the Government programmes, benefits from the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA). Issues of governance and role of women in planning were particularly highlighted. Some issues focused on the nature of benefit sharing owing to improvement in irrigation or collection of minor forest produce. Discussion with regards to the issue of food security also came up. The participants who visited the field made observations that the traditional system of cultivation (podu and others) had a lot of argo-bio diversity. However, due to external intervention and various government programmes like the Wadi introduced cash crops in the region. There is a huge potential if the on-farm agro bio diversity is conserved. 3.4 Other points highlighted from the field included mentioning of reduction in drudgery of women as a result of programme interventions; management of common land playing an important role in the livelihood improvement; the critical issue of tenurial insecurity; necessity by the local communities to monitor the government run schemes in the village. It was observed by the groups that in some villages as a result of intervention, parallel structures have come up; however, sustainability becomes a question if parallel structures are created in the village and there are no linkages made with the local self governance institutions such as Palli Sabha. It was also pointed out that the land issues are in general very complicated with no settlement done since Independence; also most of the land are non private land and belong to Forest or Revenue department. Some best practices occurring at the village level were also shared. For example, access to irrigation facilities by all households owing to watershed practices; creation of village level institutions for managing community based assets; reclaiming community land under FRA for plantation by women, presence of women in village level committees. 3.5 Apart from the above issues and the Key Learning, some issues were specifically mentioned to draw attention. (These

Specific Issues from the Field Impact on Productivity of the land due to the decrease in the podu cycle (shifting cultivation) for up to 3 years only; traditionally, it used to be for 7-10 years Issues of land rights not well defined; hence any intervention such as watershed intervention remains incomplete Forest Rights Act (FRA); there is a need to sensitize the local officials and the community groups on claiming rights under the FRA The land issues are very complex; there is a clear lack of response from the state on the delivery mechanisms. The space required for deliberation on the discomforting issues of land is clearly missing

are mentioned in the box item Specific Issues from the Field)

3.6 The Collector of Koraput District, Sachin R Jadhav, IAS, was present briefly during the workshop. He responded to some of the points that came up from the group presentations. While agreeing that governance and accountability needs strengthening, he also reiterated that the capacity of the lower level staff has to be built, a point which was also made by the Block Development Officers during the field visits. One of the participants, a woman leader from the tribal community drew the Collectors attention on the plight of many people like her whose right on the land is being denied under

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FRA (which may be acquired for industrial purpose). She said that denying her the land right is actually denying her the tribal status and her tribal identity. 3.7 Following the group presentations, wherein the group members highlighted their observations from the field; as mentioned, six broad themes emerged. It was decided that the participants, keeping in my mind the observations made on the field and drawing from their own experiences, will be divided into 6 groups and come up with specific recommendations on the six themes.

IV.CONCLUSION

Suggestions and Recommendations4.1 The state level workshop which saw deliberations on some of the key issues, identified on the basis of the field exercise, recognized that using any rights based or livelihood based interventions cannot yield its adequate results without the involvement of community including its women members (and their groups). It also involves the government and other service providers to increase their capacity and accountability, thereby upholding their obligation to provide services of highest quality. While different contexts may call for different implementation strategies; however, whatever be the context and the strategies, it must convey respect and protection of peoples rights. Further, interventions must give priority to resource allocation in undertaking such activities that are most effective in meeting peoples essential needs viz. health, education, livelihood, access to resources. In essence thus, inclusion and non-discrimination, participation and empowerment, governance and accountability hold the key to the success of any programme. How these can be realized demands looking into the process and outcomes of interventions, identifying the loopholes or bottlenecks, and find ways to address them optimally. 4.2 The workshop led to making a number of suggestions under each of the six themes (see table below) that were identified and discussed based on the field visits. While some suggestions

are overlapping; each nevertheless, if taken into consideration, could address the existing challenges that hinder development of tribal communities as well as the process womens empowerment (in terms of their rights and entitlements). The following table mentions a set of suggestions that were drawn under each of the themes. It may be noted that the issue of sustainability was viewed as coterminous with any development intervention. Sustainability of any intervention depends on social, economic and financial, technical as well as the environment within which it operates; however most often these key components are rarely anticipated in the programme interventions. While situations may differ, but keeping in mind some broad issues and channeling those in a certain way can facilitate sustainability of projects. KEY THEMES/ISSUES I. Natural Resource Management II. Womens Empowerment SUGGESTIONS Implement Forest Rights Provisions under Forest Rights Act (FRA) Provide Minimum Price Support to Non-Timber Forest Produce Respect Peoples Voices (before say transferring Land to Industries) Link Watershed Development with NREGA Extend FRA to common land Put all assets created under government schemes jointly in the names of men and women Make Literacy for women focus not merely on reading and numeracy skills; promote functional literacy for women (e.g. providing life skills,

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III. Institution Building & Capacity Building

IV. Governance

V. Livelihood and Allied Sectors

VI. Sustainability

awareness and information on government schemes) Ensure Access to health services including sexual and reproductive health for women, while respecting their indigenous practices Capacity building for ensuring active participation and leadership among elected women representatives and local women leadership in villages Proactive dissemination of information by Government to women on their rights under FRA, Panchayat Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) and Domestic Violence (DV) Act Amend the Orissa Gram Panchayat Act and Rules to bring them in full conformity with PESA, 1996; Make the Palli Sabha the Gram Sabha (under FRA, every hamlet is a Gram Sabha) Codification and Notification of the customs and traditions of the tribals by Gram Sabha Build the capacity of administrative staff/officials to implement PESA, all other protective laws (control of money lending, return of alienated land, FRA, etc) Design and implement NGO and government projects in consultation with local Gram Sabha Identify a group of villagers 50% representation of women, train this group to constantly engage with PRIs/State Government Do not allow the Government to dilute the spirit of PESA; under PESA tribal village comprises the governing unit and the Gram Sabha (GS) is the general body/assembly of this unit GS as the final decision making body (including planning/finance; control and management of resources) Make all line departments to converge under local governance unit In case of conflicts, decisions of Gram Sabha to prevail Next level of local governing units will ensure the implementation of GS Decision GS to institutionalize the transparency and accountability (e.g. social audit) Focus on Agriculture in terms of improving and expanding its produce by growing: Cereals (e.g. small millets); Fruits and vegetables (e.g. mango, litchi, cashew, jackfruit, lime, amla, papaya, guava, pineapple, banana, jamun); All off-season vegetable (e.g. green leafy vegetables); Root Vegetables (e.g. potato, sweet potatoes, cassava, yam); Pulses and oilseeds (e.g. beans, peas, sunflower, ground nut) On Livestock, focus on Small ruminants (e.g. goat, sheep, pig); poultry (e.g. chicken, duck); fisheries honey bee Include other enterprises such as NTFP (e.g. Honey, Tamarind, Mahua, Dhuna, Tendu, Hill Broom, Mushroom, Pongamia, MADP, Bamboo, Sisal, Shikakai) Some Other Key Requirements include - Development of Complete Value Chains (e.g. Procurement, Transport, Storage, Marketing Processing for value addition);Training and Capacity Development (e.g. Awareness, Technical Skills); Coordination and Empowerment (e.g. Convergence, information and awareness; institutional arrangement such as PP -Public-People; PPP - Public and Private; PPPP - Public, Private, PRI) Social

Institution

Group / CBO Capacity building (managing the institution, financial and

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Individual

organizational) Linkage with PRI/PESA/existing local institutions (e.g. village education committee, etc.) Gender Rotational leadership

Capacity building based on changing situation Promoting traditional good social values (for the larger common good) Economic and Financial Planning for both Investment and Returns Corpus Fund/Village development fund with proper governance/management systems Group / individual savings Income Generation Activities Linkages with local financial institutions and markets Capacity building Technical Support While promote Indigenous/local technologies, encourage a balanced mix of scientific and local technologies Adoption of locally available, low cost environmentally sound, socially acceptable, economically viable, financially manageable technology Capacity building, particularly women to make use of any technology Knowledge Management Timely flow of relevant information Interactive learning and sharing Up gradation and refinement of appropriate knowledge Inter-generational gender-specific knowledge transfer Use of all forms of knowledge management tools and technologies, including use of local dialects Networking Environmental Awareness enhancement (e.g. basic knowledge on formal laws and regulations like FRA, environmental education) Capacity building (especially women for adapting to climate change) Community based rules and regulations concerning environmental protection/promotion NRM governance and equitable access to natural/common property resources 4.3 While suggestions were many on various themes, the deliberations also led to some key recommendations. It was felt that attention to these recommendations would have an immediate impact on the development needs of tribal communities; more specifically, in addressing issues of land rights and other entitlements of tribal women. For instance, it was stated by the resource persons and others that the importance of Forest Rights Act cannot be denied as tool for empowering women. It is one of the strong Acts, which recognizes the close association of women with forests. If implemented properly, women can play a significant role in the management and control of Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP). Similarly, with land rights of women, there have been no changes brought by the States despite say amendments in Central Acts such as the Hindu Succession Act which states that all provision which discriminate against women are null and void. While legal provisions are necessary; so are the changes in the social norms and attitudes. Further, the role of the civil society cannot be undermined. It needs to question and make the bureaucracy accountable in implementing development schemes and programmes (e.g. Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme may be running; still 46% of children are malnourished!). The key recommendations, it was decided, would be

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shared (besides this report), for further deliberations and consideration at various levels including the Ministry of Tribal Affairs and the Planning Commission.

Key Recommendations Link Watershed Development with National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) Extend Forest Rights Act to Common Lands Implement Community Forest Right (CFR) provisions under Forest Rights Act (FRA) Provide Minimum Support Price to Non Timber Forest Produce (NTFP); in this regard, take into account the recommendations made by Dr. T Haque Committee) As women are the mail collectors of Minor Forest Produce (MFP)/NTFP, encourage forming of women cooperatives; also strengthen the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India Limited (TRIFED) Capacity building/ training on agricultural activities / services to women farmers (proactive efforts of inclusion of women farmers) Access to government schemes by women; also, access to credit irrespective of Land Ownership Strengthening literacy of tribal women, girl children Mandatory Implementation of Panchayat Extension in Scheduled Areas (PESA) in the tribal areas (in Odisha, Government needs to amend the State Act on PESA and restore the provisions which correspond to the spirit of the Central Act) Tap the huge potential for Agro Bio Diversity in the region and promote the traditional crops; it can go a long way in meeting the food security of the area Obtain People's Consent Before Transferring Land to Industry NREGA Job Cards in the Name of both the Spouses Make Mandatory Joint Titles of Land in the name of both the Spouses

4.4 With a broad consensus over the recommendations, it also marked the end of the Koraput event. Welthungerhilfe and IFAD gave the final vote of thanks appreciating and acknowledging the efforts of all the partners, resource persons, and participants of the Event. It was reiterated in their final message that certain issues such as the land rights for women need to be highlighted time and again and at various forums. Women are actively involved in farming but not recognized as farmers. The same applies to the NREGA, wherein the job card still remains the prerogative of the male head of the household. Further, literacy plays an important learning and empowering role for women; there however remains a gap between the government projected figures and the actual level of literacy is some districts which is as low as zero percent among women. Various programmes are being designed but implementation remains a big question (e.g. the Sakshar Bharat scheme; women friendly practices still missing in such implementation programmes). The Koraput event experience it was hoped will add to the body of knowledge that exists and provide insights in dealing with many of the gaps that exist while addressing the development needs of tribal communities, especially women.

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Annexure I List of Participants On-field Learning Exercise, 28-29 June 2011Sl No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. Names Dr. N C Saxena Dr. Gopi Ghosh Mr. Vincent Darlong Ms. Vasavi Kiro Mr. Ramesh Awasthi Mr. Rahul Banerjee Mr. Paritosh Chakma Mr. Biranchi Paikray Dr. P C Mahapatra Mr. Debjeet Sarangi Mr. Rabindra Gouda Ms. Meena Das Mohapatra Mr. S K Dora Ms. Sujata Mahapatra Mr. S C Patnaik Mr. P Mohapatra Mr. Dipti Ranjan Mr. K Raikia Ms. Vidhya Das Mr. Atul Nayak Mr. Amrut Lal Singh Ms. Judith Dsouza Ms. Saraswathi Rao Ms. Vaishali Mishra Ms. Sreetama Guptabhaya Ms. Shreya Muzumdar Ms. Shikha Ms. Sheetal Gangwar Dr. Malika Basu Organization, E-mail Member, National Advisory Council India; naresh.saxena@gmail.com Assistant FAO Representative, India Country Office, New Delhi; gopi.ghosh@fao.org IFAD Country Office, New Delhi; v.darlong@ifad.org State Commission for Women, Jharkhand; Vasavi.santosh@gmail.com Masum, Maharashtra; ramesh.awasthi@gmail.com Khedut Mazdoor Chetna Sangath, Madhya Pradesh; rahul.indauri@gmail.com Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network (AITPN), New Delhi; pchakma@gmail.com Rural Development Institute, Odisha; biranchip@rdiland.org COATS, Koraput; pcmpatro@gmail.com Living Farms, Bhubaneswar (BBSR), Odisha; livingfarms@gmail.com Development Support Centre, BBSR; rkgouda@gmail.com Foundation for Ecological Security (FES), BBSR; fes.rceast@gmail.com Regional Centre for Development Cooperation (RCDC); santosh@rcdcindia.org Orissa Professional Development Service Consultation (OPDSC), Rayagada; opdsc89@gmail.com OTELP; suresh@otelp.org OTELP; pravanjan@otelp.org OTELP; diptiranjan@otelp.org OTELP; par.popme@otelp.org Agragamee; vidhyadas@agragamee.org Agragamee Agragamee IFAD India Country Office; j.dsouza@ifad.org Welthungerhilfe; saraswathi.rao@welthungerhilfe.de Welthungerhilfe; vaishali.mishra@welthungerhilfe.de Welthungerhilfe; sreetama.gb@gmail.com IGSSS; sreya@igsss.net IGSSS; Shikha@igsss.net IGSSS; sheetal@igsss.net Gender Community, UN Solution Exchange; malika.basu@one.un.org

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Koraput Workshop Invitees 30 June 2011Sl No 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. Names Mr. Sachin Jadhav, IAS Mr. Jude Sekhar, IFS Mr. Raj Kishor Mishra Mr. Jagannath Mishra Mr. Umi Daniel Mr. Sanjoy Patnaik Ms. Meera Swain Ms. Latika Mishra Mr. Abhilash Nayak Mr. Achyut Das Ms. Sumani Jhodia Dr. Nityanand Pradhan Mr. Bipin Das Mr. Bidyut Mohanty Ms. Pramila Swain Mr. B Baboo Mr. Bakhla Mr. Rameshwar Sahoo Mr. Dillip Kumar Das Ms. Bidulata Huika Ms. Chandana Das Mr. Amar Nayat Ms. Sharanya Nayak Mr. Chittaranjan Mr. Umashankar Organization Collector-Koraput; dm_koraput@nic.in Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF); judsek@gmail.com State Representative-Right to Food; rajkishormishra@gmail.com EKTA, Koraput; ektan@rediffmail.com Social Activist, Koraput; umi.daniel@gmail.com Rural Development Institute (RDI), Odisha; sanjoyp@rdiland.org Central University, Koraput; meeraswain2k9@gmail.com IGNOU Regional Centre, Koraput; latika.mishra@rediffmail.com IGNOU Regional Centre, Koraput; nayakabhilash4@gmail.com Agragamee; achyutdas@agragamee.org Kashipur Scholar-Activist, Koraput; npradhan17@rediffmail.com Xavier Institute of Management, BBSR (XIM-B); bipin@ximb.ac.in SPREAD, Koraput; bidyut.mohanty@gmail.com FARR, BBSR; pramilaswain@yahoo.co.in FARR (Koraput); farr.orissa7@gmail.com Regional Chief Conservator of Forests (RCCF), Koraput; rccfkoraput@gmail.com LAVS-Koraput; lavs_kpt@rediffmail.com Antodaya, Kalahandi; antodaya_kld@hotmail.com Odisha Adibasi Manch; ankuran@rediffmail.com Concern Worldwide; chandana.das@concern.net Action Aid, BBSR; amar.nayak@actionaid.org Action Aid (Koraput) Tapobhoomi, BBSR; tapobhoomi@gmail.com Adhar, Bolangir; adharbolangir@gmail.com

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Solution Exchange for the Gender Community The Gender Community promotes gender equality and womens empowerment in India, focusing on increasing development effectiveness to improve the gender and girl child situation, promote a rights-based approach to development, and ensure gender mainstreaming. Solution Exchange helps members of this Community increase the effectiveness of their individual efforts to promote gender equality and address challenges to womens involvement in development increased access, capacity, and equality in womens social, economic and political endeavors, by tapping into their collective knowledge and collaborative actions. Issues Covered Gender Based Violence (GBV) including Prenatal Sex Selection, Human Trafficking, Domestic Violence Issues of tribal, dalit and marginalized women Child Rights and Protection Issues of Sexual Minorities Social Security Issues (including the elderly, women headed households) Engendering policies, programmes and institutions (e.g. gender budgeting, sexual harassment at work place, gender mainstreaming) Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women (e.g. economic, political) Gender gaps and disparity (e.g. education, health, governance, access to resources) For further information on the Gender Community contact: Resource Person and Moderator UNICEF India Office 73 Lodhi Estate, New Delhi -110003. India Tel: 91-11-24690401; Fax: 91-11-24627521 E-mail: se-gen@solutionexchange-un.net.in

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