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Strengthening Livelihoods Based on Social Capital Base

(Large Area Approach to Livelihoods)

Mid - Term Report - August, 2007

Wa ters he d Support Se rv ices and Ac tiv ities Network (WASSAN) We bsi te : www.wassan.org, Ema il : wassan@e th.ne t

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Strengthening Livelihoods Based on Social Capital Base (Large Area Approach to Livelihoods)

Mid-Term Report - August, 2007

This program is supported by AP Rural Livelihoods Program under the innovations component. It envisages to innovate a larger area approach to livelihoods enhancement integrating the NRM approaches in watershed based area development with the approaches in development of social capital; both these approaches are followed in parallel in the mainstream rural development programs in Andhra Pradesh. Integrating work in diverse sectors –agriculture, soils, poultry, livestock, fisheries etc., and developing appropriate institutional mechanisms/ processes targeting the selected poor households are key to this initiative. Several pilot initiatives were grounded in 15 villages in Mahabubnagar district under this project in partnership with the federation of SHGs of Kosgi, Daultabad and Bomraspet mandals. The program is implemented by the Mandal Mahila Samakhyas of these 3 mandals and is technically facilitated by WASSAN. Purpose:

• Building upon Social Capital Base • Integrating livelihoods into area development approaches • Working on several sectoral initiatives and developing methodologies /

institutional systems to integrate them into area development programs like watershed development

It is envisaged that the program will lay down the basis for development of 350 identified households. In this process it is expected that this program will generate processes and approaches of working on NRM based livelihoods of poor households while implementing area based approaches; thus, contributing to both watershed development programs and poverty alleviation programs. The program has a time period of 18 months. It is expected that the program would lay down the necessary processes that would continue beyond the program period to achieve its objectives as many of the NRM initiatives have longer gestation periods. Village Selection Process:

• Preliminary selection of villages by the MMS • Institutional assessment by APMAS • Ranking the villages • Finalizing the villages in a workshop with VO & MMS

POP Selection:

• A target of 750 households was set initially (250 in reserve) • Allocation of households to villages – pro-rata of its total households

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Group Facilitator Group Facilitator

Cluster Resource Person

Group Facilitator Group Facilitator

Cluster Resource Person

MMS’s

WASSAN/ Field Coordination

Village Organizations

• The VOs discussing and giving a list of households (limited to the number of allotted households) satisfying the criteria – (not externally validated)

Though a broad criterion was defined for selection of households – as those dependent on wage labor for their household food requirements for more than 3 months in a year, the same was not followed by the MMS / VO. They selected households need not be members of any SHGs.

It is also designed that though the poor households would be selected, the interventions would not necessarily limit to these households. The households were selected from the existing list of identified poor in the earlier exercises of IKP. Project Facilitation Mechanism The project team consists of the Cluster Resource Persons and Village level workers hired by the MMS in each mandal and facilitated by the team of WASSAN. Institutionally the VO and MMS anchor the program implementation.

Generating Baselines: The baseline data of the identified households was generated through the institutional system and the workers. The data has been computerized and

• Identifying the group facilitators • Generating the baseline database on the households • Building digital databases • Databases available in the village & referred to in every activity

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A baseline analytical report of the database was prepared by Poverty Learning Foundation.(PLF) (See Annexure – 1) Range of Initiatives Taken up

* These initiatives already grounded – they are at different stages.

Livestock Health services*

Wage employment *

Non-chemical Pest Management *

Soil fertility improvement*

Land development*

Backyard poultry**

Small scale dairy

Community managed f isheries*

Development of common lands*

Fodder production*

Marketing Agrl produce*

Land lease for poor*

Sheep improvement*

Systems in Goat production*

Wool improvement*

Addressing land rights for poor*

Seed production & marketing*

Sustainable agriculture shops*

System of rice intensif ication*

Tanks improvement

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Range of Initiatives

Key Questions being addressed… The following key questions are addressed in evolving each activity

• What are the constraints • What support systems are available • What financial mechanisms • What institutional systems

The Focus of all the initiatives is on …

• Reaching a scale • Embedding in the CBOs/ PRI / other institutions • Impact on asset building • Mostly business models with support for critical investments. • Capacity building

Approach:

• Situation Analysis & understanding the constraints • Small experimentation • Drawing lessons and scaling up within the program • Scaling up outside the program

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A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF THE PILOT INITIATIVES

Asset building for single women/ women headed households who constitute about one third of the poorest of the poor households. This group of poor has special constraints imposed by lack of male support. Asset building through livestock was identified as a major focal area for their secured future. The strategy is to enable the households accumulate productive assets by providing a secure biomass base and access to good irrigated land. A pilot initiative in was taken up in Muktipad Village (Kosgi Mandal). 6 acres of land (3 acres irrigated land with a borewell) was taken on

lease by the Village Organisation on behalf of 9 single women who were organised as a common interest group. Converting the land into fodder plots and enabling the women to initiate multiple livestock based activities including calf-rearing was planned. Initially, they have taken up multiplication of high value parent material of castor seed (VP-1), raising nurseries and crops. As the fodder is developing, the group is being linked to banks for purchase of livestock. The lease rent and the initial startup capital was provided from the project. In course of time entitling specific number of wage days for such women enterprises under EGS would create assets faster. In Bomraspet village the VO has leased in 4 acres of irrigated land for 9 single women. The MMS, VO and the women have contributed to the lease amount and project has supported partially. This would be developed and used entirely for supporting building livestock assets with individuals, including goats, lamb-rams and buffaloes. A detailed plan has been worked out. Green fodder has been planted in the lands and first batch of goats are also purchased. The farm will be used as supplemental feeding of small ruminants and for dairy cattle. The initiative would be up-scaled as the results start emerging from the next year (f or details page No. 14). Networking Goat Rearers for securing fodder, health services, knowledge, assets and to initiate collective marketing: Goats are an important source of livelihoods of poor and are also the quickest means to build assets in rain fed areas. The Goat rearers in the project villages were organised into common interest groups. 15 such common interest groups are organised. A road map for such groups emerged in the problem analysis workshops with the rearers. The road map for the rearers’ CIGs consists of improving birth weights of the kids, improved kid management practices, developing common facilities for kid-rearing like crèche, where the rearers can leave the early kids to be looked after and for supplemental feeding, vaccination of goats, increased slaughter weights, plantation of fodder trees in their lands and in commons and marketing initiatives.

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Non-loan based mechanism for financing goats were tried. The Village Organisation purchases pregnant goats and lends to the rearers; they have to return these goats to the VO after weaning the kids. Out of the total kids, the rearer also has to return two adult goats (after rearing them for one year) as they would help replenishing the base stock. It has grounded in 3 villages and the MMS is replicating the model in other villages. A module was developed on the diseases and all the groups were trained in the subject. A major effort is to initiate fodder tree plantations by the goat rearers along the grazing tracts and establishing effective protection mechanisms. Planting fodder trees in their own lands is also being taken up. The future road map includes establishing a bulk-network based marketing of goats (for details page No. 35). Wage Employment through Local Processing of NPM-Redgram This initiative envisages to capitalize on the large area brought under NPM in redgram. MMS are involved in bulk marketing of redgram. The processing takes place near Tandur in large capacity mills, which exchange the raw-gram with dhal to the extent of 70%; the by-products valuable as livestock feed do not reach the village. This pilot initiative is an attempt at standardizing local processing of gram and to initiate marketing of NPM dhal as a value added product. The VOs procured, processed and marketed 5 tons of NPM red gram; WASSAN initiated marketing of the dhal in Hyderabad. Local processing systems are being standardized in collaboration with CRIDA. At present the dhal-recovery rate while processing was around 65 to 68% and ways to reach a rate of 72+% are being explored. The entire process has generated wage incomes of Rs 270/- per quintal of produce in the first cycle showing enormous promise for wage accruals as the total NPM-gram available in an year is around 200 tons. The processed dhal was marketed at Rs. 38 per kg. (f or details page No. 46) Improving productivity of lands owned by the poor & promoting integrated farming

This initiative attempts at bringing all the lands belonging to the targeted poor households to be brought under cultivation/ improve productivity. Situation analysis was completed. Tank silt was applied in 389 acres of land under the EGS. About 35 truck loads of manure from the state abattoir near Hyderabad was also applied in these lands. Tank silt & manure combination is proven to increase the soil productivity. Inter-cropping with green

manure crops, establishing compost pits and other measures were also taken up to improve soil fertility. Korra is taken up as an intercrop to enable crop diversification and

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to increase fodder supply. Agriculture in all these lands will be brought under NPM in the current season with a marketing tie-up for NPM redgram. This year’s annual cycle of experiences will be analyzed to formulate processes for up-scaling and ways of integrating the program with APREGS would be designed (for details page No. 41) Community managed In-land fisheries The potential tanks for fisheries were identified and efforts were made to secure lease of the tanks to the groups of poor. Though the attempt was successful in one village, it was late in the season; the production was not encouraging. The attempt did not succeed in Daultabad due to strong vested interests in the leadership. The strategies are being refined for the next year. About 16 tanks are now identified for taking up fisheries by communities. The fish nursery taken up by a group in Gokafaslavad village though succeeded in production, did not workout due to lack of demand owing to low tank-inflows. These initiatives are taken up in collaboration with the fisheries department. There are several production problems as the tanks are not properly shaped for fish-seedling production. A concept of Landscaping of tank beds for livelihood support is emerging; it could be taken up under EGS. Based on the experience, work has been initiated with 14 fisheries cooperatives during the current season keeping a minimal agenda of FCS taking up fisheries on their own avoiding intermediary contractors. Networked Back-yard Poultry enterprises Backyard poultry is a valuable source of additional income for poor in drought prone

areas. The initiative is to establish sources of chick supply by promoting chick rearing as an enterprise, provide vaccination services and streamlining supplementary feed supply. Two batches of poultry were grounded with 4500 chicks (vanaraja – dual purpose breed supplied by the Project Directorate on Poultry), which were reared for one and half months in the centers by women taking up the enterprise. They were sold in the village and nearby markets by them after one and half months. The

processes are evolving. (see Annexure for learnings). The 3rd batch with new processes will be tried from July, 2007. Collaboration was established with Veterinary University to try a desi bird being developed by the university. It is targeted to reach a 10000 backyard chicken population to generate marketable surplus to initiate collective marketing. The program would be upscaled in 2008 after completing the 3rd cycle. A community based chicken insurance program was also tried covering the risks of predation, as these birds are highly prone predation due to less agility. The predation-insurance is

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giving good results and the processes need to be further streamlined (f or details page No. 24) Securing Land, labour and other rights One of the objectives of this initiative is to enable the assignees to have clear titles and occupation of their lands. Few workers are identified and trained on land records and revenue processes. An inventory of land cases was developed with the help of these workers. The work further needs to be consolidated. Data on all unsettled assigned lands (possession and patta) generated. Field workers have been identified and trained in land records and related matters. A module on land-revenue-literacy was developed. All the target households were facilitated to get job cards and were also encouraged to apply for wage work.

Ramulu – “Securing Rights with Knowledge as a Weapon” Ramulu, a v illage youth of S.C community lives in Chellapur v illage of Doulatabad mandal in Mahabubnagar district. He studied upto Intermediate and w as willing to take up some w ork w hich will be useful to his community and also for his livelihood. WASSAN selected him along with tw o other persons for surv eying in the selected v illages as part of the process of documenting land alienation issues in the area. Basic orientation and training w as prov ided on land issues, related land records and information collection process. With these inputs Ramulu realized that the land (around one acre) assigned to his fa ther w hich w as subsequently mortgaged, can be regained as the transfer of assigned land is illegal and prohibi ted. This land w as giv en to his father by the gov ernment around 30 y ears ago. For want of credit, his father mortgaged it at a cheap rate (for Rs. 700 only ). As part of the task Ramulu had access to MRO office and the land records. With the know ledge on land issues, he got the information about his land in the mandal rev enue land records, and filed a case for restoration of it to the MRO. Though the purchasers initially put pressure and resisted his efforts, they w ere not successful. MRO also did not respond to it initially . With the full know ledge of the legal aspects, Ramulu filed a case in the police station and put pressure on MRO for appropriate action. There w as no option for the purchasers but to surrender the land to him. In the process he not only gained his land, but also helped one more person to regain the alienated land (around one acre).This case demonstrates the importance of know ledge and access to basic land records for addressing the issue of land alienation. This also should be accompanied by some collectiv e strength to w ithstand the pressures from the dominant sections. This opens up the possibilities of training community resource persons, w ho themselv es are affected by the land transfer, to address the land alienation cases and restore to the eligible poor. Easing Bullock Constraints for POP farmers Lack of draught power forces farmers either to sow late in the season or leave the land fallow. Earlier methods of providing bullocks on loan have not succeeded and have increased the debt-burden. This initiative is to find new ways of providing of this key

support to the poor farmers. The purpose is to create a facility for the poor in the village, where their lands will be ploughed on a priority basis. This facility will be established at VO level but managed by the group of farmers those who do not own bullocks. The initiative is grounded on a pilot basis in one village in each mandal i.e. 3 project villages with 9 pairs of bullocks. The VO owns the bullocks and hires-out them to an individual

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with a condition to plough the lands of the CIG on a priority basis. The CIG of farmers who needs bullock-services would pay a membership fee of Rs.150/- as an advance payment to VO. The experience is emerging and needs to be further refined in the processes. Ways of integrating the bullock-based support facilities in EGS are being explored (for details page No. 43) Streamlining Vaccination Services for Livestock Institutional mechanisms for vaccination services within the MMS are being evolved. The mechanism of collating indents from VOs at MMS level and accessing vaccines in bulk from the AH department has been fine-tuned. A service delivery model centering around the para-workers trained under various programs evolved during the discussions; these workers take the initiative to meet the Gram Panchayat and VOs to

organise village wise vaccination events. They charge a service charge of Rs.2 per animal and together earned about Rs.5000 in a fortnight as service charges. This system is being fine-tuned. The above model is ready for up-scaling. Efforts will be made in the next year to upscale this institutional mechanism at District level through Zilla Samakhya (f or details page No. 19)

NEXT STEPS: This pilot program has potential to increase the initiatives under the livelihoods budget nodes. As the consolidation of the existing initiatives move on, further efforts would be made during the rest of the project period to take them to scale-up in the watershed and CLDP programs in the district. The following are the next steps: a) Consolidating the existing initiatives:

As envisaged in the project proposal, the first phase of the program focused on grounding several sectoral initiatives of significance to the poor. The same would be taken forward during the year and most of the effort would be made to addressing the gaps and consolidating the experiences. It is expected that the results would start being visible at the end of this (seasonal) year i.e. towards April/ May, 2008.

Many of the initiatives need further work. This would be integrated into the programs of WASSAN and the MMS in the three mandals beyond the project period. Much of the work in the field could be consolidated by the end of December, 2007

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b) Up-scaling the initiatives Several of these initiatives will be ready for upscaling by the end of this season i.e. march-april, 2008. Collector, Mahabubnagar has visited one village and have instructed for organising exposure visits of all watershed workers into these pilot villages.

Structured exposure visits will be organised from December to May, 2008 for watershed development teams and communities to the project villages around specific themes. These visits will be followed up with specific training and field-level backstopping in few watersheds. A plan of action will be evolved with DWMA by the end of the current year.

Part of the program funds can be earmarked for the purpose of upscaling. WASSAN will prepare the process maps and modules for training and upscaling the initiatives into other watershed programs centred around the CLRCs.

c) Documentation

The initiatives, processes and benefits will be documented into printed publications by December, 2007. At least 3 modules/ process manuals on specific initiatives will also be developed.

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Overview of the Initiatives

Sl. No. Initiative HHs covered Target Group No. of villages Up-scalability

1 Single women 15 Single women 2 Ready to scale up

2 Innovations in non-loan based financing mechanisms in Goat rearing

32 Dependents on paalu of others goats

5 Scaled up within the project villages

3 Networking goat rearers 54 Goat rearers 10 Ready to scale up after November

4 Bullock based enterprise 15 2

5 NPM 197 Red gram sown farmers 13 Scaled up

6 Silt application 165 Dry land owned farmers 11

7 Compost application 223 Dry land owned farmers 12

8 Compost pits 59 Dry land owned farmers Scaling up started

9 Crop diversification 46 Dry land owned farmers 6 Ready to scale up after Kharif

10 Fisheries 25 Experience in fish culture 3 Scaling up started

11 Easing bullock constraint for POP 49 Farmers who are having bullocks constraint

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12 Vaccination services Livestock owners 15 Ready to scale up at District level

13 Local processing of NPM redgram (pigeonpea)

Labour groups

13 Promotion of Panchagavya Entrepreneurs 5

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Financial Statements Large Area Approach to Livelihoods -APRLP 01.04.2006 to 30.06.2007

(Amount in Rs.)

Sl. No

Particulars Total Budget

Actual Expenses (Audited) upto

March, 07

Actual Expenses

(Unaudited) up to June, 07

Total Expenses

Up to 30.06.07

Balance Rs.

Proposed budget from

July to December, 07

1 Development Investments 3000000 2700000 2700000 300000 3,000,000a. Small Experimentation 1500000 9290 9290 1490710 b. Specific interventions in the peripheral villages 1500000 0 1500000 2 Community Level Facilitation 600000 64083 64083 535917 500,0003 Field Travel for CBO's (Mandal level)(3 Mandals & 18 months ) 108000 0 0 108000 75,0004 Capacity Building Costs 600000 42541 38315 80856 519144 100,0005 Databases, acquiring Maps, GIS Analysis etc 500000 76380 76380 423620 50,0006 facilitation costs /Staff time at WASSAN level 576000 572013 90879 662892 -86892 180,0007 Travel at WASSAN level 360000 148347 16542 164889 195111 195,1118 Communication, material and Overheads 270000 47981 3563 51544 218456 206,889

9* Publications & preparation of training modules 200,000 Total 9014,000 3660635 149299 3809934 5204066 4,507,000 Total Amount Received 4507,000 Expenditure up to 30.6.2007 3809,934 Balance in Hand 697,066 2nd installment to be released 4507,000

* This item is newly added as it is required for up-scaling and sharing

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DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE PILOT INITIATIVES

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Asset Building for Wage Dependent –

Single Women / Women Headed Families Problem Statement: Women headed families / single women household families are different from poorest of the poor in terms of their needs and constraints. Absence of male support and having to live with other families or alone imposes special constraints and make them particularly vulnerable, as they get older for lack of assets. Asset creation becomes a problem, as they have to earn and support themselves by wage incomes, and no other support is available for supplementary income generating activities like livestock rearing. It has evolved over several rounds of discussion with the single women households that developing individual livestock assets based on a commonly pooled/ managed land resource with assured water would be a best bet option. Innovative ways of accessing land & water and appropriate support services need to be established for asset building process. Villages: Muktipad in Kosgi Mandal and Bomraspet Women involved: 11 women initially and some have dropped out in Muktipad and 9

women in Bomraspet Target Group: Single women / women headed families dependent on wage

incomes Muktipad Initiative: Leasing in land with assured irrigation over a longer period (10 years) to provide a land base for developing individual assets of the women organised into a Common Interest Group. Helping the women to own and develop livestock that have quick income/ asset regeneration cycles while the primary needs are met by wage incomes. Processes Involved: The incidence of single women/ women headed families is more in Muktipad village. These wage dependent single women or women headed families are identified by the VO. They are categorized into two groups with age <35 yrs and old aged. Data was collected of women who can go for labor, present asset holdings, skill mapping, dependents, with

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whom they are staying, etc. During the interactions it was observed that these identified households do not have assets of their own and have experience of rearing livestock. The group also felt that rearing livestock is a quick income generating activity. Lack of fodder base and land to support livestock was observed to be a major constraint. On behalf of the CIG, the VO pursued getting rights to the temple land but they could not succeed. Two farmers of the same village came forward to give their lands (3 ac of irrigated land and 6 ac of adjacent dry land) on long-term lease. On behalf of CIG, VO negotiated with farmers and entered in to an agreement (leased in for 10 years). In turn VO has assigned the land to CIG on specific terms and conditions: Terms of Agreement between VO and the CIG: • Should not spoil the soil • Land should not be sub- leased • Use sustainable methods of cultivation • If land is not used for the purpose of the objective, VO will take the land back • Members should pay Rs.150/- per month to CIG after 2yrs • If a member withdraws her membership from CIG, she has to pay back her loan

amount to CIG • VO has to do assessment on CIG functioning twice in a year and make a presentation

in the VO general body meeting • In case VO has taken decisions to stop activity, a team consists of MMS

representative, WASSAN representative ,VO representative and CIG representative will assess and submits a report to the MMS

Finances: Money is in three forms • Grant: Grant to CIG, loan to member with the interest of 6%. After two years

members should start repaying the Rs.150/-per month including principle and interest up to 10th year. (Amount depends on the number of members)

• Loan: working capital will be treated as loan and be handled as per the usual procedures

• Risk fund: Risk fund can be kept at Samakhya The lease amount for 3 acres of irrigated land for 10 years is one lakh rupees and another 3 acres of dry land was leased in for Rs.35,000/- this cost was entirely borne by the project as a subsidy and paid upfront. Activities Taken up: CIG formed out of the identified women and several meetings were organised to ground the initiative.

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Kharif – 2006: Paddy cultivation was taken up in SRI method in 2.5 acres and vegetables in <0.5 acres in the irrigated land while there was red-gram standing crop on the dryland. Rabi -2006 • Accessed sprinklers from AP MIP • Castor parental seed production (VP-1) was taken up in 0.75 ac of dryland as seed

multiplication of castor parental line. This is envisaged to be a high value added crop.

• A tree-nursery was also taken up as a part of AP DAI (25000 plants). • Paddy was taken up as share cropping from the adjoining farmers as the women

has water.

Kharif – 2007 • Nursery continued • Castor – continued – still to be harvested • Red gram in 2 acres sown • Fodder plots raised • Loan being accessed for calf-rearing (for bullocks) Initial Constraints / Lessons • Though initially it was envisaged that the women could access some employment

through EGS, it did not happen. As the women started depending on the farm, a conflict has arisen between daily wages and income from activities (seasonal). The daily wage incomes are also crucial for their living and the enterprise skills and mind-set will take time to set in. It is hoped that it may take few cycles and realising some substantial returns for the women to settle in their enterprises.

• With in the group conflicts are also strong arising out of work division, normal behavioral aspects and collective action problems etc., are proving to be conspicuous that must be dealt with, but not an impossible impediment.

• With every conflict in the group, there is some breakdown in the work rhythm having substantive negative impact on the activities.

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• Since this is the first initiative, there are considerable facilitation gaps at the MMS / VO level and even at the level of WASSAN.

• Though the project provided capital in the form of long-term lease rent, the working capital and capital to for securing livestock still need to be mobilized. The investment requirements are higher and accessing credit is proving to be difficult. Though the local bank has approved sanctioning of loan for purchase of livestock, there is an undue delay in processing.

It is expected that the group dynamics would set in after they realize the incomes from castor seed and nursery and also, once the individual livestock assets are secured. The initial experience clearly indicates the need for a) wage incomes for the f irst year to be dovetailed into the project design b) planning for complete investments – depending on convergence may delay the processes c) stronger hand-holding during the f irst year for the farm to develop and group dynamics to settle down. Next Steps: Accessing loan for livestock (calf-rearing), institution building inputs to CIGs/ VOs that may include reorganizing the CIG membership. Building the individual asset base. BOMRASPET VILLAGE: 9 women headed / single women families formed in to CIG from identified POP households. Total livestock based farm as a support system for 9 single women / women headed households (Bomraspet) is being established. On behalf of CIG, VO negotiated with farmers and entered in to an agreement (leased in for 5 years). The VO handed over the land to CIG on the following terms and conditions:

1. The group will take up livestock enterprises and use the farm as a supplementary source for feed/ fodder.

2. Goats, sheep and diary enterprises planned

3. Ram-lamb rearing as a part of the sheep breeding program.

4. The leased in land providing supplementary nutrition (fodder) to the livestock for quick growth

MMS, VO & SHGs have also invested their own funds into the exercise. The lessons from Muktipad village helped in improving the processes.

• 4 acres (2.5 ac irrigated and 1.5 ac dry land) with one good yielding borewell taken on lease for 5 years for 9 single women.

• Lease amount – Rs. 60,000 o Member contribution- Rs.1000

per head o VO contribution – Rs. 10,000 o MMS contribution – Rs.35, 000

• Project support

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A planning workshop has been organised with all the women and the VO. The detailed plan of action, budget sources and income streams are evolved in the planning exercise. The group has purchased goats and have started off the activity. Fodder trees were planted in the leased in land and some fodder plots were also raised. FUTURE ACTION PLAN: • Taking some common land from the Gram Panchayat is being negotiated. • Implementing the action plans. • Accessing EGS for development of biomass in the farm. Up-scalability It is expected that the results of these two initiatives specially focusing on the wage dependent single women / women headed households start emerging from end of this year. The strategies can be evaluated for upscalability by March, 2008. The initiative would provide necessary resource base for individual households with low natural resource endowments to take off on their livelihoods. The preliminary experience indicates a combination of leased irrigated land (or purchased under land purchase scheme) + wage endowments for one year (including provision of wages for one male person) + linkage with banks for working capital and purchase of livestock can be evolved into a packaged program specially targeting wage dependent single women or women headed households. A special program could be conceptualized. Wage endowments for poorest single/ women headed households tied to such farm on a long-term basis would significantly build their income & asset base. A combination of VO based work with EGS endowment can be central to this. Land purchase scheme is another option that could be explored.

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Streamlining the Community Managed Livestock Health Services

Institutional mechanisms for vaccination services within the MMS are being evolved. The mechanism of collating indents from VOs at MMS level and accessing vaccines in bulk from the AH department has been fine-tuned. A service delivery model centering around

the para-workers trained under various programs evolved during the discussions; these workers take the initiative to meet the Gram Panchayat and VOs to organise village wise vaccination events. They charge a service charge of Rs.2 per animal. This system is being fine-tuned. Conceptually, the model is built on the MMS using their institutional strength to pool indents/ raise demand, access vaccines from government and outsourcing the actual service delivery to the para-workers.

The above model is ready for upscaling. Efforts will be made in the next year to upscale this institutional mechanism at District level through Zilla Samakhya. This initiative stared with CBO-NRM program two years back is also partly integrated into the Large Area Approach to livelihoods program.

Seven para-workers are identified and their knowledge updated with refresher trainings. The program covered 3100 cattle and 1500 small ruminants. The para-workers earned Rs.7700/- in 20 days for providing vaccination services. The advantage of this model is that the para-worker becomes institutionally anchored capitalizing on the already existing institutional base for raising demand for services. Processes involved: • Analysis of non- functioning existing Para vets system • Para-workers identified and trained/ refresher trainings organised • Livestock details collected village wise and also using secondary data • Collect indents from villages and consolidate them at mandal level • Indent submitted to local veterinary doctor (VAS) with a copy to JD (Animal

Husbandry) and AD (AH) • Pursuing the progress on indents and supply of vaccines with the AH deparment • MMS collects vaccines from local VAS after the indent is sanctioned • According to vaccination schedule, MMS organize a refresh training to Para-workers

involving local VAS as resource person • Terms and rates for vaccination service discussed and fixed with the para-workers • MMS are out sourcing service delivery to group of trained Para-vets, while they pool the

indent • Para –vets and MMS staff organize special meetings of VOs, invites Sarpanches and

decides the date, time, Place and medicine cost and service charges of the vaccination

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• The Gram Panchayat publishes the event in the village (tom-tom) – the date, time, Place and medicine cost and service charges of the vaccination are publicized a day before vaccination. Executive Committee members of the Village Organisation play a vital role in this process.

• Vaccination will be done between 6 am to 11 am, Para-workers are going to villages in early hours with required equipment (syringe cost borne by Para-workers)

• Data recorded with help of local VNA/VA. Data consists of name of the village, name of the farmer, type of animals, no. of animals, service charge paid

• The person who records the data gives a token to the farmer and the para-worker provides vaccination after collecting the token. Token is proof of payment for vaccination charges. Actual payment for the service by the farmer is the most difficult process in the earlier system.

• If MMS access Govt vaccines Para-workers will take only service charges, if not, like in the case of FMD they collect medicine and service charges. Medicine charges will be given back to MMS, who invests on them initially purchasing in bulk.

• After completion of vaccination the data is submitted to local VAS The impact of regular vaccination would be visible in case of outbreaks. The reduction in mortality and morbidity would be visible in the course of time. A survey will be organised in course of time to assess the impact of vaccination. Policy Implications for Up-scalability: Livestock of the poor, particularly indiscreet breeds, plough bullocks are not generally covered under public vaccination. This initiative essentially links the veterinary establishment with the community based institutions. The following needs to be addressed for upscaling:

a. Increasing the number of para-vets trained The demand during the time of vaccination is very high and needs trained personnel

b. Single window sourcing of vaccines The present indenting system, though agreed by the department is taking time and much follow up. If the department opens up a bulk-window for providing vaccines based on a direct indent by the MMS (with the counter signature of the VAS) at the VBRI (veterinary biological research institute), the process would be simplified. This will be negotiated during the current season, but needs a policy decision at the government level.

c. Vaccines for FMD: FMD vaccines are not prepared/ supplied by the department. The time available between detection of incidence of FMD and government response is very short and most often the reach is very poor. Purchasing FMD vaccines for larger herds is expensive. Appropriate ways will be evolved during the current year.

d. The process can be upscaled at the Zilla Samakhya level during the current year.

21

Data on vaccination services HS & BQ vaccinated on 1-5-2006, Mandal: Kosgi Sl. No.

Name of the village

Cows & bullocks

buffaloes total Rs.2 per animal (service charge )

1 *Mukthipahad 45 15 60 120 2 *Lodhipur 48 10 58 611 3 *Bijjaram 71 21 92 184 4 Musrifa 60 30 90 180 5 Mungimalla 85 35 120 240 6 Masay pally 85 35 120 240 7 Hanmon pally 90 26 136 272 8 Pothireddy pally 120 90 210 420 9 Kothapally 30 25 55 110 10 *Gundla pally 30 0 30 60 11 *Chennaram 40 0 40 80 HS & BQ vaccinated on 5-11-2006, Mandal: Kosgi Sl. No.

Name of the village Cows & bullocks

buffaloes total Rs.2 per animal 9service charge

1 *Mukthi pahad 59 12 71 142 2 *Lodhipur 31 10 41 82 3 *Gundlapally 20 0 20 40 4 Malreddy pally 60 25 85 170 5 Masay pally 10 43 53 106 6 Mungimalla 45 30 75 150 FMD vaccinated on 15-9-2006, Mandal: Kosgi Sl. No. Name of the

village Cows & bullocks

buffaloes total Rs13 per animal 9service charge

1 Lodhipur 12 6 18 234 2 Mukthipahad 8 6 14 182 3 Gundla pally 10 0 10 130 4 Chennaram 0 7 7 91

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HS & BQ vaccinated on 1-5-2006, Mandal; Douthabad Sl. No.

Name of the village Total animals vaccinated

1 Doulthabad 445 2 Chellapur 232 3 Thimmareddy pally 224 4 Gokafaslvad 204 5 Antwaram 67 6 Imda pur 42 7 Neetur 43 8 Desaipally 31 HS & BQ vaccinated on May 2007, Mandal: Kosgi Sl. No. Name of

the village No. of bullocks and cows

No. of buffaloes and

No. of Goats

No. of sheep

Total

1 Bijjaram 185 19 47 0 251 2 Chenneram 60 25 0 0 85 3 Lodhipur 76 7 67 0 150 4 Mukthipahad 80 49 27 18 174 5 Gundalpally 24 0 20 0 44 6 Bogaram 154 162 0 0 316 HS & BQ vaccinated on May 2007, Mandal: Doulthabad Sl. No. Name of the

village No. of bullocks and cows

No. of buffaloes and

No. of Goats

No. of sheep

Total

1 Gokafasalvad 202 74 112 520 908 2 Chellapur 49 5 0 0 54 3 Thimmareddypally 100 45 30 0 174 4 Doulthabad 108 8 12 0 128 5 Anthwaram 13 0 0 0 13

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HS & BQ vaccinated on May 2007, Mandal: Bomraspet Sl. No. Name of the

village No. of bullocks and cows

No. of buffaloes and

No. of Goats

No. of sheep

Total

1 Bomraspet 126 57 92 0 275 2 Nagireddy

pally 60 29 720 0 161

3 Nandarpur 56 47 7 0 110 4 Ananthapur

thanda 66 7 58 86 217

5 Choudarpally 35 55 3 0 93 * 5 Para –vets earned Rs.5100 in 15 days Up scaling strategy note will be prepared by December, 2007. This initiative is well linked/ anchored in the AH department.

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Networked Backyard Poultry Enterprises Rearing the chicks in the backyard is an age old practice of the rural poor. The chicks grow by scavenging in the backyard and fetch supplementary income to the women. With the advent of the new breeds Vanaraja, Giriraja and Gramapriya, among others, several attempts have been made to promote backyard poultry as a supplementary activity in rural poor households. The features of these new breeds- increased egg laying capacity, non-brooding nature, plumage like in the native birds, quick gain in body weight and colored eggs increased the suitability of these new breeds to backyard poultry. A preliminary analysis of the situation and of some experiences in the state has shown the following constraints for backyard poultry to take off:

• Regular availability of chicks • Higher disease incidence, though preventable – absence of access to vaccination

services and health care • Low or no marketable surplus generated to give an impetus • Absence of networked markets when there is surplus • Streamlining the supplementary feeding practices • Evolving effective strategies for dealing with high incidence of predation of birds

by cats, dogs and wild life. Attaining a marketable surplus was identified as a major constraint for the backyard poultry to take off as an individual household activity; reaching a volume of production is seemingly difficult. The earlier initiatives are mostly restricted to providing the birds (8+2 units) to households; without much streamlining the backward and forward services. The attempt at Anantapur to develop a local hatchery for constant supply of chicks did not sustain for the same reasons. The backyard poultry initiative emerged in the above context and from out of the situation analysis in the program villages. It is expected that the initiative could generate about Rs.2000/- per annum potential supplementary income to the household; and being

a liquid asset, it can generate useful assets for women. The social capital base provides an opportunity for networked backyard poultry enterprise. Collaboration with the national research institute – ‘Project Directorate on Poultry’ and Veterinary University is established for supply of chicks, training and support.

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The backyard poultry initiative focuses on the following:

1. Aiming at a constant bird population of 10,000 - in the 15 program villages with an annual production of about 10 lakh eggs of which, at least 25% could be marketed.

2. Streamlining the chick rearing centers as a business activity of women headed households

3. Streamlining vaccination services and primary health care for backyard poultry 4. Developing a networked marketing system, both for meat and egg purposes.

The objective is to create additional employment opportunities and income generation to poor women. Advantages from Backyard Poultry

• Nutrition • Not vulnerable to rainfall changes • Supplementary income sources, especially for women • Liquid asset useful in emergency

Process The 3rd and 4th cycle of chick rearing is presently going on. A collaborative agreement has been made with the Veterinary University for trying out 3000 birds belonging to a new egg-laying breed with completely desi germplasm. The costs of 1st cycle were mainly borne by the project and the returns/ recovery of the costs are used by VOs for the other rounds. Based on the lessons, new initiatives are being tried in each cycle. The lessons from the first two cycles are detailed in the next sections. For the 3rd cycle and onwards, it is decided that specific households will be targeted with a unit size of 10 birds and networked. During the 1st and 2nd cycles attempt was made to streamline the chick rearing units as business units. The process emerging from the experience of the 3 cycles is as follows:

• The Village Organization identifies women for chick rearing centers in consultation with Mandal Mahila Samakhya; preference was given for the poor single women.

• Rearers identify an existing vacant house suitable for chick rearing; necessary precautions (ventilation, safety etc.) are taken.

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• The demand from the three mandals are aggregated and a bulk-order is placed with the Project Directorate, Poultry, Government of Andhra Pradesh for chicks and payment made.

• Rearers are given orientation and training on chick rearing. • Necessary infrastru ctures – brooders, feeders and waterers are arranged in the

centers – the first cycle investment is still carried forward. • Feed required for the rearing centers is mixed at the mandal level after procuring

necessary ingredients. (for the 1st cycle- feed was purchased from market, 2nd cycle purchased from PDP and also prepared locally, and from the 3rd cycle feed is mixed locally after purchasing the ingredients).

• The centers are adequately prepared to receive the chicks • On the delivery date 2 day old chicks (with one dose of vaccination complete) are

picked from PDP and distributed to the centers. The cost of each chick with transport is around Rs.12/-.

• MMS provides both chicks and feed as a loan to the rearing centers. • Each center rears about 200 to 400 chicks depending on the capacity and local

demand. • Some women health workers (for poultry) are trained in chicken vaccination. They

carry out vaccination for the chicks. • An attempt was also made to vaccinate all the birds in the village with help from

the Animal Husbandry department. The women collect service charges for vaccination. There is varying response for this and since the amount collected is low, it is decided that the costs will be loaded into the price of chicks and entire village will be covered for vaccination; this needs to be further streamlined with experience.

• The trained animal health worker at the project level (in one of the mandals) regularly visits the centers and collects information and provides advice.

• After 6 weeks the chicks are sold. The price will be set duly taking into account the costs of all the rearing centers. The price is usually between 35 to 55 Rs. per chick varying with each cycle; mortality and feed cost are the major determinants of costing.

• Loan is repaid by the women maintaining the rearing centers after the chicks are sold out. Net profit ranging from Rs.450- 3000 depending on number of chicks reared and price realized. The mortality rate in the rearing centers is reduced from about 15% in the first cycle to around 5% during the 3rd cycle. The repaid amount is used again as start-up capital for the next cycle.

Chicken Feed Reducing the costs of feed by about Rs.8 makes the chick rearing centers and the backyard much more competitive in the markets. The feed preparation is now internalized in the village but the growth rates have reduced. Several ideas are being tried in the next cycles that includes, developing insect based feeds mixtures, feeding

27

leaves etc., but, carbohydrate substitution is proving to be a major bottleneck. Another attempt is to internalize the feed requirements into the farming systems thereby reducing the paid out costs. Feed Formula: (for 1000 chicks)

Sl. No Feed Formala Kosgi (Kg) % Doulthabad

(Kg) % Bomraspet

(Kg) %

1 Maize 200 19.75 0 0 300 46.36

2 Jower 300 29.64 300 46.36 0

3 Deoiled rice bran 200 19.75 130 20.1 130 20.1

4 Soyabean meal 89 8.79 63 9.74 63 9.74

5 Sun follwer cake 183 18.1 126 19.47 126 19.47

6 S.Grit 14 1.38 10.5 16.22 10.5 16.22

7 DCP 13 1.28 9 1.39 9 1.39

8 Salt 4.5 0.44 3 0.46 3 0.46

9 DL.Meth 1.26 0.12 0.882 0.14 0.882 0.14

10 Lysine 2.318 0.23 1.622 0.25 1.622 0.25 11 Trace miller 0.935 0.09 0.658 0.1 0.658 0.1

12 AB2D3K 0.2 0.02 0.14 0.02 0.14 0.02

13 B.COMP 0.25 0.02 0.175 0.02 0.175 0.02

14 Coccistac 0.5 0.05 0.35 0.01 0.35 0.01 15 Antibiotic 0.5 0.05 0.35 0.01 0.35 0.01

16 Choline 0.6 0.06 0.42 0.01 0.42 0.01

17 Toxine binder 2 0.19 1.4 0.22 1.4 0.22

Total 1012.063 647.497 647.497 Community Managed Chick insurance

A premium of Rs.5 per bird and the same entered into a register with the VO Insurance is for 6 months and covers only predation Loss of each bird is to be reported to the VO, entered into the register. The same would be verified by the VO committee first hand

At the end of 6th month, the total amount accrued would be divided among the families owning the birds which were predated. Insurance thus, would cover the cost of purchasing the chicks

In future it would be networked at MMS level, where risks can be shared across villages and pay out can be higher

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Housing for backyard Housing is proving to be a major constraint in the backyards. The problem is much more severe for those who do not have own houses. Many a time due to the problems of predation and theft chicken are housed within the residential rooms causing greater inconvenience. The local housing methods are documented and from the 3rd cycle onwards, when the unit size increased to 10 birds in each household, proper housing initiatives will be planned. Collective penning models will also be tried. Achievements and learning: 1st Cycle of the Program: The first cycle of the program was initiated in partnership with the federation of SHGs. The above constraints are addressed in the following ways: Supply of Chicks: (3500 birds) Establishing ‘chick rearing units’ as small

women enterprises to supply chicks constantly. The Federation of SHGs’ identified 13 poor

single women households for establishing chick-rearing centres.

The chick-rearers identified a vacant room from their relatives / hired it; all protective arrangements and infrastructure (feeders, waterers, brooders etc.) are organized.

2 day old chicks are purchased from Project Director Poultry (PDP, Hyderabad) About 200 to 400 birds were reared in each centre. Feed centrally purchased and distributed Poultry Vaccinators – some women are trained in poultry vaccination by Animal

Husbandry department. They provided vaccination services for all chick-rearers. Chicks reared for one and half months period – attained about 750 to 900gms body

weight Project Directorate, Poultry provided advice at times when consulted

Community Insurance: Unless predation issues are identified, the initiative may not go forward. A mechanism of Community Insurance for Chicks (5weeks to 7 months age) has been developed.

The buyer pays Rs.5/- per chick as insurance against predation for 6 months.

The money would be deposited with the federation of SHGs.

29

Any loss of bird due to predation should be reported to the federation. A small committee (from SHG) would assess the claim and register it. At the end of 6 months all claims will be looked at

o If the total claims are below 10% then each claim would be given Rs.35/- o If the claims are above 10%, the total insurance premium collected would

be distributed across the number of proven claims i.e. would get more than the premium but less than the cost of bird.

Many problems in marketing: Chicks (not vaccinated, no breed specific, small size, at the most 2 weeks age) are sold

in the local weekly market at Rs.25 each; though very small; it has become a reference point for any sale from chick-rearing unit.

The egg laying potential of Vanaraja would take some more time to be visible (as the chicken given to backyard are still young)

Few, whose birds are predated setup a wrong communication The demand for chicks has not been forthcoming so easily. The federation of SHGs tried several ways in selling the chicks: voluntary, sales on

loan, sold in other villages etc. The cost of rearing chicks in the centres came to about Rs.30 to 35/- sale price

between 40 to 45/- Mortality rate was about 14% Of the 13 units in the first cycle, 2 units were in loss & some earned good profits.

Lessons from 1st Cycle: A participatory assessment with all chick-rearers, VOs and MMS was organized to distil learning.

The feed cost is higher Wastage is higher due to inadequate feeders Purchased feed also increased cost The size of the unit matters – profits for larger units are substantial Higher mortality rates increased the costs per chick Density of stocking is high One and half month’s time (as prescribed by PDP) is not required. Selling after

one month may reduce the feed cost and would be able to compete with market rate. Feed consumption rate is higher after 1st month.

2nd Cycle: Re-hypothesizing: 1500 birds – 9 centres

• Reduce the cycle to 1 month • Focus on reducing mortality (transport of chicks: time, type of transport etc.) • Do not fix strict time period; if the rearers find a buyer – let them sell (after

vaccination is complete)

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• The responsibility of selling is with the rearer – no support would be provided in principle

• Mixing of bulk feed locally would be tried • Have adequate feeders and waterers • Have all the chicken in the village vaccinated through the Poultry Vaccinators.

The second cycle of rearing was taken up with the above corrections. The following lessons emerged. Lessons from 2nd Cycle:

• Cost could be reduced to Rs. 22 to 28/- from the earlier 30 to 35 Rs. Per bird; mainly through reducing the time, reducing wastage in feed, local mixing of feed and reduced mortality.

• Mortality reduced to 4% mainly by better handling of chicks while transport, reduced congestion and increased health care. However, bird mortality is higher during the period of selling the birds.

• All chicks are marketed by rearers themselves. Chicks were also taken to weekly market fairs and nearby villages and sold.

• Mixing of bulk feed- reduced cost of feed from 13 Rs – 9 Rs per kg. • Rs.500 – 800 profit per centre in one month – but two centres were in loss,

mainly because of distress sale at low price. • Rearers also returned capital investment with 6% rate of interest. • Women vaccinators emerged, who have vaccinated birds in the entire village at

cost of Rs.0.25 per bird. • Some birds, which are foraging near saw mills/ where scrub wood is logged,

gained higher bodyweights very fast.

Agenda for 3rd Cycle: The third cycle is now being planned. The overall objective is to reduce the cost of chick-rearing to about 18 to 22 rupees per bird with about 600-700 gm body weight in one month, would improve profitability substantially. The following experiments are planned to further improve profitability in the rearing centres:

1. Chicks are supplied at PDP (Hyderabad) and transported to project villages about 100 km distant. This can not be reduced as it means establishing a decentralized hatchery.

2. Better health care may redu ce the mortality. 3. With increasing the chick-rearing time from 1 month to 2 months and finding

ways of reducing feed costs can the birds be directly supplied to meat market? 4. How to move from purchased feed to freely available local feed? Introducing semi-

intensive / foraging in the chick rearing centre in the following ways :

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a. Rearing unit with an enclosure area protected from predators b. Introducing insect based feed: rearing termites / grubs / earthworms within

the enclosure area in pits and opening them for open grazing in cycles. c. Raising green leafy vegetables in the foraging area and rotational feeding d. Shifting from cultivated grains in feed-mix to freely available plants like

Casia tora and trying out various other systems. e. Introducing the bulk-feed grains into farming systems : two rows of f ox tail

millet / sorghum / maize in the crop systems to produce grain for chicken feed (both for chick-centres and for backyard)

5. Innovations in back-yard poultry housing for the poor not having adequate space to keep birds - to be tried.

6. Labor dependent families (without old people at home) expressed difficulty in keeping the birds in the back-yard as the house would be empty and no one to look after the birds. Can a common ‘crèche’ type of arrangement be worked out for poultry birds?

7. Can the hatchery be decentralized (with solar power)? 8. Innovative designs to be developed for taking at least 50 to 80 birds to market on

bicycles. 9. Many of the birds are consumed during the festivals. Attaining substantial

marketable surplus is still a challenge. Specific research on how to arrive at optimal household-stock of poultry in semi-intensive systems need to be worked out.

10. What should be the ratio of foraging area to number of back-yard birds? Can typologies be worked out and standards evolved?

11. What should be the low-(paid-out) cost and nutrient rich feed for supplementation?

12. How to position back-yard poultry in the market? – does its meat or eggs have special nutrient status or any other marketable traits?

In course of time back-yard poultry pricing should be evolved separately from the prices announced for industrial poultry products.

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Cost Estimation of Backyard Poultry Rearing Units - Unit wise

Name of the items Chicks Chick waterers

Chick feeders

Chick brooders

Vaccination Electric Bulbs &

wires Feed Feed Feed Miscellaneous

Total cost

Rs.

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 867 950 0 0

No of items 360 2 0 1 6 6.5 3 0 0 Doulathabad -1

Total 4320 110 0 160 126 200 5635.5 2850 0 150 13551.5

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 867 950 0 0

No of items 480 4 2 2 10 6.5 4.5 0 0 Doulathabad -2

Total 5760 220 140 320 210 200 5635.5 4275 0 150 16910.5

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 867 950 0 0

No of items 240 4 2 1 5 3 3 0 0 Gokafasalavad – 1

Total 2880 220 140 160 105 200 2601 2850 0 150 9306

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 867 950 0 0

No of items 120 3 2 1 4 2 1 0 0 Gokafasalavad – 2

Total 1440 165 140 160 84 200 1734 950 0 150 5023

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 867 950 0 0

No of items 120 4 2 1 4 2 1 0 0

Dou

lath

abad

Gokafasalavad – 3

Total 1440 220 140 160 84 200 1734 950 0 150 5078

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Name of the items Chicks Chick waterers

Chick feeders

Chick brooders

Vaccination Electric Bulbs &

wires Feed Feed Feed Miscellaneous

Total cost

Rs.

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 876 0 0

No of items 240 4 2 1 5 3 3 0 0 Bommraspet

Total 2880 220 140 160 105 530 2544 2628 0 150 9357

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 876 0 0

No of items 540 5 3 2 12 6 7 0 0 Nagireddypally

Total 6480 275 210 320 252 530 5088 6132 0 150 19437

Cost of 1 Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 876 0 0

No of items 240 4 2 1 5 4 3 0 0

Bom

mra

spet

Choderpally

Total 2880 220 140 160 105 530 3392 2628 0 150 10205 Cost of 1

Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 925 900 0

No of items 200 4 2 1 4 3 2 2 0 Lodipur

Total 2400 220 140 160 84 250 2544 1850 1800 150 9598 Cost of 1

Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 925 900 0

No of items 200 4 1 1 4 3 4 2 0 Gundalapalli

Total 2400 220 70 160 84 250 2544 3700 1800 150 11378 Cost of 1

Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 925 900 0

No of items 240 2 2 1 5 3 2 2 0

Kos

gi

Mukuthipad

Total 2880 110 140 160 105 250 2544 1850 1800 150 9989

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Name of the items Chicks Chick waterers

Chick feeders

Chick brooders

Vaccination Electric Bulbs &

wires Feed Feed Feed Miscellaneous

Total cost

Rs. Cost of 1

Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 925 900 0

No of items 200 4 2 1 4 2 2 2 0 Chennarm – 1

Total 2400 220 140 160 84 250 1696 1850 1800 150 8750 Cost of 1

Unit 12 55 70 160 21 848 925 900 0

No of items 200 4 2 1 4 2 2 2 0

Chennarm – 2

Total 2400 220 140 160 84 250 1696 1850 1800 150 8750

Consolidated statement of Backyard Poultry for 3 mandals

No of Chicks Chick mortality No of chicks sold Total Expenditure Sl.No

Name of the Mandal

1st

batch 2nd

batch Total 1st

batch 2nd

batch Total 1st

batch 2nd batch Total 1st batch 2nd

batch total 1 Doulathabad 1320 500 1820 273 50 323 1047 450 1497 50197 12512 62709 2 Bommraspet 1000 500 1500 128 105 233 892 395 1287 38999 13708 52707 3 Kosgi 1000 500 1500 177 74 251 863 426 1289 48465 13078 61543

Total 3320 1500 4820 578 229 807 2802 1271 4073 137661 39298 176959

Repayment Non-repayment Sl. No

Name of the Mandal 1st batch 2nd batch Total 1st batch 2nd batch Total

1 Doulathabad 49020 11357 60377 11925 11925 2 Bommraspet 33490 9420 42910 12110 3240 15350 3 Kosgi 16845 11720 28565 14870 2160 17030

Total 99355 32497 131852 38905 5400 44305

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Organising Goat Rearers and establishing Institutionalised Service Delivery Mechanisms

(Fodder, Health services, Management, Accessing Assets and Marketing) Problem Statement: Goats, though commonly accepted as a poor households only liquid asset, are seen as a ‘problem’ by many and in effect, there is not much support for this largest poor-women’s enterprise. This initiative attempts to establish the services and knowledge required for easing the constraints, enabling better access to services on the institutional platform. It aims at evolving a networked goat enterprise based on a foundation of village level common interest groups. PURPOSE

• Organizing goat rearers into Common Interest Groups – ‘Mekala Sangalu’ and their loose network.

• Developing tree based fodder in private and common lands • Institutionalising services (health care, management and knowledge transfer) for

goat rearers within the CIG and its network • Establishing a system of funding for goats in accordance with the available

biomass. • Overall increase in the incomes of the goat rearers • Establishing collective marketing mechanisms (Target to have 100 goats marketed

by the network every week to traders in about 2 to 3 years). Activities Taken Up: Organising Goat Rearers and Institutionalizing Services: 1 Goat rearers are organised into 15 Common Interest Groups in 10 villages covering

about 106 number of households and 867 number of goats. Each member contributed Rs.150 to the common fund of the group. (see table below)

2 9 Community Resource Persons are identified from the women leaders to strengthen and network the common interest groups. They are given specific institution building tasks till the network of CIGs is formed.

3 An initial situation analysis was done in two workshops with the goat rearers. Biomass availability, accessing health services, predation problem and deaths due to diseases, marketing and lack of assets were identified as major problems.

36

4 Based on the situation analysis and subsequent discussions with the research organisations the following main objectives are emerging for the groups to achieve:

a. Increasing birth weights of kids b. Increasing slaughter weights to reach about 18 to 20 kg live weight of the

animal c. Reduce kid-mortality by introducing better kid-management practices and

services d. Establish supplementary feeding mechanisms for pregnant does, kids and

slaughter animals by facilitating the groups to lease in lands for raising supplementary fodder and planning for planting fodder trees in private and common lands.

e. Establish collective marketing of quality goats initially at the network of CIGs level. The same may lead to establishing a small rural abattoir in course of time to graduate to selling meat instead of live animals with proper market tie-ups.

f. Establishing community managed insurance mechanisms for kids up to 4 months, mainly to insure against the risks of predation and illhealth.

g. To increase the prestige of the goat rearers and provide a collective voice (this came out strongly in the workshop that the goat rearers are powerless when there is an overall negative attitude towards goats).

5 Regular meetings of the groups are being facilitated at present. 6 A training program on health aspects was organised by the para-vets trained by the

Animal Husbandry department in all the villages for the groups. A set of training resource material was also prepared.

7 All the goats are vaccinated by accessing ET vaccines from the department and with a service charge of Rs.1 per animal for the para-worker.

8 Biomass/ fodder development plans are being prepared for individual lands, common lands in grazing tracts etc., and the rearers are also encouraged to collect seeds of local tree/ shrub / creeper based fodder material.

Innovations in Non-Loan Based Financing Mechanisms: It was observed during the situation analysis that many of the poorer rearers are share-cropping the goats; they take goats from others and rear and the off-springs are shared evenly. The owner of goats bears the risk of mortality. A program to build owned-assets of the rearers will enhance their returns by 100%. However, the earlier efforts of providing loans were caught into several problems of non-repayment, increased debt burden, lack of access to groups etc. In view of these observations, an innovative non-loan based financing mechanism has evolved. Goat units were grounded in 4 villages in this model. Looking at the ease of the initiative the MMS has now integrated this mechanisms in its institutions; awaiting first cycle results for up-scaling.

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Process

1. A workshop was organised with rearers from 5 villages and later on in each village. During these workshops details as regards the rearers, total number goats in the village, share-cropping practices, access to health services (including traditional health practices), and grazing issues were analysed.

2. The discussions with the rearers also delved on the carrying capacity of the village. For e.g., in Lodhipur village while the available resources can support 100 goats in the assessment of rearers, there were only 70 presently available in the village; that too many of them are under share cropping; there was still scope for increasing the number of goats and further enhancement of the fodder resource base would support more ruminants.

Subsequently, Village Organization (VO) of Lodhipur identified ten POP families from the village. A system of funding evolved during these discussions where VO agreed to provide pregnant goats to the identified families on the terms and conditions mentioned below: • VO purchases the goats from the project

funds sufficient for one group. • VO distributes the pregnant goats to the

selected CIG families on sharing basis- as follows:

o The Does will be given back to the VO after the kids have attained weaning age and they will be distributed among the other members/ the second group. The individual households will thus have their own goats.

o From the total kids that are born the rearers will return two female kids to the VO after they have attained the age of one year. This is to ensure that the mother stock is replaced in course of time filling in for any mortality.

• VO will take the responsibility in case of mortality due to diseases. However, if the goat dies as result of carelessness of the rearer, s/he will replace the goat.

• Vaccination and other medical assistance is provided by the VO. • In order to discourage the rearers both to sell the animals, the goats’ performance

data is recorded on monthly basis. The above arrangement is simple and rotates among the group members. It will ensure that no cash transactions occur between the VO-CIG-Individual member, and thus avoids any interest burden. Selling of the goats is also controlled as the asset does not belong to the individual. Debt burden is also avoided as the VO absorbs any risk. Over time this method may be useful in replacing all share-cropping arrangements. There are ten goat-rearing families (mainly from SC community) in Lodhipur, who were divided into two groups of CIGs. The VO distributed ten pregnant goats, among five families in the month of December 2006. While selecting the batch of five families’

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preference was given to the poor and Schedule tribe families over others. This was decided by the VO after reaching a consensus with the other group. Out of ten goats seven were bought @ Rs.1757 and the remaining three @ Rs.1600 per goat. Apart from this Rs.7580 was spent towards the fodder and other miscellaneous expenses. Out of ten pregnant goats, nine of them have given birth to 15 kids till date. One goat is yet to calve. Out of these fifteen kids, eight are female and seven are males. From the kids that were born, five are born in the month of January and the rest in February, 2007. The 10 Mother goats were given back to the VO. As there was some resistance from the large farmers in the neighboring village the goats were transferred to Gundlapally VO and they have given them to their CIG in June, 07. This non-loan based financing model is scaled up in another 3 villages with the MMS’s own resources in three villages viz., Chennarm (Kosgi), Doulthabad, and Chowdharpally (Bomraspet). Next Steps: A comprehensive model of organising and addressing the issues of goat rearers is thus, emerging. The prospects of establishing a network of all goat rearers in the mandals may happen in a shorter time than expected. The services will be streamlined along with the institutional strengthening. Action programs are being developed to achieve the objectives set-forth (detailed earlier in this note) with the goat rearers. The focus in the coming months will be on establishing/ enhancing fodder base for goats, which when taken up by the rearers will increase their prestige. Linkages will also be developed with the financial institutions, insurance and health services for the required help and support in future. The agenda is important, as goats are the singular low risk assets with assured and highly liquid markets with high value. Linkages are being established with National Research Centre for Meat (NRCM, of ICAR) and Meat Development Corporation for future work related to marketing of goats/ meat. CIGs (Mekala Sangalu) as on August 20, 2007:

S.no Name of the village

No. of CIGs No. of rearers

No. of goats

Lease land (ac)

1 Bijjaram 1 17 127 5.5 2 Chennarm 1 8 112 0 3 Mukthipahad 1 12 115 3.5 4 Lodhipur 1 8 64 0

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5 Gundlapally 1 6 19 0 6 Gokafasalvad 1 11 86 5 7 Doulathabad 1 13 105 2 8 Chellapur 1 4 67 3 9 Thimmareddy

pally 1 17 70 6

10 Nagireddy pally

1 10 102 0

Total 10 106 867 25 Proposed Plan of action for this year:

S. No.

Activities Sub-activities Key activity orindicator

Time

1 Baseline data No. of goats filled data sheets 20 days Availability of biomass Health issues Insurance Market

2 CIGs formation & Net working

Identification of active memberswho are in goat rearing profession

No.of members ineach CIG 25 days

CIGs formation and (freeze theno.)

Network formation andpreparing actionplan for network

Selection of representatives byCIG members

Orientation on need ofnetworking

Network formation - preparingaction plan for networking

Regular meetings

3 Fodder Identifying the tracks

Draft on systems,responsibilities and grazing norms July 2nd week

seed dibbling and planting Seed dibbling andplanting July-Sept

Draft on systems responsibilitiesinvolved in protection Aug

Taking lands under lease to getagricutural biproducts

Entering in tolease

Grazing norms

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4 Health services Convergence meeting with deptAH, MMS & NW

Vaccine identifying -consolidated sheet

Training Program on diseases toCIGs

Outsourcing service delivery(MOU) to groupof activists August

Vaccine identifying from CIGs toNW

Outsourcing service delivery toactivists at mandal / 3 mandallevel

5 Marketing compiling data and processing Readily availabledata Sept

Slaughter house

Meeting ting withtrader, NW andtime collectivemarketing

Organising exclusive Oct 6 Insurance Workshop on evolving modalities

Establishing insurance fund –modalities

7 Pallupaddathi & some more units Grounding modified Aug/Nov

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Improving Productivity of Lands owned by the Poor & Promoting Integrated Farming

PURPOSE: All the lands belonging to the targeted poor households will be brought under cultivation for improved production. In order to achieve this, several measures were planned such as Soil fertility improvement, composting, seed systems, NPM, value chain of the produce (processing) and crop-diversification would be in-built into the farming system. These initiatives are taken up in general and as a part of the AP DAI initiatives. The effort under the APRLP supported program is to ensure that the poor are covered in these programs.

ACTIVITIES: 1. Situation analysis of the agriculture – of the

poor households completed 2. Member should enter in to an agreement with

SHG by accepting terms and conditions 3. An intensive effort was made to access tank

silt under AP REGS. About 389 acres of land received tank silt and manure from a slaughterhouse. The latter was sourced as the combination of tank silt and manure is proven to give greater benefit than either of it. The transport for manure was provided from the project while, the individual members have contributed their labour for loading and unloading the manure from the trucks at the slaughter house and in the fields.

4. Composting with green manure & inter-cropping with green manure crops was also initiated in some of these lands. Korra is taken up as an intercrop in 180 ac lands as a part of crop diversification (for food & fodder). Korra used to grow as food crop in past days, after introducing rice at low prices people changed their food habits from nutritious millets. To encourage the people to change their food habits, start with one meal/week / HHs. Seed is given on kind-repayment basis (Nagu Paddathi) to POP HHs, where in they have to return one and half times the seed taken. VO will announce procurement price for Korra and will procure produce after harvesting to ease the marketing constraints. Some produce can be channelised in to Anganvaadi system. An attempt will also be made to use Korra in the chicken feed replacing maize as the bulk ingredient.

5. All these lands are brought under NPM practices – helping the farmers to reduce the cost of cultivation. The program is ongoing.

TRAININGS: • Training programs were organised in 14 out of

the 15 villages for the identified households, mainly on cultural practices of crops like Korra. Eight community resource persons from Deccan Development Society (DDS) from Zaheerabad participated in the

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training programs as resource persons. Communication material was also brought from DDS.

• VO announced procurement price for produce and also seed will be given to farmers who are willing to take on naagu paddathi (farmers should give the seed back1:11/2 times to VO, VO will maintain seed bank at village level)

• Activists listed the names of farmers who shown interest to for intercropping or mixed cropping to give seed on naagu basis

• MMSs supplied seed to VOs as per the requirement

MOU between Farmer and SHG

• To enhance the soil fertility, apply silt as the part of APREGS • Access bullocks of VO on hired basis to plough timely • Use SSP as basal dose before sowing • Should go for inter crop and mixed crop • Crop should be brought under NPM • Should collect 30-40 kg neem fruit • Should attend related meetings and trainings • As part of AP REGS , dig compost pits • Green manure crops should raise as boarder crops • Green manure trees should be planted around the manure pit • Green manure crops or trees should be raised on the bunds • Profit and loss is in any of the above initiatives is borne by the household Signed by Farmer, SHG representatives, Witness – VO members

NEXT STEPS: • This year’s annual cycle experiences will be analyzed to formulate processes for up-

scaling. • With the experience during the current year, plans are being prepared for covering all

the lands of poor under AP REGS. • Procurement, processing and marketing of the entire NPM redgram output during

the current season is being planned. • The results of the current year’s efforts will be analysed and appropriate strategies will

be evolved; particularly on easing the bullock labour constraints and streamlining the manure application.

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Easing the Plough Bullock Labour Constraint for Poor Farmers

Purpose: It has been brought out in the initial situation analysis that accessing plough bullocks has been a major constraint for many of the poor farmers. They have to depend on bullocks given by the larger farmers for whom they work, or on hired bullock labor. This often results in delayed sowing and poor crop yields or leaving the land fallow. The smaller size holdings and smaller plots are also disincentives for the hired bullock labour to operate. Tractors are also inaccessible, owing to high demand for them during the season, smaller plot sizes and high costs. The earlier attempts at providing individual or group loans for purchase of bullocks faced several problems such as:

• The total demand for bullock labour is low and highly seasonal • Individuals selling away the animals for lack of fodder at a cheaper rate • Increased indebtedness with each transaction

As a consequence, there is an informal ban on lending for plough bullocks within the

mainstream poverty alleviation programs. In effect, the constraint of plough bullocks remained unattended and a reason for poor yields of poor farmers. In this context, this initiative attempts to innovate on mechanisms of easing plough bullock constraint for poor farmers. The purpose of this initiative is to create a facility for the poor in the village, where their lands will be ploughed on a priority basis. This facility will be established at VO level but managed by the

group of farmers those who do not own bullocks. The bullocks would be operated by an individual on a commercial basis. Eventually, it is hoped that such a facility could be established under AP REGS as a public service for poor farmers’ land development.

The initiative is grounded on a pilot basis in one village in each mandal i.e. 3 project villages. The experience is emerging and is being documented. More villages will be taken up during the next season.

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Process: 1. A situation analysis with the poor farmers hiring plough bullocks and with those who

are providing this service 2. The modus opeandi is arrived at as the following:

a. The farmers who need plough bullocks will register with the VO as a CIG by making an advance payment of Rs.150/-.

b. Their names will be entered into a register- the dates for ploughing will be entered into the register.

c. Experience sharing and re orientation to persons who have taken bullocks d. VOs selected persons who have experience in providing hired plough-bullock

services. The bullocks purchased from the project will be given to this person on an annual hiring basis. The agreement between the VO and the operator covers the following aspects: • The agreement is for one year. If management is good, contract can be

extended to next year • The operator should not deviate from objectives in terms priority for

coverage of farmers. If bullocks are not used in accordance with the objective, VO will take back the bullocks giving 3 days prior notice

• VO should ensure that the bullocks are vaccinated regularly, the service charges are paid by the operator

• The operator should take care of fodder and health disorders. • He/She can sell the FYM • Implements which are used in agricultural operations should be arranged

by the operator. • Bullocks are in the name of VO. VO has to pay premium for insurance.

VO will submit the claim. • Bullock person should pay Rs.2500 annually as service charge in 3

installments (Rs.600, Rs.1300, and Rs. 600) e. Mandal staff prepared a proposal and after approval of the proposal by the

VO, MMS has released the budget to respective VOs. A purchasing committee was formed consisting of VO president, bullocks operator, staff member and the local veterinary assistant surgeon.

f. Bullocks are purchased in the local shandy. Nine bullock pairs were purchased in 3 villages (3 pairs in each mandal) investing about Rs.1.72 lakhs. Each pair of bullocks is to support about 8 acres land. The cost of the bullocks is expected to be recovered in the form of annual rental and the same will be revolved. Two bullocks died owing to disease and a dog-bite, insurance is being claimed. This experience will be analysed to arrive at upscaling strategy, if successful. The potential risks in the above scheme of things are

• Death of animal (partly covered by insurance) • Number of wage days employed is less than 50-60 days • Termination of agreement during the season

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• If the village is predominantly rain fed, maintaining bullocks during the off-season might be a liability

• Fodder insecurity • Seasonal migration of the farmers or the operator

The bullock operators are joining the fodder groups initiated under AP DAI for fodder security. It is also suggested that the members who are accessing the bullock services have to grow fodder and share it with the operator. In case of extreme seasons, the VO may take a decision to sell the bullocks during the un-season and purchase them again during the season. Emerging Up Scaling View: The experience is emerging and needs at least a full-cycle to properly establish. Considering several other requirements the following points are emerginge:

1. Provision of bullock labour should be seen as a collective facility for land/ livelihood enhancement of the poor and thus, be included in the AP REGS under the category land development.

2. At least 5 bullock pairs with bullock carts be provided for each village; the same modalities as emerged in this pilot can be followed. These will serve the following purposes:

a. Ploughing the lands of the poor on a priority basis b. Used in silt-application across the year/ whenever possible c. Transport of manure from homesteads to the rainfed lands (which is

proving to be costly) d. Watering the plantations (on bunds or commons) during the dry seasons.

3. It is impossible for poor farmers to hire bullocks for the above purposes individually or even, pay for the full-cost of the services and therefore, it should be seen as an public support for poor farmers.

4. Adequate bullock-labour days can be generated throughout the year with the above works.

5. Summer maintenance of these bullocks (3 months) can be seen as a common-purpose service essential for the agriculture of the poor. Adequate provision can be made as a part of the fodder bank.

The above will be attempted during the year to test run / establish a case example.

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Wage Employment through Local Processing of NPM-Redgram Purpose: NPM – producing produce without using chemical pesticides add value to the local pigeon pea/ redgram. This is being taken up on a larger scale in the project mandals. This initiative aims at

• Using the value addition of no-pesticides redgram for accessing processed markets on a larger scale.

• Local processing of the grain for the purpose of :

o Retention of value and creating more wage days

o Retention of bye-products within the village

o Retain the profit margins o Retain the NPM produce (as the larger mills mixes the all kinds of

produce) Program Processes: This was tried in three villages in two mandals in the year. About 4 tons of the gram procured by the VOs was processed locally valued at Rs.1.42 lakhs. The following processes are followed.

1. The VO procures NPM redgram on behalf of the MMS and stocks it separately as part of the IKP-marketing program.

2. Instead of selling the produce to the MMS, the VO lends the produce to the labour group formed for processing.

3. With initial exploration from various sources including local knowledge, the processing steps are standardized – consists of cleaning, soaking in water for a period, drying, milling, cleaning and packing.

4. Several mills are tried for milling with an objective achieving 70% recovery of processed dhal; this includes:

a. Local mills in the villages b. Mill designed by CRIDA c. A mill used in ICRISAT

5. The processed dhal is packed in 5, 10 and 20 kg packs.

Cost Details Rs. (2qt) For 200 qt Raw material 3700 370000 Wages 540 54000 Milling 60 6000 Transport 160 16000 Packing material 100 10000 Total cost 4560 456000 By-products 220 44000 Total Cost 4340 412000 Recovery % 68 68 Grain 136 13600 Cost per Kg 31.91 Market price / kg 38 Profit /kg 6.09 Total quantity (qt) 200

Total profit for 100 ac 121765

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6. WASSAN has taken responsibility of marketing. The VOs/ MMS have also sold the produce locally.

Benefits: The table gives the costing arrived at based on the experience in Antaram village in Daultabad mandal for 2 quintals and for processing produce from about 100 acres of NPM (200 qt).

• Processing of 2 qt generates a wage income of Rs.540/- equivalent of about 6 to 7 days of wage days under EGS. Even assuming 100 acres NPM in the village it would generate 600 to 700 wage days in a village!

• In addition, it also generates demand for local mills.

• The by-products of milling would be about 58 kgs, which is a valuable poultry / cattle protein feed supplement.

• When sold at Rs.38/- at the retail rate (not wholesale rate- this year it is Rs.38 per kg)- it generates Rs.6 per kg profit to the VO or the labour group.

The initiative has a very high potential for generating wage labour employment. Constraints Faced:

• The technical aspects of processing needs further stabilization / improvement • Infrastructure needs to be established for soaking of the gram • The recovery percentage, a critical parameter for commercial su ccess of the

initiative needs to be improved from the existing 65-68% to 70%+. • The cleaning and grading of the produce need to be improved – destining is a

critical requirement. Next Steps: 1. A partnership is established with CRIDA to hand-hold the operations during the next

year, including establishment of a Dhal-Mill so that the recovery rate improves. This also involves cleaning and grading.

2. Evolving Systems of Continuous supply: Ways to ensure continuous supply of the packed gram needs to be evolved to catch the regular markets in the cities. The VOs after procuring the gram will lend it to SHGs who hold the stocks in their houses in smaller quantities of about 3 qt. The need for larger storage and care could be avoided in this way. The VO places demand with the SHGs on a monthly basis and by using the common facility of milling (operated commercially), the SHG will supply the packed material to the VO to be sold to a link-agent. This tie-up with bulk markets is being explored. 100 households can easily stock 300 qt of produce in this way.

3. Establishing market links: The bulk markets – at the district level and in Hyderabad are being explored. A tie-up will be made this year with the wholesaler, schools/ hostels and hotels.

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4. Establishing an improved Dhal-Mill: CRIDA is improving its dhal-mill and several mills established in Maharashtra (Akola) are also being explored. It is essential to establish an improved dhal mill along with creating necessary processing infrastructure in the village. This will be attempted during the year.

This initiative needs one more year for stabilization but, has very high potential to generate wage employment.