Livestock Led Livelihood Programme MARAG. The GEF Small Grants Programme SGP MARAG

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1 Livestock Led Livelihood Programme SGP The GEF Small Grants Programme

2 ABOUT Maldhari Rural Action Group () is a voluntary organization working for education and empowerment of the marginalized communities, particularly pastoral communities. believes in the inherent strength and potential of the people to bring about social change for the development and betterment of their own lives and society at large. s philosophy is to protect the rights of such people by restoring their livelihood to make them self-reliant. Today, is operational in over 300 villages of Kutch, Surendranagar and districts of North Gujarat. Our three pronged strategy includes: Gender Mainstreaming Promoting Community Ownership Advocacy and Networking Our core strength is to mobilize people and work at grassroots with village institutions. The source of our strength is a well balanced professional team 45 people, hailing from various backgrounds and specializations including social work, rural studies, engineering, finance, law and rural management. Since inception, has worked with Maldhari community but gradually it expanded its focus towards other marginalized communities. These communities have been pushed to the brink of starvation on account of degradation of natural resources and absence of means of livelihood. believes that right to education, right to self-governance and right to livelihood are the key ingredients to empower people. To achieve this, is involved in various activities pertaining to child rights, women empowerment, peoples institutions, agropastoral based livelihood and natural resource development. ABOUT SGP The Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) is implemented by United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in 90 countries globally. SGP became operational in India in September 1995 and works in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India (GoI). The Centre for Environment Education (CEE) is the National Host Institution (NHI) for the SGP India since September Presently, CEE has presence in all the States and Union Territories of India through a local network of 7 regional offices and 23 field offices. SGP emphasizes partnership and community participation in planning, implementation and monitoring of projects in the five GEF thematic areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, protection of international waters, prevention of land degradation and elimination of persistent organic pollutants. SGP aims to develop community-based approaches, strategic partnerships and innovative technologies that reduce threats to the global environment through local initiatives. SGP India has facilitated more than 185 actionbased and community-led initiatives across the country. The projects have successfully addressed the issues of environment, equity, poverty reduction, community empowerment and sustainable livelihoods. The grant raised and disbursed till now consists of USD 3.8 million from GEF and USD 4.2 million raised as co-financing from the communities and other partners in cash or in kind.

3 BACKGROUND OF THE PROJECT The project promoted animal husbandry based livelihood in four villages of Patdi block in Surendranagar district. The overall emphasis was on preservation of traditional knowledgee of animal husbandry and conservation of indigenous breed livestock. The traditional occupation of animal husbandry is a sustainable option for the people supported by the availability of resources, geographic conditions, economy and ecology of the area. Over the years, animal husbandry has faced numerous setbacks owing to natural disasters, breakdown of traditional practices and interplay of market forces. Our focus was to take a step forward in restoring animal husbandry as a viable occupation. The main approach was to improve the quantity and quality of inputs essential to animal husbandry including nutrition, breeding and veterinary services, promoting traditional practices and capacity building of the community. Beneficiaries: Local communities of Mera, Naviyani, Gosana & Manavada villages in Patdi block of Surendranagar district Project Budget: INR Lacs Project Duration: Sep 04-May 07 Goal of the project: To improve the quality of life of the marginalized communities by promoting environment friendly, culturally sensitive and replicable livestock led livelihood options. Objectives: To build the capabilities of local communities to address livestock production constraints. To promote sustainable livestock based livelihoods in four villages by ensuring timely availability of quality inputs and most efficient use of the output (animal waste). Project Activities: Breeding 10 Households Promoting Best Practices 918 Beneficiaries To promote best practices and successful models in animal husbandry. To improve the productivity of the local livestock breed. Grassland Development 2 Villages Livelihood Led Programme Project Activities Biogas & Organic Compost 30 Householdss Fodder Bank 643 Beneficiaries Veterinary Services 26 Villages Planning Process: Implementation activities were planned in participation with the community. Implementation plans were discussed with the relevant social institutions in the village and based on their suggestions necessary changes were incorporated. Key Activities: The activities targeted the overall value chain by focusing on frontend and backend. Fodder Supply: The six fodder banks established in four villages have proved to be a boon for 124 livestock rearers, especially during the scarcity phase of the year. It provided them a respite from high prices of fodder in local markets.

4 Livestock Management: The emphasis was on promoting indigenous breed, ten units of quality cows were provided in four villages (eight Kankrej and two Gir cows). In addition, calves of Bunni breed were distributed to being raised for breeding purposes. Each cow can yield up to 9-10 liters of milk every day. The clear impact of this demonstration resulted in adoption of indigenous breed by nonbeneficiaries. In order to ensure timely veterinary assistance, it was deemed fit to train local para-vets. With this intent, we selected and trained 13 local people as para-vets to serve their respective villages and surrounding areas. Capacity Building: Workshops were held for sharing indigenous practices of livestock management. Demonstrations were organized for depicting the benefits of biogas plant and vermi-compost. In addition, exposure visits were organized to Adalaj and Gandhinagar for understanding the management practices of rearing best breed Kankrej cows. Biogas & Organic Compost: To utilize the cowdung in an effective manner, 30 families have constructed biogas plants of 2 to 3 cubic meter capacity. We contributed in the form of mason s wage and necessary material, while labour charges were contributed by the beneficiaries. Each plant has incurred the cost in the range of Rs 9,000 to 10,000. Pursuant to operating demonstration, 50 more people have build the plant in their premises.

5 Introduction of cattle feed shop has resulted in Winds of Change saving of transportation cost of beneficiaries. In addition, the revolving fund for cattle feed has Milk co-operative in Manavada village was non-functional from past 20 years due to mismanagement, supported resource constrained farmers to buy embezzlement of funds, manipulation by private traders proper and people s feed for apathy. their cattle. With the dedicated efforts of, villagers agreed to revive the whole system. The villagers themselves selected the leaders for the co-operative. Thus, milk co-operative society was started Promotion in August of indigenous 2003 with breed the collective of cattle efforts has of people. reduced the cost of livestock management, as local breeds are more attuned to the prevailing In terms of livelihood and economy, the co-operative conditions has ensured and regular therefore income has more to its immunity. members. Every month Manavada village gets Rs 165,000 from the sale of milk which results into an average income of Rs 1500 per head. The milk co-operative is proving its centrality Financial for support livelihood, in economy the form and of social loans life for of the village. The sense of cooperation among the people has buying resulted livestock in women s has participation facilitated and poor leadership. and landless people to possess cattle as an extra For the forth coming co-operative elections in the district, source of of the income 308 by milk selling co-operatives milk. in the district, only 36 co-operatives have been elected to compete in the election as the rest could not clear the eligibility criteria. Of the 36 co-operatives, two are from our project villages. These two co-operatives are running for the Board of Directors category. This clearly displays that the co-operatives have evolved over the years and have imbibed required qualities to run for the district election. The process of internal development and capacity building of the co-operatives can be replicated in other villages of the district as well. Thus, the torch that was lighted in 4 villages of Patdi block can provide its luminance to other 300 villages of the district and bring in transparency, accountability and fair practices in the system. IMPACT Economical Impact: Grassland development, promotion of fodder crops and the fodder banks have ensured round the year availability of fodder. Fodder availability complemented by other backend activities related to livestock management has resulted in increasing the milk yield of the cattle, which has directly impacted monetary income from the milk sale. In addition, financial assistance to 81 families has assisted them in achieving means of livelihood. On the frontend, the milk co-operatives are providing a ready market at the doorstep of milk producers. The post-project phase has seen an increase of 24% of livestock population. Environmental Impact: Grassland development and promotion of fodder crops has contributed in enhancing biodiversity in the area. Due to stall feeding, urine and dung are collected at one place and utilized as organic manure. Also, it has resulted in reducing the damage by unrestrained grazing. In addition, rearers have benefited from the increase in the price of manure. Bio-Gas plants have resulted in saving of trees and have completely eliminated the emitting of smoke and resultant pollution.

6 Social Impact: Women s participation into SGP activities has resulted in exalting their statuss and consequently their participation has increased in the decision making process of the community/village. Cattles are given in their name and hence, they have become owners of an asset. The project has strengthened the linkage between agro and pastoralist communities for the mutual exchange of fodder and manure. In addition, milk co-operatives of livestock rearers in search of have reduced the migration livelihood. PROJECT FINANCE The overall project cost was Rs Lacs. SGP contribution was Rs Lacs and remaining contribution of Rs Lacs was mobilized from various sources. The resources were mobilized in cash (59%) and kind (41%) from community, government bodies and other sources. The project co-financing structure is as follows: The workshops/ /trainings/exposure visits, organized at various places involving 918 people of 400 households have resulted into developing and sharing of indigenous knowledge and sharing of the same. Grassland development demonstration given to 20 beneficiaries farmers has been replicated by 84 other farmers in 112 hectares of land. Another major impact was visible in the form of rejuvenation of milk cooperative movement in the neighboring villages of Alampur, Valevada, and Sushia % 21.08% 41.72% Community Government Bodies Other Sources CONTACT US 2/ /B, Milind Park, Opp. St. Xaviers Loyola Hall, Memnagar Road, Ahmedabad Tel: maragindia@rediffmail.com Website: SGP Secretariat CEE West UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme, Coordinator/Office In-Charge, CEE Delhi, Central for Environment Education, C-40, Ground Floor, South Extension Part-II, Thaltej Tekra, Ahmedabadd New Delhi Tel: , Fax: 011 Tel: Fax: ceewest@ceeindia.org sgpdelhi@ceeindia.org sgpwest@ceeindia.org ceedelhi@ceeindia.org