The Sir Ratan Tata Trust, together with the NGOs CInI and PRADAN is helping tribals in Jharkhand strengthen their existing sources of livelihood and is also exploring new avenues for their development

Tribals living in central India face severe food insecurity. Small landholdings and backward and traditional agricultural techniques mean that the harvest lasts only for six months, after which they need to migrate to towns in search of seasonal employment as labourers. The population therefore is stricken with poverty and malnutrition, and migration rate for survival is quite high.

When 43-year-old Savitribai’s husband succumbed to a chronic illness, she and her children faced a bleak future. But rather than give in to despair, this courageous woman rebuilt her life with the support of a women’s self-help group (SHG) set up in her small and remote hamlet in one of the blocks of West Singhbhum, Jharkhand. The SHG was set up through the initiative of Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) under Central India Initiative (CInI), to help women pool their resources and create an alternative source of livelihood. Savitribai was able to get a small loan amount from this SHG to start a puffed rice business that slowly began to yield income.

Power of three
CInI was conceived and promoted by Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT) in 2002-03 to understand the issues of tribal livelihoods and develop strategies for enhancing them through land-and-water based interventions. Subsequently, the CInI cell was set up in Jamshedpur to give concrete shape to the concept and to impart focus to it. The CInI cell is a nodal agency that has developed state-specific strategies, which form the basis for initiating field projects in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

In April 2004, SRTT initiated a field project in Jharkhand along with PRADAN. The trust supported PRADAN for a three-year period (April 2004-March 2007) in promoting the livelihood of very poor families in Jharkhand. The activities included stabilising kharif paddy, introducing alternate crops and enhancing their productivity, promotion of forest based activities like lac and tassar production, and promotion of small irrigation schemes. SRTT provided a grant of Rs6.82 crore to PRADAN.

PRADAN was established in 1983, to strengthen livelihood capabilities of rural tribal poor and create sustainable income generating opportunities. The NGO was formed by a group of young professionals including engineers, social workers and agriculturists, some of them with management backgrounds, who believed that to tackle poverty, people with both knowledge resources and a desire to help the poor at the grassroots level are required. The organisation is working with about 120,000 families from marginalised communities in remote villages, located in seven of the poorest states in the country.

PRADAN adopts an approach of grassroots mobilisation followed by livelihood promotion to tackle rural poverty and improve living conditions. In most cases, grassroots mobilisation is in terms of promoting self-help groups. Livelihood broadly falls in the sectors, livestock rearing, natural resource management and setting up rural micro enterprises. PRADAN’s vision is to ultimately help the tribal poor and other marginalised communities lead a life of dignity through improved food productivity, thus reducing migration in search of an alternative means of earning.

Focus on Jharkhand
Jharkhand was chosen as an area of focus since it is a very poor and neglected state. As paddy farming is the primary source of food and income for most tribals in the region, the main strategy was to stabilise the productivity of the kharif paddy crop, followed by the introduction and productivity enhancement of alternate crops. PRADAN focuses on improving productivity by using better Package of Practices (PoP), introducing better quality seeds and helping families adopt new practices around water management, all of which help to increase paddy yields.

PRADAN works with local women who with their inherent resource management skills and concern about the welfare of their families can play a crucial role in promoting change in the family.

The women are encouraged to form SHGs, each consisting of 10 to 20 women. The women’s SHGs are an effective support system, but more importantly, they create a consolidated entity that can more easily access bank loans, public services, etc. The strategy is to strengthen their skills and then promote livelihoods.
Small is beautiful
Women belonging to a particular SHG pool in Rs10 to Rs20 each on a weekly basis, to create a collective fund. This not only helps them to create some savings but also serves to accumulate the seed money to get low-interest loans that they can easily repay, besides other credit facilities. It is a huge help for the women as they are free from the clutches of the village moneylenders. Extra income generated is ploughed back into investments in land and agriculture, purchase of livestock and is used for medical expenses and children’s education. Savitribai is only one of the over one-lakh poor rural women who have benefited from the assistance provided by PRADAN.

SHGs also provide a platform for starting home-based enterprises, called ‘honeybee activities’. PRADAN hopes that women in the region will be able to adopt at least one additional livelihood in order to augment their incomes rather than depend solely on agriculture, which does not ensure a steady cash flow.

PRADAN also promotes dairy and goat rearing in its project areas in Jharkhand, Orissa and Rajasthan. Due to poor rearing practices, as well as lack of veterinary staff and marketing expertise, traditional animal husbandry does not yield its full potential. By imparting knowledge and helping with the infrastructure for goat rearing and dairying, PRADAN hopes to improve production and supplement incomes.

Integrated Natural Resource Management (NRM) is the third area of work that PRADAN undertakes in its project areas. The focus is on the optimum management of land and water resources, improved irrigation, well development, soil and water conservation, replenishing forests and preserving the environment. The programme also includes growing of vegetables, cash crops, and promotion of horticulture. Other livelihood options are home-based micro enterprises like tassar yarn production, lac production, poultry farms, etc. Over 1,500 local youth have been trained and deployed as ‘service providers’ around various livelihood sectors in Jharkhand.

Positive proof
An impact study undertaken by the CInI Cell and PRADAN has shown significant improvements in the lifestyle of tribals owing to the project’s interventions, which have helped 32,500 tribal households in Jharkhand. “The rice yield has nearly doubled from 7 quintals to 14 quintals per acre. Now there is food security for nearly 10 to 12 months of the year and they are also able to take up other livelihood interventions for earning an income,” says Ganesh Neelam, programme officer at SRTT. Calorie intake has increased with incomes, and migration rates are down by 70 per cent among targeted households.

PRADAN has also been able to generate substantial funds from the government, banks and donor agencies during the first phase of the project. Buoyed by these positive outcomes, SRTT has pledged further support to PRADAN. A second grant of Rs11.37 crore has been sanctioned from April 2007, for another three-year period, for the consolidation of efforts in the region along with promotion and strengthening of Community based Organisations (CBOs), apprenticeship skill-building and for the ongoing professional development of the staff.

With the dedication and help of so many partners — SRTT, CInI, PRADAN, the government, banks and others — the tribals of Jharkhand can look forward to a better future.

Uploaded in December 2007