Women in India Protect Land & Foster Self-Reliance
|
Updates from the Field:
Updates from the Field (or Progress Reports) on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.com by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
|
Keep Up-to-Date
 Subscribe to "Updates from the Field" by E-Mail
 Subscribe to "Updates from the Field" by RSS Feed
Index of Updates from the Field
Final Update
By Katherine Zavala - Coordinator of Programs, November 27, 2007 06:02 PM
Thank you all so much for support!
In total, 1,500 women in Bihar, India, benefited from your generous donations by having increased food security that was initiated by the development activities highlighted in this project.
Comments from Annu, Secretary (Executive Director) of Manavi:
“There is a strong demand for education and health – mainly for girl children and adult women. Most of the target community, women and children, are illiterate. As SHG members, [need] to read and write, and calculate money and interest, women are now more eager than before to educate their children, especially their own daughters. Child marriages are a prevailing issue in theses villages. Now these practices are decreasing. Now women are willing to give proper mental and physical care to their children.”
Self-Help Groups and Income Generation: providing women with access to microcredit, help women connect with banks and teach the women financial and management skills.
• 500 women from five villages participated in savings and credit groups; each woman now saves around $1 per month. Regular trainings take place on basic math, bookkeeping, and repayment plans.
• Self Help Groups have leveraged over $4,000 in loans from formal banking institutions in Bihar for dairying and other small businesses.
• 340 women participated in income-generating activities gaining an economic foothold to continue growing their income.
The majority of participants were engaged in dairying and fishing.
o 10 women received honey cultivation training with an estimated $60-$80/year added income
o 50 families received goats to rear, sell and earn an income
o 50 women gained access to and registered for public resources such as pensions, accidental death claims, “first child support,” and savings incentive programs.
o 7 women were able to greatly expand the size of their bangle-making businesses.
Food Security and Sustainable Agriculture: through vegetable gardens, livestock, horticulture, crop diversification and related income-generation activities.
• 100 people participated in and now have access to seed banks in 5 villages.
• 350 women participated in sustainable, organic farming training focusing on the use of natural pest and fertilizing systems.
Other notable trainings included the following:
o 40 vermicompost pits (raising and production of earthworms and their byproducts for waste reduction and fertilizing production) were dug in 5 villages.
o 50 farmers visited agricultural research institutions to learn about the benefits of organic farming
o 6 women participated in intensive train-the-trainers sessions on food processing; they in turn will train approximately 120 women in the same.
Other Activities and Outcomes
• 6-7 health camps per month serving an average of 150 women per camp for pregnant women and women ages 0-5 were provided preventative care and consultation.
• Manavi organized more than 20 village-level meetings where agriculture scientists were invited to share best practices on documentation of sustainable farming practices.
• Participants of Manavi’s village-level meetings included self-help group leaders, members of farmers’ clubs and office bearers of “Jaiv Panchayats” (Living Democracy), a movement initiated by the Research Foundation of Science, Technology and Ecology (RFSTE) that aims to establish a definitive sovereignty of local communities on biodiversity resources.
• In 11 villages Manavi has facilitated the formation of Jaiv Panchayats to bring local farmers together to bring forth issues related to food insecurity and the effects of conventional farming vs. organic farming, among others.
October 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Programs Coordinator, October 11, 2007 08:22 PM
Ms. Sonia Devi once visited a Self-Help Group (SHG), formed by Manavi and became inspired by the idea of women coming together to work for a better life. She decided to form her own SFG and discussed it with other women in her village. As a result, she was able to mobilize 13 women and a SHG was formed. Most of the members are extremely poor and can barely afford to pay their rent.
Initially the SHG was not able to save more than 25 cents in a month. They jointly decided to charge membership fees to develop a savings fund and now they are able to save approximately $2.50 each month. Most of these members are from the Dalit community. Before the formation of the SHG, the women were selling homemade liquor. None of their children were attending school, and often their daughters were being married between the ages of 10 and 12.
After the formation of the SHG, and support from Manavi, the women discovered new opportunities to improve their income. Many decided to stop selling liquor and start their own small businesses, selling fish, running stalls offering tea and breakfast, and selling women’s clothes. As a result the women are now starting to send their daughter’s to school and some women have also started resisting child marriages. Even the cases of domestic violence have decreased. Before, female members of the family were drinking alcohol but now these women have stopped and have started an anti-alcohol consumption drive among male-members in the village as well.
Thanks to Sonia’s inspiration, women in her village are building their own self-confidence, starting new businesses and are empowering themselves to create a better community.
May 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Asia Program Director, IDEX, May 18, 2007 01:31 PM
Yamuna Mahila Sabha SHG
A Self-Help Group (SHG) organized by Manavi was Yamuna Mahila Sabha, located in Usraha village, and formed by the initiatives of village level leaders – Ms. Sunita Devi, and Ms. Bifia Devi. This group consists of 13 members. This SHG is economically extremely poor. In fact, all the members of this group are displaced families as a result of soil erosion caused by the changing course of the Ganges River. The SHG members used to come from a rich background, but a few years ago, the Ganges River, changed its course and drifted north, submerging lots of villages.
When they settled in their new place, the women were in a hopeless situation. Manavi decided to initiate some developmental activities with them. These displaced families lost everything except their animals often cows, bulls or goats. So Manavi decided to promote animal husbandry in this group.
At the same time, a request was made to governments’ relief program. The displaced families received land from the government on which to build their homes. In this newly developed community, Manavi organized an ongoing animal health check-up program. The women also began preparing vermicompost and organic pesticides with animal urine. It was initiated as an income generation activity.
For all these initiatives, women (members of SHG) of this community played a key role. This group mobilized support from Manavi as well as from banks too. Now this group, in their new home, have gained a sort of stability and members are eager to take some bigger steps.
Update April 2007
By Katherine Zavala - Asia program Director, April 18, 2007 09:59 AM
Laxmi Bai Mahila Sabha Self Help Group, formed by Manavi
Manavi helps women form Self Help Groups (SHGs). SHGs typically involve 10-20 women who save money and give credit to their peers in the group. In addition Manavi offers training and support to women to develop their skills. A typical example of this is the Laxmi Bahi Mahila Sabha SHG which is comprised of 11 women who are all engaged in agricultural activities. Since none of them own land, they all do sharecropping. Sharecropping is a system where the land is given to farmers for cultivation on a contract. In this case, the women were taking loans from the landlords.
These women were practicing modern agricultural practices: using seeds from the market and chemical pesticides and fertilizers. The women were not making much profit selling their vegetables. In fact, they were making enough to just get by.
Manavi motivated them to be trained in organic farming. Manavi facilitated training in subjects such as vermicompost, organic pesticides and selection of traditional cropping patterns. Once the women implemented organic farming, they saw that their production costs was less and that they were gradually starting to make more money.
Manavi has also offered training in food processing, where the women have learned to prepare spices and pulses (edible seeds of certain pod-bearing plants, such as peas and beans), and have learned to implement plant nurseries for seed production and propagation.
February 2007 Update
By Katherine Zavala - Asia Program Director, IDEX, February 26, 2007 10:04 AM
Manavi is actively collecting traditional varieties of paddy seeds (used for growing rice and other semiaquatic crops). Over 90% of paddy fields in North Bihar contain hybrid seeds (some belonging to multinational corporation terminal seeds). Until now, Manavi has found around 70 varieties of paddy seeds and are aiming to locate around 125 varieties. From next crop season onwards, Manavi is hoping to propagate these seeds and develop a gene bank with support from local farmers.
With the support from the Ministry of Food and Supply, Manavi has been able to distribute more than 400-grain storage bins to self-help group (SHG) members. Manavi already successfully provided storage bins to SHG members in Dumka, Jharkand. As a result, Manavi is replicating this model to SHG members in Bihar.
December 2006 Progress Report
By Katherine Zavala - Asia Program Director, IDEX, January 29, 2007 04:35 PM
Manavi, India
Manavi is a grassroots organization founded in 1991 with the goal to promote women’s empowerment, especially those from the scheduled caste population and with tribal communities in the southern part of Bihar. Manavi works with some 2,000 women in 40 villages in Bihar. IDEX started working with Manavi in 1999.
One of IDEX’s critical roles is to carry out a thorough monitoring and evaluation report of the projects we support, together with our partners. IDEX staff visits partners regularly to see their work and accomplishments. At the same time, our partners provide detailed semi-annual reports, including a financial accounting of the use of funds.
Nevertheless, it is heartening for us to have other organizations participate in the monitoring and evaluation of the projects IDEX supports. This year, GlobalGiving partnered with GiveIndia to review organizations in India, including Manavi. The following report is part of GlobalGiving’s interview report of Manavi.
IDEX note on Funding and Accountability - IDEX works as an intermediary/project sponsor, which means we fundraise on their behalf. Likewise, IDEX submits all reports on behalf of Manavi, and meets any other compliance measures or requirements. IDEX has a multi-year partnership agreement with Manavi in which it commits to providing a minimum of $13,000 to Manavi each year, or more if IDEX is able to raise additional funds, as well as to provide other non-financial resources and support to enhance their visibility and organizational capacity. In keeping with IDEX’s commitment to transparency, IDEX is able and willing to provide a breakdown to Manavi of all funding received on behalf of Manavi – those funds received from Global Giving as well as other sources making up the $13,000 grant. However, this is not information that IDEX would expect or require Manavi to know.
If you would like further information on IDEX or Manavi and our relationship, please contact Gillian Wilson at IDEX, 415-824-8384.
Interview Report
Understanding the Relationship with GlobalGiving
Manavi knows GlobalGiving through IDEX. IDEX raises funds from different sources but Manavi does not know the exact amount of funds raised from GlobalGiving. Crafting of project descriptions is done by IDEX by asking questions to Manavi but no direct tools have been received from GlobalGiving. Manavi is also satisfied with the descriptions but believes that adding more brief case studies gives more value. Organic farming description is in general but Manavi wants more on local information, maps, photos and why the donors donate to Manavi. Even though Manavi is happy with 100% funding they expect more interaction through emails and, if possible, direct contact with their donors.
Strategy
Manavi addresses the impacts of globalisation on people living B.P.L. (Below Poverty Level), which are generally women & tribal members and provides training in leadership, organic food, food security and human rights. For four to five years they have been working on organic farming. Agriculture is the primary source of income and for food security organic farming is needed but the problem of multinational companies being an obstacle still exists. The area has an excellent history of agriculture and the reasons for the problems are known, Manavi is conducting different experiments to demonstrate benefits of organic farming. Participatory Rural Appraisal and feed back from beneficiaries and volunteers helped Manavi in many ways and the results are visible now. Vermicompost is more popular among farmers than fertilisers. Beneficiaries are selected within the Bihar and Jharkhand region on the basis of skill, aptitude and need.
This strategy increased the confidence level of farmers and momentum was achieved. Farmers know better on how they can get loans from banks and the acceptance of organic farming has increased. However, male members feel threatened and multinationals have become less assertive. Manavi believes their strategy is not a stagnant process but it is a learning and modification process towards positive results. With the past experience they want to be strong in their interaction with the government so that they can change and mobilise support. In addition, they want to improve media support and strong networking between NGOs at the national level.
Governance and Management
There are seven board members with different backgrounds such as journalists, botany, social works, village administration and education. The board is legally responsible for the organisation. Decisions are made by meeting four times a year with seven members and twice a year by holding general body meetings. Collective decisions are taken from the discussion. The project is managed according to the predefined guidelines given to project coordinators and also monitoring & progress is also observed from time to time. The board takes decisions relative to the project and gives inputs according to their specialised knowledge.
Sometimes Manavi takes advice and updates information from expert groups on things such as new agriculture policy, W.T.O., patent bill, etc. Beneficiaries, staff and IDEX do project descriptions and project budgets collectively. Reporting of project activities is shared with IDEX on monthly basis. The staff is given complete freedom to provide inputs and if any beneficiary tells them about a particular seed, a complete analysis is done from growth to the marketing level. Even from outside the organisation, a scientist’s visit will give ideas and Manavi will use them to conduct experiments. The accountant and board members take financial decisions of Manavi. Beneficiaries are aware of the budget allocations, and every two months financial details are sent to IDEX.
Project Sponsor Relationship
Manavi’s relationship with IDEX is positive. IDEX helps to raise funds from various sources and provides a $13,000 grant for the organization’s capacity building. IDEX also increases project’s visibility. Manavi is not aware of the display of the project on the GlobalGiving site.
Learning from project implementations
Manavi’s achievement process was slow but they learned it is a slow process because of the nature of experiments. Now they are getting expected results. After implementation, the staff and beneficiaries offered their views. Even views of local leaders are important to the organisation.
Projects results were clearly visible and people are now eager to practice organic farming. The hindrance part is the marketing strategy in pricing and distribution.
The unexpected success is that more people are coming to implement, but Manavi is unable to handle this because of a lack of staff, resources, money, skills etc. An Unexpected difficulty has been that people want profits and are not concerned with organic farming and the positive effects of this farming practice.
Networks and Collaborations
Manavi collaborates with many organisations such as IDEX; American Indian Friend Association, USA; DFID, UK; Population Foundation of India, New Delhi; Jharkhand Education Project, Ranchi; DRDA, Ministry of Rural Development; Ministry of Woman and Child Welfare, Government of Jharkhand; etc. Manavi manages these relations through meetings, emails, and participation in projects. Manavi interacts informally with 15 organisations because they cannot get results alone. Within IDEX network, the value of work done by Manavi is recognised. Manavi staff is hired at different places to implement organic farming. Most of the fund raising organisations consider only project costs but actually, there are other costs like administrative and maintenance costs, which should be funded.
Funding
Manavi feels that the cost of the project was assessed adequately but is not aware of the exact amount raised from GlobalGiving since IDEX raises funds from different sources and directly gives the total amount raised to Manavi. They are happy with the $13,000 grant they receive from IDEX but they are not aware of the exact amount from GlobalGiving. Manavi received some support in the form of land for organic farming by tribes in Patori.
Accountability
Since there is no direct contact with GlobalGiving Manavi is unaware of its reporting obligations but is ready to give reports if GlobalGiving wants.
Lastly Manavi wants more interaction and updates about social issues from time to time so that it can enhance the learning and relationship with GlobalGiving.
Update Report from Manavi
By Balu Iyer - Asia Program Director, IDEX, April 17, 2006 09:10 AM
Report on project activities
- Savings and credit program - Savings and credit groups to cover 1,000 women in ten villages. The emphasis will be to increase savings, route income generation programs through the groups and establish linkage with government banks to gain capital.
There are now 125 Self-Help Groups (SHGs) with over 1,500 members. Manavi has formed seven federations out of these groups. The idea of the federation is to have an apex body that can take over from Manavi and also interact with external agencies such as banks.
Training was organized in three phases. In the first phase issues discussed related to social analysis and process of group formation at the village level. A Lucknow based resource center facilitated this training program. The agenda for the follow-up training was finalized during the first training and tasks assigned to the trainees. During the second training the focus was on the process of SHG formation / its advantages /difficulties faced during the formation period/ methods of linking with banks/ types of enterprises to be taken by these groups etc. This training was facilitated by bankers from NABARD and a Delhi based group-ICPRD. After this training each participant was asked to support SHG in their respective villages and document the experiences. The last training program was mainly to share experiences and resolve difficulties faced by the groups.
- Promotion of vermiculture - Increase coverage of organic fertilizers and reduce consumption of chemical fertilizers. The target is to encourage 300 farmers to adopt vermiculture.
There are over 200 women who use vermicompost on a regular basis. More than 50 farmers have used algae compost for paddy crop and few have preserved it to be used in the next cycle. The use of chemical fertilizers like urea and DAP, while not completely eliminated has decreased. About ten farmers used bone compost and the results of this were visible in the rabi (winter) crops and vegetable cultivation. The compost provides resistance from pests. For bone compost and algae green compost Manavi got resource persons from Pusa Agriculture University and KVK, Dumka.
- Promotion of traditional seeds - Operationalize seed banks in all villages. The plan is to cover 200 farmers by providing them local variety seeds at subsidized prices. Manavi will develop a seed repository to preserve and germinate local varieties of rice, maize and vegetables.
Seed banks for marginal farmers/share croppers and vegetable growers are active in five villages. The idea is to preserve, promote and propagate local varieties of seeds as opposed to outside/hybrid commercial variety of seeds. Since, commercial seeds have captured the market in wheat, vegetables and oilseeds, Manavi is working to revive local varieties of crops like paddy and maize. Farmers normally take loan at high interest from moneylenders to purchase seeds and other inputs. Manavi has formed a revolving fund to target needy farmers. Forty farmers have taken credit from the revolving account.
- Income generation activities - Develop viable and practical income generation projects like goat-rearing, food-processing, bangle making, honey cultivation and backyard agriculture for 300 women. Expand food-processing activity with 30 women.
Priority was given to groups that deposited seed money and initiated activities that encouraged a degree of entrepreneurship. This was done to strengthen the ongoing activities of the group and help them explore new avenues to market their products. The activities that received assistance were marketing of bangles, puffed rice, local varieties of fishes, vegetable cultivation, animal husbandry, goat rearing, cow rearing, sattu making, and marketing of cosmetic goods. Some of the groups also took loans to meet family needs such marriage of daughters, completion of final rituals, medical treatment etc.
Goats
26 goats were distributed in the following villages - Sildilpur, Osraha Tara, Supaul, Lodhipur, and Bahadurpur. These goats were given to members from the dalit communities living below the poverty line.
Poultry
The poultry program has evoked good response from the Muslim and Hindu dalit communities. During the group meetings members showed interest in getting local breed as these were more hardy. The members were able to earn good money during the festival season. The poultry program is a good income generation avenue for landless families.
Piggery
A new initiative started this year is piggery. Five SHG members have given 2 pigs each. Before delivering the pigs, the members were given training on caring for the pigs.
Flour mill
A flour mill has been installed in Bhadurpur village. The management committee of the mill consists of representatives from seven SHGs and the day-to-day management is under the supervision of an SHG member, Bimla Devi. The mill charges a differential rate for members (SHGs and Mazdoor Kisan Sabha, 25% discount) and non-members. The mill has emerged as an outlet to sell products of SHG members.
- Strengthen the self-help groups and federation through training on group management and interaction with external agencies (banks and government agencies).
Panchayat plan
Panchayat plans for 12 villages under 5 panchayats. VIKALP a resource agency provided training to staff, community members and panchayat representatives. A copy of the plan was submitted to the panchayat heads and the District Development Commissioner.
Meeting with bank officials
Last year we had three meetings with senior bank officials. This year we decided to include members from the SHG federation in the meetings and converted the meetings to monthly reviews. These meetings helped to resolve some of the outstanding issues with the banks. So far 21 SHGs have received support from the banks. The participation of the SHG members has helped to accelerate the repayment rate which the banks appreciate.
Attachments:
|
