Livelihood FrameworkA Case of NE Upland Communities

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The place and people

Arunachal Pradesh

Itanagar

AssamAssam

MeghalayaShillong Manipur

Imphal

MizoramAizawl

NagalandKohima

TripuraAgartala

SikkimGangtok

Pic. Courtesy: Gopen CRS-Pic. Courtesy: Gopen CRS-Ghy®Ghy®

Livelihood Framework - Vision

Every individual poor family is able to earn a decent livelihood

It is an integral part of any livelihood improvement initiative – improving opportunities for the rural poor to meet their priority needs

Rural Poor (Upland Communities) are;

Consumers (Buyers) ( we should work towards reducing the expenditure)

And Producers (sellers) of goods and services (we should work

towards enhancing the incomes, employment) And most importantly towards reducing/diversifying risks in both the

cases

Upland Communities

Focus is in Existing Livelihoods and finding new livelihood Opportunities towards

Increasing the IncomeDecreasing the ExpenditureIncreasing the Employment (days), andDecreasing the risks

Livelihood of the Upland Communities

Jhum Cultivation-rainfed Panikheti – wet-land agriculture NTFP (Forest) Kitchen garden Fisheries Wage Labour (hazira) Small Livestock Artisans/Semi Skilled works etc. Fisheries …have portfolios of livelihoods

Problems of Upland Communities

As Consumers – small quantities, high prices, ignorance of prices, indebtedness, consumption credit needs, lack of capacity to hold, etc.

As Producers - small quantities, high prices, ignorance of prices, indebtedness, consumption credit needs, lack of capacity to hold, etc.

The Premise

Poor are organised/willing to be organised into affinity groups – SHGs, Village Organisations and higher order organisations for common good

Poor have certain level of capacities, certain knowledge and skill-base and certain resource base.

These need to be supplemented; further they might require certain hand-holding support

The Premise

All sub-projects in Livelihoods are people’s projects (poor decide, plan, implement, monitor, evaluate and follow up) as Livelihoods are theirs and the benefit of the enhancement is theirs

Livelihood Framework: Pillars

Organising the poor – Social Mobilisation through Conscientisation: External Facilitation, Internal Animation = Incremental community efforts for self-reliance

Knowledge & Skills (Capacity Building of poor, groups and activists)

Resource Support: (including Finance, Linkages, NR & HR)

Policy Support is also required

What Are Livelihoods?

Ways of keeping oneself meaningfully occupied

By using one’s endowments (human and material)

To generate adequate resources To meet the requirements of the households In a sustainable manner

Less than 10% of rural workers in India are employed regularly. Poor rural households engage in more than one activity for their livelihood

What is Livelihood Intervention?

Livelihood interventions are consious efforts by an agency or an organisation to promote and support livelihood opportunities for a large number of people (other than those directly or indirectly employed by them). LIs can be in many forms and go far beyond running an IGP/IGA. Various interventions can influence the livelihoods of many people. Eg. Watershed development

Why Promote Livelihood?

More than 12 million additional people seeking work every year. About 30 million unemployed or under-employed, to ensure full employment within a decade, more than 15 million new livelihoods will have to be generated annually. (Planning Commission)

Livelihood Interventions in India

State: The Green revolution influenced 200 million

farmers livelihood KVIC directed towards supporting 50 million

rural artisans IRDP+TRYSEM was one largest livelihood

interventions promoted by any State National Watershed Devt. Board changed the

lives of millions of farmers living in envionmentally degraded areas.

NGO NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) – Amul

enhanced livelihoods of 9+ million dairy farmers NECC (National Egg Co-ordination Committee) –

changed the organisation of poultry industry in India BAIF (Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation) – breeding

and improved fodder production impacted the livelihoods of over 1 million farmers

IDE (International Devt. Enterprises – enhanced 2 lakhs small & marginal farmers livelihood with foot-operated treadle pump for irrigation

SIFFS -50000 fishermen (technology & Marketing) PRADHAN – 20000 farmers (Irrigation)

Livelihood Interventions in India

NERCRMPUA-IFAD (Assam, Manipur & Meghalaya)

NEPED (Nagaland) LIPH-IFAD/MRDS (Meghalaya) ARIASP-WB (Assam) Rubber Block Plantation-WB (Tripura) TAMBAC-INBAR (Manipur) INBAR (Tripura)

Livelihood Interventions in NER-India

Livelihood Assessment

Livelihood

(What)

Sources

(Where) (When) (How Much)

Rice

Vegetables

Meat

Medicines

Seeds

Others

Livelihood Framework4 Arrows

Income

Expenditure

Employment

Risk & Vulnerability