Towards Green Villages: Biomass imperatives

Conspiracy of poverty

• India’s poverty line: Rs. 12/day in rural. Rs.18/day in urban India

• More than 300 million people below this line (70% in rural)

• Poverty > getting chronic, concentrated

• Natural resource rich areas the poorest (60%)

Deep distress• Economy grows at around 9%, agriculture at 2.3 %

– Food grain available: 152 kg /person (rural). 23 kg less than in 90s– 30% households eat less than 1,700 kilo calories per day/person– Rural poor spend 70 percent of income on food. Starvation

• 57% of land facing degradation (increase of 53 percent since 1994)– Impact esp. on common lands & rain fed areas. About 68 percent of

the net sown area drought prone.

• 60% of cultivable areas are rainfed (no irrigation). Produce 42% of food– 2.5tons/ha productivity

• 80 % of India’s landholding is less than one hectare– The average annual land fragmentation is 2.7/land holding– 33% landless (22% in 1991-92)– Every second farmer today indebted. Suicides

• Decreasing agricultural yields increase demands on biomass– impact fodder and fuel availability.

• Poor agriculture = less cow dung (fertiliser) and agriculture residues (fuel and fodder). More stress on fuel wood. More stress on forests. Vicious circle

How to eke out sustainable livelihoods from shrinking resources

The land-energy matrix in a Himalayan village

ECOLOGICAL POVERTY

CreateNATURAL WEALTH

 

CreateECONOMIC WEALTH

India: a biomass economy • Ecology contributes 80 percent of income of poor

• Around 29 percent of ‘national wealth’ sustains 60 percent of population

• The ‘informal’ sector employs 92 percent of India. Private and public together only 8 percent

• Over 60% people depend on agriculture, fisheries and forests

• Agriculture: directly employs 234 million people

Forest-based livelihoods

• Forests directly employ 100 million people (250 mill. indirectly)

• Support 30% of fodder needs

• Contribute to 40% of India’s energy needs (more than 80% in rural areas). 14 million headloaders. Environmental villain?

• Minor produce, major impact– Tendu leaf collection (90 days employment to 7.5 million people +

employs more than 3 million people in bidi processing– Lac (resin) production employs 3 million people– About a million people dependent on sericulture– Bamboo: Ten million employed– Tassar silk cultivation: 126,000 households involved– Reeds (for making mats): More than 300,000 people involved– Gum collection employs 300,000 persons/day

Demands on biomass will only grow

• Population is increasing by 2 per cent every year– 1 Ha sustains now four people, 1.5 people/Ha in 1980s

• Firewood production must increase from 100 million ton to 300 million tonnes• Green fodder production from about 230 million tonnes to 780 million tonnes.• India’s per capita forests decreasing: 0.08 Ha now, 0.20 in 1951• Number of people dependent on forests is growing: from 184 million in 1996 to 226 in

2006. • Timber demand (both housing and industrial): from 23 million cubic metres to 29

million cubic metres in 2006.• Per capita consumption of paper rose from 3 kgs in 1995 to about 5 kgs in 2003 (in

China it was 29.1 kg per person). In Asia, per capita paper consumption is five times higher than in India.

• But overall biomass production in India seems to be declining rapidly• Around 240.62 million Ha of India’s 306.25 million Ha reported land are used for

biomass production. Out of this only on a very small fraction of agricultural lands productivity has improved due to irrigation. On the rest, productivity has gone down. And it is declining.

under threat: Governance

• 0.6 million villages, .23 million elected local governments, 3.8 million elected representatives

• 2.3 villages per Panchayat (in Assam, as high as 29 villages/Panchayat) • But a centralised approach: gradually the Federal government is in charge

of resources• Those who take decisions are not the ones who have to live with the

consequences of those decisions• Panchayats have all power over natural resources• Panchayats are regarded as implementing agencies• Only one state has devolved power• In tribal areas, it is in more distress• India has to make a fundamental shift to meet this challenge. • A shift in state’s role from an often-corrupt regulator of the micro-

environment to the provider of an enabling and more market-friendly environment

Under threat: Shrinking commons, capital

• CPR, providential fund, is gone• From 55% in 1900 to 15% now, and declining • Evictions & Displacement: mining, dams, nature parks• 2 million displaced but 255 rehabilitated• More than 1 million cases of tribal land alienation• Tribal people are at bottom of all human development

index• Around US$100 billion investments in tribal areas,

needing around 25% of total lands• 125 reported struggles against land acquisition

Backlash: Red spread

• 19% forests under the Maoists control• Already control 151 districts (out of 600)• Spreading at 2 districts/month• Spread almost by invitation. Talk about

natural resources and rights• Govt. dares not enter• Development indicators poor in these

areas

Growth vs. poverty

• Highest rate of economic growth in history• Lowest rate of agriculture growth in history• Employment per growth unit lowest ever, less than 1%• Rural unemployment at 9.1 percent, double in 2

decades• Poverty reduction slower during post-reform• Need 108 jobs a minute for the next five years• Can create 10 jobs from current growth• Ecology has huge potential: 110 jobs/minute• Need to redefine poverty• GNP is effective gross nature produce

NREGA: a panacea?

• First legal entitlement for job

• India has history of 30 years of public works programme

• Focus on ecological regeneration (assets)

• Puts local government in charge

• Scope for village-level planning

Wasteful

• 60 years of targeted anti-poverty programmes• More than 2000 rural development programmes• Rs. 314 billion for poverty alleviation/year• Rs. 260 billion for food subsidy/year• Rs. 71 billion for irrigation/year• Rs. 6 billion for afforestation/year• Rs. 2,270 Billion to sustain the bureaucracy/annual• It takes Rs. 3.65 to transfer Rs. 1 programme money to

poor• 58% subsidised food doesn’t reach poor• 1/3rd employment creation against target

Alternatives: Asserting rights

• What do you do when pushed to the wall?• Villages are asserting their rights using

constitutional provisions• Many have declared themselves village

republics• Have taken over natural resource management• Have built strong institutions• Have defined poverty as less access to

resources• Have been able to self-sustain

Community-led sustainable development

• Sal leaf collection in Orissa: Generates 2.5 million jobs, has potential of 5 million

• Gum collection in Gujarat: 0.3 million people employed• Pearl harvesting in Andamans: 1 small farm employs

500 people• All the villages have defined their poverty as lack of

access to natural resources. Thus their primary effort has been to gain access to local resources

• In all the cases strong community organisations have been built to fight outside interferences.

• NREGA potential

Improving the Gross Nature ProductEcological Regeneration and its Impact on a Biomass-Based Village Economy

Ecological Regeneration and Succession Stage and their associated Economic Impacts