ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR

SUSTAINABLE RURAL LIVELIHOODS

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

FRAMEWORK FOR ANDHRA PRADESH

POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROJECTS

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ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL LIVELIHOODS

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR ANDHRA PRADESH POVERTY ALLEVIATION PROJECTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The project that is the focus of this case study ‘Environmental Management Framework for Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Alleviation Projects (EMF for APRPAP)’ is part of a larger initiative called the Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP). IKP is a statewide poverty reduction initiative being implemented in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to enable the rural poor to improve their livelihoods and quality of life through their own organizations. The IKP works with 6,29,870 Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women federated into 36,829 Village Organizations (VOs) and 888 Mandal Samaikhya (MMS).

Community Investment Fund (CIF) is a major component of the project, which is provided to the SHGs / VOs / MMSs to support wide range of activities for socio-economic empowerment of the poor.

Being an initiative supported by the World Bank, the IKP is required to have an Environmental Management Framework (EMF). SERP has built linkages with organizations involved in environmental education, sustainable rural development, etc., and implements the EMF in collaboration with them.

The objectives of the EMF are:

• To ensure that neither the livelihoods of the poor nor the environment are compromised

• Explore possibilities of making the efforts to improve livelihoods as well as conservation of the environment complimentary so that there are sustained benefits from the development activities initiated

The EMF basically has two components. They are:

• Environmental assessment: This is intended to be part of every proposal or micro plan put forth for credit from the CIF by the SHGs / VOs. It is a process that focuses on identifying and mitigating any negative impact of the livelihood activity on the local natural resources and on enhancing any positive impacts.

• Proactive interventions: These are interventions designed to demonstrate the complementary relationship between environmental conservation and rural livelihoods. The proactive interventions currently facilitated by SERP include non-chemical pest management (NPM), sustainable extraction of non-timber forest produce (NTFP), etc.

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The EMF involves providing various inputs to the IKP to enable meeting the stated objectives. These include development of tools for environmental assessment, development of community awareness materials, capacity building and periodic monitoring.

Environmental assessment tools were developed for over twenty common natural resource-based rural livelihood activities supported by the IKP. The assessment includes checking the compliance of the proposed livelihood activity with the relevant policies, rules and regulations. The EA tools are basically a set of simple questions that help to examine the prevalent practices and also suggest suitable alternative practices that the beneficiary can pursue. The tools also identify the support required for adoption of mitigation measures and also record the action plan of the VO and the MMS for meeting the need for support articulated by the SHGs.

Through the EA tools, the EMF introduced several practices and alternative technologies to the IKP functionaries and beneficiaries. Details on these alternative technologies are provided to the beneficiaries in the form of community awareness materials that will be used by the Community Coordinators. The EMF also involved providing training to the staff of the IKP operating at various levels and internal Community Resource Persons. The training focused on two aspects: the need and process of EA; and, exposure to various environment friendly practices and technologies. Periodic visits are also undertaken to the livelihood activities of the SHGs in order to understand the existing environmental management practices, any potential impact on the environment and to make suitable recommendations to the IKP functionaries at various levels for better environmental management.

From an ESD perspective, the EMF project is interesting as it:

• Involves mainstreaming of SD concerns into a poverty reduction programme.

• Operates at a scale that is substantial (reaching over 25,000 villages).

• Involves partnerships between Government, Non-governmental organizations and the community.

• Involves capacity building focusing on skill development for better environmental management.

• Uses convergence as a key strategy for channeling available support systems for encouraging people to take up more sustainable livelihood practices.

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ACRONYMS

APDPIP - Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project

APRPRP - Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project

ASTRA - Application of Science and Technology to Rural Areas

CC - Community Coordinator

CEE - Centre for Environment Education

CEO - Chief Executive Officer

CIF - Community Investment Fund

CRP - Community Resource Person

DAATTC - District Advanced Agricultural technology Transfer Centre

DPM - District Project Manager

DPMU - District Project Management Unit

DRDA - District Rural Development Agency

EA - Environmental Assessment

EMF - Environmental Management Framework

ERG - Environment Resource Group

ESD - Education for Sustainable Development

IKP - Indira Kranthi Patham

MMS - Mandal Mahila Samakhya

NGO - Non Government Organization

NPM - Non-chemical Pest Management

NTFP - Non Timber Forest Produce

SD - Sustainable Development

SERP - Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty

SHG - Self Help Group

SRI - System for Rice Intensification

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VMP - Village Micro Plan

VO - Village Organization

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ATTRIBUTION

Project component Implementing bodies Person in Charge

Environmental Management Framework (overall)

Indira Kranthi Patham Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty Department of Rural Development Government of Andhra Pradesh 5-10-188/2, Hermitage Office Complex Hyderabad – 500004 Phone: +91-040-23298981

T. Vijaya Kumar CEO Y. V. Raghunath Reddy State Project Manager

Environmental Assessment Centre for Environment Education (CEE) Andhra Pradesh State Cell 6-2-959, Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha Khairatabad, Hyderabad Phone: +91-040-23374397 Fax: +91-040-23312992 Email: ceeandhrapradesh@ceeindia.org

Kalyani Kandula Officer-in-Charge K. Vanitha Programme Officer

Proactive intervention – Non-chemical Pest Management

Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 12-13-445, Street No. 1 Tarnaka, Secunderabad – 500017 Phone: +91-40-27017735, 27014302 Email: csa@csa-india.org

G. V. Ramanjaneyulu Executive Director

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PROJECT OVERVIEW

PROJECT TITLE

Environmental Management Framework for Andhra Pradesh Poverty Alleviation Projects

DETAILS OF THE PROJECT

BACKGROUND

The project that is the focus of this case study ‘Environmental Management Framework for Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Alleviation Projects (EMF for APRPAP)’ is part of a larger poverty alleviation initiative called the Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP). An introduction to the IKP is first presented in order to help the reader understand the context of the EMF for APRPAP project.

Indira Kranthi Patham (IKP) is a statewide poverty reduction initiative being implemented in the state of Andhra Pradesh in India to enable the rural poor to improve their livelihoods and quality of life through their own organizations. It aims to cover all the rural poor households in the state and currently reaches 1,728,055 poorest of the poor households. The IKP comprises of two projects called the Andhra Pradesh District Poverty Initiatives Project (APDPIP) and Andhra Pradesh Rural Poverty Reduction Project (APRPRP) implemented by Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) a body under the Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh with support from the World Bank. SERP is an autonomous society registered under Societies Act, and implements the IKP through District Rural Development Agencies (DRDAs) at the district level. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh is the Chairperson of SERP. The project builds on more than a decade long, state-wide rural women’s self help movement. The focus is on deepening the process, providing an institutional structure and developing a framework for sustaining it for comprehensive poverty eradication. It is the single largest poverty reduction project in South Asia.

The IKP works with 6,29,870 Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women federated into 36,829 Village Organizations (VOs) and 888 Mandal Samaikhya (MMS).

Community Investment Fund (CIF) is a major component of the project, which is provided to the SHGs / VOs / MMSs to support wide range of activities for socio-economic empowerment of the poor. CIF is provided to the groups that have formulated investment plan covering activities such as income generation, land purchase, skill development, social welfare, collective marketing, development of infrastructure, food grain credit, etc., to enable the poor expand their livelihood options and improve their quality of life. The core principles of the CIF are productivity, social justice and sustainability (this focuses on the environmental impact dimension).

The CIF is currently disbursed based on the micro credit plans of SHGs and higher order institutions (VOs and MMSs). Apart from the CIF the groups are also encouraged to seek credit from banks and from their own savings.

More details can be obtained from the website: www.velugu.org

Being an initiative supported by the World Bank, the IKP is required to have an Environmental Management Framework (EMF). An Environment Agency is appointed by SERP to develop the EMF and to facilitate its implementation in the IKP. Centre for Environment Education (CEE) is the EA for the APDPIP and the APRPRP. SERP has built linkages with organizations involved in

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sustainable rural development and implements projects in collaboration with them. It has led to the emergence of strong initiatives in the field of non-chemical management of agricultural pests (in partnership with Centre for Sustainable Agriculture) and sustainable extraction of non-timber forest produce (in partnership with Kovel Foundation). This provides value-addition to the IKP in terms of the scope of its activities and thus, the ways in which it benefits the poor.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT

The objectives of the EMF are:

• To ensure that neither the livelihoods of the poor nor the environment are compromised

• Explore possibilities of making the efforts to improve livelihoods as well as conservation of the environment complimentary so that there are sustained benefits from the development activities initiated

STRATEGY OF THE PROJECT

• Mitigating any negative environmental impacts that may emerge from the sub-projects

• Ensuring the long-term sustainability of benefits from sub-projects by securing the natural resource base on which they are dependent

• Facilitating proactive subprojects

COMPONENTS OF THE EMF

The EMF basically has two components. They are:

• Environmental assessment: This is intended to be part of every proposal or micro plan put forth for credit from the CIF by the SHGs / VOs. It is a process that focuses on identifying and mitigating any negative impact of the livelihood activity on the local natural resources and on enhancing any positive impacts.

• Proactive interventions: These are interventions designed to demonstrate the complementary relationship between environmental conservation and rural livelihoods. The proactive interventions currently facilitated by SERP include non-chemical pest management (NPM), sustainable extraction of non-timber forest produce (NTFP), etc.

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Salient features of the micro credit planning process and the integration of

EMF in the process

CIF is a loan from the MMS to VO and from VO to SHG.

Repayment from individuals to their SHG, SHG to VO and from VO to MMS in monthly installments.

VO does the appraisal of the SHG micro plan, the MMS does the appraisal of the VO micro plan and the DRDA sanctions CIF to MMS.

SHG micro plan: This is the list of activities the members would like to take up and the cost of implementing these activities. The CIF funds may not be sufficient to cover the needs of all the members and therefore, prioritization is needed. SHG will decide which of their members get the loan in the first instance by preparing the priority list based on poverty status of individuals. Recoveries will be recycled as loans to other members as per the list. MMS does the appraisal and this process holds good for lending the recovered CIF also. The IKP recommends that each group collectively examine the facts of each proposal and those satisfying certain stated criteria only be taken up for inclusion in the micro credit plan. The following criteria relevant to the EMF are included:

• The proposal should be economically viable and sustainable.

• The proposal should not be a burden are cause adverse effect on the natural resources or environment of the village.

• There are enough measures taken or available for mitigation of potential risks and support services with forward and back ward linkages.

VO micro plan: This consists of micro credit plans of the SHGs, food security interventions, marketing interventions, jobs and skill based interventions, social development interventions and infrastructure development. The source of funds for executing VO micro plan are bank linkage, own funds (savings and interest), and CIF. Each VO is recommended to have a Credit Policy. One component of this policy is Appraisal and Sanction. The IKP recommends that:

• There will be formal appraisal of the loan by the group members at the regular meeting.

• The appraisal includes verification of financial viability, livelihood analysis, and environmental impact.

The appraisal of the VO micro plan by the MMS includes institutional appraisal, assessment of the VO entitlement for CIF loan and economic viability. In addition to these, social, gender and environmental criteria must be met before the MMS sanctions the VO micro plan.

TARGET BENEFICIARIES

The IKP, as mentioned before, reaches about 629,870 Self Help Groups (SHGs) of women federated into 36,829 Village Organizations (VOs) and 888 Mandal Samaikhya (MMS). Each SHG

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has about 10-20 women members. The livelihood activities of the SHG women and their families are typically wage labour, agriculture, livestock rearing, forest dependent activities (such as collection of non-timber forest produce), small enterprises, etc. The EMF is an integral component of the IKP and thus services the environmental management needs of its beneficiaries. This is done through several tiers of functionaries including the staff of the DRDAs, external resource persons operating at the district level, the IKP staff operating at the mandal and village levels (called the Assistant Project Managers and Community Coordinators), and internal Community Resource Persons (CRPs who are selected women from the SHGs) operating at the mandal and village levels.

RESOURCE INPUTS

The EMF involves providing various inputs to the IKP to enable meeting the stated objectives. These include development of tools for environmental assessment, development of community awareness materials, capacity building and periodic monitoring.

Environmental assessment tools

Environmental assessment tools (see appendix 1) were developed for over twenty common natural resource-based rural livelihood activities supported by the IKP. The tools have been designed by CEE with support from the Application of Science and Technology in Rural Areas (ASTRA), Indian Institute of Science. The assessment includes checking the compliance of the proposed livelihood activity with the World Bank safeguard policies, rules and regulations of Government of India and Government of Andhra Pradesh. The EA tools are basically a set of simple questionnaires – one each for each major livelihood activities. The questions help to examine the prevalent practices (for example, are safety precautions followed while spraying pesticides?) and also suggest suitable alternative practices that the beneficiary can pursue (for example, the adoption of the pit method for composting animal dung instead of the traditional heap method). The tool also identifies the support required for adoption of mitigation measures (for example, does the beneficiary need information on preparation of botanical extracts for pest management?). It also records the action plan of the VO and the MMS for meeting the need for support articulated by the SHGs (for example, if 30 women in the village have taken credit for purchase of buffaloes in one village, can a fodder cutter be procured with subsidy from the Government for saving on fodder?). The EA tools were distributed to all the DRDAs for use in the EA of the micro credit plans at various levels.

An EA experience…

The EA exercise was done by CEE for the activities supported by the CIF of the IKP in Ibrahimpatnam Mandal of Ranga Reddy district. In Karnamguda village of that mandal the major crop being grown is paddy. Being a water intensive crop the negative impact on the ground water levels in the area was inevitable. Based on this finding, the adoption of SRI (System for Rice Intensification) was recommended for cultivation of paddy.

An exposure visit was organized to 11 farmers interested in SRI to the Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University. Out of this, two farmers Narsimha Reddy and Manik Reddy implemented SRI on their fields in the main crop season of 2005. The District Advanced Agricultural Technology Transfer Centre (DAATTC) provided technical support while the mandal Agriculture Officer provided a rotary weeder. Narsimha Reddy was invited as a resource person by the Agriculture Department to a farmer’s awareness campaign. In the 2006 crop season two more farmers from the village adopted SRI.

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“SRI gave me 2050 kg of paddy compared to the 1638 kg I got previously from the same plot of 90 cents. However, the advantage of SRI is not only in the high yield – it is also the low cost of cultivation. I used just 2 kg of seed as compared to 35 kg in the conventional method. This saved me Rs. 335. I also saved Rs. 400 on electricity for the bore pump motor as SRI needs less watering. With the rotary weeder I did the weeding myself and saved on the costs of hiring labour for weeding – Rs. 360. Using less chemical fertilizer saved me Rs. 120 while using less chemical pesticide saved me an additional Rs. 80. The only input I havd to spend more on was purchase of farm yard manure – this cost me an additional Rs. 250. Overall I saved Rs. 1045 and also got an additional income of Rs.1039 from the increased yield.”

- Narsimha Reddy, Karnamguda village

Community awareness materials

Through the EA tools, the EMF introduced several practices and alternative technologies to the IKP functionaries and beneficiaries. It was necessary to provide adequate details on these alternative technologies to the beneficiaries in order to spark their interest in these technologies so that they would consider adopting them or seek further support. These details are provided in the form of community awareness materials that will be used by the Community Coordinators. The materials include four flip charts on the themes of drought, livestock and environment, integrated nutrient management and integrated pest management. The project functionaries need fairly in-depth information on the practices and alternative technologies suggested as part of the EA tools. In addition to how and why a particular practice works, they need information on who can provide training on the practice, if there is a Government scheme to subsidize the cost of the inputs required, etc. These details are provided in the form of handbooks. Five hand books have been developed (for the use of grass root level workers, the community coordinators) on environmentally proactive interventions in agriculture and energy.

Community awareness materials on the specific proactive interventions taken up by SERP were also developed by it in coordination with partner agencies such as Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Kovel Foundation, etc. These included training manuals, posters and Kalajathas (folk art form) on

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pesticide poisoning and non-chemical pest management. A training manual on non-timber forest produce was also developed.

Capacity building

The EMF involved providing training to the staff of the DRDAs, external resource persons operating at the district level, the IKP staff operating at the mandal and village levels (called the Community Coordinators), and internal Community Resource Persons (CRPs who are selected women from the SHGs) operating at the mandal and village levels. The training focused on two aspects: the need and process of EA; and, exposure to various environment friendly practices and technologies.

Community Resource Persons and the EMF

Training in the EMF has been an important component of the capacity building of CRPs on micro credit planning. Sessions on the EMF were part of the state level training on micro credit planning given to CRPs. Orientation and training programmes to CRPs on the EMF are ongoing.

CRPs doing the EA process with an SHG member

In Ibrahimpatnam mandal of Ranga Reddy district, 21 CRPs from 9 villages were trained in the EMF. The training focused on both the EA and on the proactive interventions the CRPs can facilitate in the villages of their mandal.

Following the training, the CRPs conducted EA for the micro plans of 3 villages in the same mandal and gave the feed back to the respective members. They could identify a range of practices and technologies that could mitigate negative environmental impacts and enhance positive environmental impacts of the livelihood activities of over 40 IKP beneficiaries through this process. The next step for the CRPs is to facilitate the implementation of the actions identified through building linkages with the relevant line departments.

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The actions identified by the CRPs for agriculture activity include: - Crop rotation in paddy lands with pulses (for nitrogen fixation and pest management) - Seed treatment using cow dung urine mixture (for pest management) - Appropriate spacing between crop plants (for nutrient and pest management) - Use of drip and sprinkler methods of irrigation (for efficient irrigation) - Vermicomposting (for nutrient management) - Green manure crops (for nutrient management) - Extension support from mandal Agriculture Officer - Use of trap crops, botanical extracts, pheromone traps, trichocards, etc. (for pest management) The actions identified by the CRPs for dairy activity include: - Selection of breed suitable to local conditions (for easier management) - Fodder grass cultivation (to reduce pressure on grazing lands) - Fodder tree cultivation (to supplement dry fodder availability during summer months) - Urea treatment for paddy straw (to enhance nutritive content) - Proper shed construction and maintenance (for better sanitation)

“We are also people like you. We thought these things would be difficult to learn – but now we advise others on how to adopt these practices. If we are to improve our livelihoods, we must think proactively about the way we do things – not just about credit”.

- Manjula, a CRP, to an SHG member during the EA process

The training to CRPs on proactive interventions focused on three skills: - Simple method of testing nutrients in soil (for better planning of fertilizer inputs) - Urea treatment of dry paddy straw (for enhancing nutrient content of dry fodder) - Preparation of botanical extracts for pest management (for non-chemical pest management)

CRPs learning soil testing using the kit developed by Acharya N. G. Ranga Agriculture University

The future plan is to provide soil testing kits to the CRPs. This will enable them to provide the service to farmers at a fee. Other services such as preparation and sale of botanical extracts and training in urea treatment will also provide remuneration that can sustain this activity by the CRPs.

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Capacity building is a key component of the proactive interventions taken up by SERP. These include training of resource persons at the village level (called Village Activists, Village Botanists, etc.) in coordination with partner agencies such as Centre for Sustainable Agriculture, Kovel Foundation, etc. The IKP beneficiaries are reached through these trained village-level resource persons.

Monitoring support

The EMF includes periodic visits by the EA to the livelihood activities of the SHGs in order to understand the existing environmental management practices, any potential impact on the environment and to make suitable recommendations to the DRDA and SERP for better management. The EA visits about 10-15 livelihood activities every 6 months in each of the 22 districts.

A switch over from heap composting (left) to more efficient pit composting (right) in Shallapally village of Dharmasagar mandal in Warangal district as a result of the EMF intervention. While the individual impact of such micro-level

interventions is small – their cumulative impact should not be discounted.

Ongoing support is provided as part of every proactive intervention facilitated by SERP. For example, the NPM initiative has resource teams established at mandal and district levels. In addition, over 30 grass root level organizations are involved in providing day to day support to the programme.

PROCESS DOCUMENTATION

Time-series

The integration of the EMF into the processes of IKP was initiated around the year 2000 with the initiation of the APDPIP project. Since then the form of the EMF, the shaping of its components and degree of its integration into the livelihood activities of the SHGs, and its main streaming within the IKP activities has changed over time.

2000-2002: EMF for identifying negative impacts In the initial phases of the APDPIP, the EMF focused only on the EA. The EA tool used was a

simple checklist that focused on one question – Is there any negative impact of the proposed livelihood activity on any natural resource component? An orientation was provided to the Community Coordinators who are the field level IKP functionaries on the use of this checklist.

2002-2005: EMF for mitigating negative impacts and enhancing positive impacts The next phase saw further development of the EMF by SERP. The EMF was viewed as

focusing on two components – the EA and the proactive interventions. CEE was appointed as the

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Environment Agency in this period. SERP also build up partnerships with several organizations to facilitate proactive environmental management interventions in the areas of agriculture and non-timber forest produce.

A set of detailed EA tools were developed focusing on specific livelihood activities. The tools focused on identifying practices and technologies that could mitigate negative impacts and enhance positive impacts of the livelihood activities on the environment. The grass roots level functionaries of the IKP as well as external resource persons were trained in the use of these tools. These tools were to be used in the context of the proposals submitted by the SHGs for credit. Field visits were made to a sample of livelihood activities supported by the IKP and recommendations for better management were provided in the form of reports to the DRDA and SERP.

During this phase, SERP focused on interventions designed to demonstrate viable alternatives to existing practices that had a negative impact on natural resources and ultimately on the poor. These interventions included:

• Non-chemical Pesticide Management (NPM) in agriculture in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Agriculture

• Sustainable extraction of non-timber forest products (NTFP) in partnership with the Kovel Foundation

• Promotion of fodder cultivation as part of livestock activities

Enhancing natural resources to support livelihood activities

With support from the CIF, several SHG members in Kurnool district took credit and purchased buffaloes. These buffaloes were of the graded Murrah breed. The graded Murrah is derived from the Murrah breed of Northern India. It requires sound management and adequate green fodder availability in order to give milk yield to its potential under local conditions.

The IKP focused on facilitating the cultivation of green fodder by the SHG members to sustain their dairy activity. About 125 SHG members are involved in this initiative spread over five villages. Each SHG member has been allotted 20 cents of land for cultivation of fodder by the VO. The SHG member pays a monthly rental of Rs. 150 for the land to the VO. The VO in turn pays back the farmers from whom the land has been taken on lease for 5 years (at the rate of Rs. 10,000 per acre). The fodder seed (of the high yielding NP 25 perennial variety) is supplied by the VO to each SHG member. The fodder cultivated on 20 cents is adequate to meet the green fodder required by two buffaloes (each SHG member on an average owns two buffaloes).

The involvement of the VO made it possible for the SHG members to meet the fodder requirements of their animals through fodder cultivation. Procuring small parcels of land on lease for fodder cultivation would be a difficult proposition for individuals.

2005-2006: EMF as tool for planning and scaling up of proactive interventions The third phase in the development of the EMF saw a further simplification of the EA tools to

make them usable by CRPs – the internal resource persons selected from within the SHGs. These tools were also modified to make them usable in the context of micro credit plans of the SHGs and

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VOs. Field visits were made to a sample of livelihood activities supported by the IKP. However, the focus of these visits was on initiating action for better environmental management. The issues identified in the livelihood activities were discussed with the respective SHGs and VOs, the possibility of adoption of better practices discussed and linkages built up with the respective line departments for support. The reports were sent not only to the DRDA and SERP, they were sent back to the visited VO documenting the good practices and issues identified, the recommendations made, the action agreed upon and the relevant line departments from where further support could be sought.

The proactive interventions were further scaled up to cover a larger geographical area. For example, the NPM initiative was scaled up by IKP from 20,000 acres to about 1,59,000 acres spread across seventeen districts of the state.

Factors of promotion and obstruction

A discussion on the factors that promoted the EMF intervention in the IKP will be useful for similar initiatives in other areas as well.

Sustainable rural livelihoods requires sustainable management of local natural resources The credit to the SHGs for income-generation activities is provided only in response to the

demand as expressed in the micro credit plans. The prominent income generation activities for which credit is demanded include dairy, sheep rearing, agricultural input supply, and land/horticulture development. Around 50% of the CIF is for agri-allied activities including milch animals and sheep/goat rearing. Around 25% is for non-farm activities and 15% is for direct agricultural activities. Thus, a majority are land-based livelihoods which are closely linked to the local natural resource base. Sustainability of these livelihood activities will require sustainable management of the local natural resources.

World Bank’s safeguard policy requirement of the EMF The Operational Policy 4.01 of the World Bank requires environmental assessment (EA) of

projects proposed for Bank financing to help ensure that they are environmentally sound and sustainable, and thus to improve decision making. Environmental Management Plan is one of the instruments can be used to satisfy the Bank's EA requirement.

Partnerships SERP has built strong partnerships with several non-governmental agencies. There are several

initiatives being implemented at various scales through the partnership mode. For example, partnership with Solidaridad, ETC (an environmental consultancy and fair trade company) and Basix (a microfinance institution) for organic cotton cultivation in one mandal (Kerameri mandal, Adilabad district).

Cost effectiveness of practices and technologies promoted through proactive interventions The adoption of a new practice or technology (or even the revival of an old one) depends on the

costs and savings (in terms of money, labour, time, etc.) involved in the adoption. For example, through the NPM intervention, each participant farmer saves up to Rs. 2500 per acre on an average (average across crops and across districts) per acre on pest management expenses. With more area and more farmers coming into the program the saving will be higher (the ecological benefits such are lesser pollution of water bodies, impact on non-target species, etc., would be enormous).

Community level resource persons The IKP adopts the community-to-community approach to capacity building. Selected women

from the SHGs are identified as Community Resource Persons (CRPs). This approach has been

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extended to the EMF as well. The CRPs responsible for training the SHGs in micro credit plan preparation have received training on the EMF. Each proactive intervention also involves the identification and capacity building of CRPs who can provide continued technical extension support to the IKP beneficiaries. For example, CRPs trained in the sustainable NTFP intervention not only train the community in sustainable management practices, they also mobilize the SHGs for collective marketing of the produce. As part of this intervention 380 CRPs and village botanists were trained by IKP in sustainable extraction and marketing of NTFPs. These trained resource persons in turn have provided training to over 20,000 women and men involved in NTFP collection. Refresher training is provided to the NTFP collectors every year, one month before the NTFP collection season begins.

Several factors also presented a challenge to the implementation of the EMF. A discussion on these factors will be useful for the future planning of the EMF in the context of IKP and in the context of similar other initiatives.

Convergence with line departments The EA process within the EMF entails identification of measures for mitigation of possible

negative impacts and enhancement of possible positive impacts on the environment. The beneficiaries require support for adoption of these measures. Considering the scale of the IKP (aiming to reach all the rural poor households in the state with a special focus on the 30 lakh poorest of the poor households), such support can only be provided by convergence with the existing line department machinery. Such convergence will provide the beneficiaries both access to extension support as well as benefits from existing schemes that provide input subsidy. However, such convergence is not easy to achieve.

Emphasis on EA as a necessary component of the micro credit planning The EA process is to be viewed as an integral component of the appraisal process for the micro-

credit plans. Indeed, it is mentioned in the IKP documents (operational manual for CIF) as one of the three components for appraisal of the Village Micro Plans (the three components are: (a) institutional appraisal to assess the capacity of the VO to handle CIF, (b) appraisal of activities figured in the VMP, and (c) environmental appraisal). However, it is not viewed as a critical component of the micro credit plans at the district level, and is hence not being done in all cases.

Allocation of finances for EA facilitation The implementation of the mitigation measures suggested as a result of the EA process may

require additional credit at the beneficiary level. The external and internal resource persons who are involved in the EA process and the capacity building process to the community need to be paid for their services. The additional financial resources required for this are a challenge that has affected the implementation of the EA.

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REVIEW OF THE PROJECT FROM AN ESD PERSPECTIVE

MAINSTREAMING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCERNS INTO POVERTY

REDUCTION

The IKP states that the following are the pre-requisites for a rural poor family to come out of poverty:

• To be a member of an affinity group, the SHGs, for psychological confidence, strength and collective action.

• Saving regularly, repaying to group on time.

• Securing financial assistance from the group for meeting emergency needs, consumption needs and investments in assets – land, livestock, forest, housing, etc.

• Member and her family require support in education, health, nutrition and other basic amenities.

• Building stronger and bigger institutions – VOs, MMSs – for tackling problems which the affinity groups cannot handle.

• Multiple doses of support through the group. For coming out of poverty in a comprehensive manner, each poor family would require Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 100,000 over a period of 5-7 years.

• Financial support in different spells for strengthening and deepening existing livelihoods and for diversification of livelihoods.

• Deepening livelihoods – support in enhancing productivity, inputs at economic costs and marketing support for products and services.

• Build partnerships with financial, corporate, educational institutions and NGOs for sustainability.

• Support from the group to bear downside risks.

• Access all essential services from Government.

Strengthening livelihoods and investment in assets is clearly part of the IKP strategy. The livelihoods of the rural poor depend on local natural resources. Land, water sources, livestock and forests are among the assets that they have or need access to in order to work towards sustainable livelihoods. The EMF is a tool that fits into this paradigm.

“As understanding grew, there is widespread acceptance that environmental considerations are to be mainstreamed in the project. A paradigm shift has been achieved in thinking of EMF as a mandatory project requirement to understanding that it is necessary for good sub-project design and planning.”

- Excerpt from Annual Report 2005, Department of Rural Development, Government of Andhra Pradesh

SCALE AND IMPACT

There are several initiatives that are good examples of successful ESD (Education for Sustainable Development) practice. However, most operate at a micro scale (a village or a group of villages). If ESD has to make a substantial contribution in fostering SD – it must operate at larger scales. Scale is possible only in partnership with existing governmental development machinery. The IKP through

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its EMF intervention provides ESD such a platform. It is one of the biggest community driven poverty reduction programmes in the country. It works with 629,870 self help groups covering 36,829 village organizations spread across the state of Andhra Pradesh.

The scale of the project and the various stakeholders (SHGs, their federations, project functionaries, line departments, etc.) who need to be involved to make it work present a challenge to achieving impact of the EMF. The EA process of the EMF is yet to make a substantial impact at the ground level, though it has shown results in areas where it has been pursued. It is yet to be integrated into the project processes fully. The proactive interventions have had a sound start and are poised to be scaled up significantly in the future.

Scaling up

The area under the NPM intervention facilitated by IKP and Centre for Sustainable Agriculture was 23,381 acres in the agricultural season of 2005-2006. In 2006-2007, the plan is to scale up to 250,000 acres. In the coming six years, the IKP hopes to reach 2,500,000 acres which is ten percent of the state’s total cultivable area. IKP has also built linkages with the State Bank of India for providing credit to farmers who adopt NPM.

CAPACITY BUILDING

ESD in the context of rural natural resource based livelihoods has to focus on providing skills in efficient management of available resources and in viable alternatives that will ease pressure on available resources. The EMF process has helped to identify the capacity building requirements of specific SHG members in the context of the livelihood activities they are involved in. It has also helped to provide skills in EA to the various project functionaries and to the CRPs.

“I always thought soil testing was a very complex thing to do. Now I have done soil testing on my field (though the results are only indicative and not accurate). I feel happy and proud when I tell my neighbours what the numbers printed on fertilizer bags mean and how much of which fertilizer they need to apply.”

- B. Shantha, CRP, Dandumylaram (VO), Ibrahimpatnam mandal, Ranga Reddy district

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CONVERGENCE

The EMF enables convergence between the various departments in the Government machinery in order to provide the requisite support to the SHG members to take up the suggested interventions. The need for such convergence is not only identified at the District level, it also emerges in a bottom-up manner from the SHGs as a result of the EA process.

Seeds of convergence

About 20 SHG members of the Khadarabad Gramaikhya Sangham (VO) in Prodduturu mandal of Kadapa district had taken credit for purchase of buffaloes. The EMF process recommended that fodder trees be grown to supplement the fodder requirement in the dry summer months when green fodder would be scarce. The seed was procured from the nursery of the Forest Department and distributed to each beneficiary.

In Salempalem of Koduru mandal in Krishna district, a training programme on fodder conservation practices was organized for the SHG members following the EMF process. The veterinary doctor of the Department of Animal Husbandary gave the training.

In Sathupally mandal in Khammam district and in Gambiraopet, Kohed and Ellanthakunta mandals of Karimnagar district SHG members were involved in collecting forest produce (leaves and neem seed) to supplement their income. However, they had not taken permission from the forest department for collection and storage of the produce. Following the EMF process, the IKP facilitated securing of permission from the respective Divisional Forest Officers. This has provided right of access to the SHG members and has protected them from exploitation.

In Regulagadda (VO) of Machavaram mandal and Appapuram (VO) of Kakumanu mandal in Guntur district the SHG members took credit from the CIF for purchase of agricultural inputs for cotton. As use of pesticides is high in cotton, especially in Guntur district, the EMF process recommended that the SHG members need to be provided training on integrated pest management practices. The IKP arranged for this training through the mandal Agriculture Officer.

Without the IKP intervention it is difficult for the poor to access support (subsidized inputs, training, permissions, etc.) from the line departments. The EMF process helps the IKP to identify and meet the needs of SHG members from these available channels of support.

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APPENDIX 1

List of livelihood activities for which EA tools have been developed as part of the EMF:

Agricultural crops

Land development

Vegetable cultivation

Ground nut cultivation

Paddy cultivation

Irrigation bore well

Horticulture and forestry crops

Cashew nut cultivation

Eucalyptus plantations

Livestock rearing

Dairy

Sheep rearing

Poultry

Fishery

Small enterprises

Pottery

Brick making

Granite quarry works

Food products preparation

Forest based enterprise

NTFP collection

Bamboo products making

Wood chips cutting unit