Harmonizing Inclusion with Growth: Lessons from Multi stakeholders in Agriculture and Food security

October 2012

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Dr. Nandini AzadChairperson, The Independent Commission For People’s Rights And Development, (ICPRD)

& Ex-Head, Outcome Monitoring Division, Planning Commission, Government of India October 2012

Presentation Outline

Overall Goal: Development security to strengthen overall governance and stability in the region

Key Challenges

Risks and Vulnerabilities

Enabling Assumptions

StrategyIllustrations

Micro- level learningsRegion: Priority StrategiesRight to food movement Food security Bill

Key Challenges: Region

. Achieving MDGs on poverty, hunger

. Declining public expenditure on agriculture and agricultural productivity

. Poverty reduction slowed down related to volatile markets, high food-price inflation

. Out of 4 billion population, 1 billion hungry

. Malnutrition of children 81% in South Asia

. By 2050, 2 billion higher population

. 60% more food production required by 2050 worldwide

Regional Risks and Vulnerabilities

• Widening rural-urban disparity / inequality - Social andpolitical tension

• New economic and financial circumstances• Increased food prices and market volatility • Crop failures (farmers suicides) • Youth unemployment• Extremism• Climate change, extreme natural events • Water shortage• Animal diseases• Trans-boundary issues

Enabling Assumptions

. People-centred development

. Pro-poor development process inclusive and decentralised

. Combating poverty through agriculture and rural development

. No straight-jacket formula applicable for the entire Region

. Definition of farmer, producer to be to encompass women,indigenous & tribal people, and youth

. Definition of agriculture to include other rural activities such as non-farm activities, horticulture, sericulture, animal husbandry, poultry,fisheries, and forestry products

. Government’s role as enabler of pro-poor growth

. Private sector and organisations of farmers/women/rural producers asequal stakeholders

Strategy

Strategic ObjectiveHarmonising with inclusion growth in RegionOperational Objectives• Promote agriculture and allied growth • Promote food security and reduction of malnutrition • Integrated rural development• Energise rural markets & synergise stakeholdersMulti-pronged strategy • Increase agricultural and allied productivity • Integrated participatory rural development • Energise rural markets (reducing market imperfections)

Increase Agriculture Productivity

• Develop conducive policies to improve public investment in agriculture• Land tenure rights to poor, women, indigenous people• Infuse new sustainable, pro-poor/growth technologies in agricultural

production & irrigation• Promote organisations of farmers/rural producers• Link agricultural production to nutrition • Promote NRM and soil conservation• Reduce post harvest losses• Balance food production and food security• Improve public distribution systems

Second Prong: Integrated Rural Development

• Initiate rural employment guarantee schemes for livelihood/ food security • Promote public-private partnership for building rural infrastructure• Enhance enabling environment for private sector in non-farm sector

(around agriculture)• Innovate, upscale new institutions of poor, women

(poor bankable, can grow, efficient)• Reorient and strengthen rural financial institutions, co-operatives for pro-

poor growth • Promote local bodies and grassroots institutions as stakeholders • Provide basic amenities in rural areas such as housing, education, health

care• Invest in human capital through skill/vocational/extension training

Integrated Rural Development contd.

. Safety nets and social protection measures

. Encourage cost-effective and appropriate technology developmentthrough partnerships

. Reduce adaptation strategies to address climate change

Third Prong: Energise Rural Markets

• Create rural business hubs, enhance and institutionalize “haats” and strengthen value chains

• Minimise gender-based segmentation in labour market • Foster linkages between rural producers and markets

(e-commerce)

• Integrate rural markets with regional markets

• Create conducive environs to climb up the value chain

High impact strategies with new actors through innovative and

inclusive solutions and to tackle challenges including those arising

out of agricultural distress.

Civil Society

• Financial inclusion -Jharkhand (2002- 2012) – tribal and poor

women.

• Social inclusion – Karnataka/ Rajasthan (2004–2012)– Agricultural

stress and Gender based Violence - Displaced sericulture and

agricultural workers, poor rural women and youth.

Government

• Right to food movement

• Food security Bill introduced in the Indian Parliament 12

Illustrative Examples

• Santhal Parganas, predominantly tribal, forested,poverty, illiteracy.

• ‘High risk’ from a banking and development perspective

• Land alienation, settled cultivators, decliningagricultural practices,

• Division of labour – Men in Agriculture, Womenin MFP collection

• Women no land rights / denial of forest rights– seek alternative livelihood;

• Loss in NTFP, timber, wild animals, herbs between65- 95%

• Hunger high at 33%, • Poor infrastructure,/ banking, /roads,/ schools etc.

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Financial inclusion: Jharkhand: Tribal and poor women

• Industrialization deprived large numbers of tribal population ofagricultural land; migration for livelihood.

• Lack of stable / productive employment (seasonality) for bothmen and women, differential access too.

• Employment growth rate much lower than labour force growthrate.

• Real wages persistently remained low and even declined.• Poverty and economic needs necessitates women to

supplement family incomes by taking up domestic work.• Exploitative moneylender, landlord nexus main source of credit

including leading to migration/ trafficking.

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Access to Productive Employment

• Over 9000 women benefited through various activities from 750 credit groups (partnered with Small Industries Development bank of India-SIDBI)

• Revolving Credit Funds (Credit to womens credit groups about Rs.25 lakhs or US $50,000 with 100% repayment in 2 years).

• Financial Literacy (2000 members)• Credit group capacity building • Micro enterprise fairs for women or Mahila Haats(10,500 visitors) ,

marketing training (partnered with Rabo bank foundation)• Development of Model Enterprises: Fish farming

, cake/doughnut, vermin compost, cocoon rearing, chickpea powderor sattu, iron smithery, spice or masala production, bamboo crafts,leaf plate making, vegetable / lentil cultivation etc.

• Exposure Visits – 8 (tribal and poor women)• Training Manuals / Aids in local tribal languages (bank linkage, social

mobilization, pictorial manual); Impact assessment studies: 15

ICPRD interventions in Jharkhand

Gulab credit group

• The members of the credit group are original primitive tribalgroups living deep in the forests. Landless, no water/ electricity.

• Dependant on forest produce, hunt, lake water for survival• Little access to government programs / Rolls /banks (considered

high risk). • 10,000/- project loan invested in poultry, piggery, goatery and

earned 300 times profit.• Financial literacy helped assert with moneylenders on rates,

check weights in shops;• Save on health/ doctors fees as now avail govt. hospitals for

free treatment / medicines

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Case study: Integration of Socially Excluded Groups –District Deoghar, Jharkhand

Learning• The revolving fund is an effective mechanism for unserved groups

to learn / share financial transactions (before they venture to banks,cooperatives) and for holistic human development. Interest chargedused for training purposes, about the lowest in area.

• Small loans to womens groups helped to reinvest in or diversify business (silk cocoon, vegetable farming) or boost agriculture / allied activities (threshing, paddy, mustard, lentil cultivation, vegetables, fruits, dairy, goatery, piggery, sericulture etc.)

• Improved Quality of life i.e. children’s education highest investment(including for girls), housing or new assets to broaden productivebase have been possible.

• Stress from debt and access to credit; starvation in lean season hasbeen reduced to a great extent.

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Revolving Credit Fund

• Boosting Non – farm sector activities by timely creditenhances productivity and savings (capital accumulation atthe base) and also farm sector activities.

• Financial literacy helps manage loans more effectively.Identify non-exploitative sources of credit; save; long andshort term investments;

• Assess time to sell at profitable times; Curtail wastefulexpenses on superstitious, practices etc.

• Considering low literacy levels the practice of inter-lending,rotating profits through diversification etc in a unserved area,a matter of achievement.

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Boosting Non - Farm and Farm Sector

Collectives: Sharing Profits, Risks Deoghar, Jharkhand

• A loan of 10,000/- rupees to a group that grew potatoes (withfertilizer) and better financial planning helped diversify intogrowing onions.

• The retaining of a bulk of potatoes during peak period whiledisposing 25% for survival needs led to good profits. Profitswere partially reinvested in a poultry collective worth24,000/-.

• The group leader of collective said: “During the financialliteracy training imparted, we learnt that the more we rotatethe profits for diversified income, the higher our profits. Wehave experimented and experienced it ourselves – the moneyinvested has increased eight fold in a matter of six months!”.

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• Enhancement of business: increased profits, lead groups to

purchase business related equipment to improve their work

operations. Purchased irrigation pumps / paddy threshing

machines / Packaging machine for produce; A member bought

a horse to carry goods to market. Another group bought

utensils / accessories for food processing / boxes to sell at

different market fairs.

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Enhancement of business

Public Distribution System – District Jamtara, Jai MaaBhawani Group

This group does interlending amongst its members. Its basiclivelihood is agriculture and

• With loan of Rs. 10,000/- from the project, opened a ration shopunder the Government public distribution system.

• Earlier shop was being run by person accused of leakages.• Group determined to do task honestly. Villagers and the local

government authorities happy with the effective clean businessventure.

• Group received a second grading and received another loan of Rs.25,000/- bought a vehicle to freight ration shop goods andremaining was ploughed back into the shop.

• Rs. 3,500/- profit in a month. and Rs. 5,500/- savings in the bank,Rs. 1,800/- in the box and interlending Rs. 3,800/-. (14,600 total).

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Lessons

• Generating growth, human development and equity not as mutualexclusive tradeoffs but complimentary elements in same process.

• A holistic perception of empowering the poor and women in thecommunity essential.

• Equip beneficiaries with attitudes, perceptions, skills to runsustainable socially mobilized groups that are decentralized basesof the poor/women in the tribal communities to reduce poverty,confront structural inequities (caste, class, gender), enhancegrowth with equity, reduce leakages and deepen governance

• By putting poor women’s priorities first; promoting leadership frombelow by exercising clout on their behalf, the vulnerable can behelped to grow themselves

• The absolutely poorest and smallest enterprises can be reached byservices relevant to them, through appropriate strategies relevant.

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Lessons

• Debt-ridden poor women are bankable / credit worthy;

they can effectively contribute to growth.

• Economic development can provide a positive base to

further social change and human development.

• A cost-effective grassroots development process does not

require large-scale capital investment, or technical

expertise to succeed.

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• Male youth fight gender based violence (GBV) amongst agricultural populace that has increased due todownturn in sericulture industry and acquiring agricultural land for urban development. (often fritteringaway one time compensation for agricultural land onalcohol etc),

• Increase in Gender violence, wife beating, alcoholism, Eve teasing, dowry.

• No alternate skills, out migration to cities are options • 14 – 24 yrs aged boys in youth forums conduct street theater, sports,

alcoholism counseling, coping with masculinity issues, platform of multi stakeholders, microfinance/ livelihood counseling and proactive action on gender equity and are changing it.

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Social inclusion: Karnataka: Youth forums for Gender Equality (YFGE) – Ramangara, Mysore, Bellary

• If wage earner dominated village, wife beating / alcoholismhigher especially in lean season; Marginal farmer villages, actionagainst girl child droput, dowry, child marriage are ongoing.

• In Rajasthan, (Alwar), the male youth forums cleared public spaceof violence for women by engaging major stakeholders indialogue, counseling and engagement on gender issues.

• Boost in horticultural / goatery/ non-farm activities after thisalongwith with training for women in organization/ creditregistered an increase in profit, due to free mobility for women /girls without public humiliation / taunts.

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Social inclusion: Karnataka: Youth forums for Gender Equality (YFGE)

Region

Priority Strategies

1. Social mobilisation – of organisations of farmers, women, rural producers, indigenous people, youth as the support base and the backbone of the strategy

2. People-centred decentralised planning

3. Up-scaling/innovationFor eg: - New co-operatives of women (WWF/Indian Cooperative Network for Women)

- Rural Employment Guarantee schemes - Food security Bill

4. Inclusive approach:- Combination of poorest regions and difficult terrains along withbetter-off and favourable areas- Multi-targeting involving poorest, active and middle-poor, andentrepreneurs (class, ethnic group, gender, youth)

Priority Strategies contd.5. Multi-stakeholder platform building through policy dialogues at

different levels:- Governments, regional groupings (SAARC/ESCAP)- Members of Parliament- Financial institutions and private sector- Civil society and organisations of the poor/farmers- Media and exposure visits to best practices

Advocacya. With governments to harmonise growth with poverty reduction b. Provide pro-poor models on ground with poor, women, indigenous people,

minorities.c. Increase public expenditure on agricultural and rural development growth in the

regiond. Orientation and training on pro-poor growth to support institutions (banks, private

sector, parastatals, extension agencies, research institutions) and grass-roots stakeholders.

7. Knowledge management 8. Engagement of private sector

• Right to food movement, judicial and social activism: • Despite economic growth, unemployment, hunger

and malnutrition continuously challenged developing and the least developed world. Civil society in India took up this movement as despite double digit growth, India has been inunable to reduce hunger and malnutrition.

• Economic growth seemed to have bypassed a substantial, almost 50% of the population who are deprived of essential basic needs (as estimated by Tendulkar Committee).

• The right to food movement was developedinto an action plan-

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Right to Food

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Right to Food

Judicial Activism:• After PUCL filed a PIL with the SC in 2001, variousprogressive orders were made by the court to strengthen theright to food movement. The petitioner filed more than 500affidavits and close to more than 70 interim orders have beenpassed by the court till date covering TPDS, shelterless,homeless, marginalised and vulnerable sections of the society.

• The court interpreted A/21 of the constitution and referredto the directive principles of the state policy to interpret foodas basic right.• The supreme court constituted a SC Commissioner tooversee the implementation of the orders and act as amicuscurie on issues related to hunger and deprivation

• Right to food be enshrined as a fundamental right- 'nutritiousfood for all'

• Public schemes like ICDS, PDS, etc. to be made more efficient,especially their delivery system.

• New laws to be enacted to protect the property rightsof vulnerable groups, including women and tribals.

• Investment by the private sector in agriculture must also ensureresponsible, ethical and sustainable development.

• Concern for climate change should be translated into action forfarming communities.

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Action Plan: Right to Food movement

• Initiate a second green revolution to ensure sufficient availabilityof food for the population.

• Focus shift on women as producers and processors of food andextend needed support to meet their requirements.

• Coordinate with international efforts to stabilise future foodprices volatility.

• Develop community based mechanisms to mitigate and preparefor drought and other types of natural calamities that can causefood scarcity and food related crisis.

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Action Plan: Right to Food movement

1. Covers 63.5 per cent of the population; of which 75% (rural) and25% (urban)

2. It prioritises the acuity of deprivation, i.e. BPL households arerecognised as Priority Group (PG) and their entitlement is 7 kg.grains per person per month, at a subsidised rate of Rs. 1/kgcoarse grain, Rs. 2/kg wheat and Rs. 3/kg rice.

3. The Bill also covers Above Poverty Line households of (GeneralGroup) and grants entitlement of 3 kgs. grains per person atprice maximum of the half the MSP.

4. It grants legal entitlement to subsidised food to poor and not sopoor.

5. Mid day meal and ICDS brought under its purview.

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Salient Features of the Food Security Bill-

6. Lactating mothers will receive Rs.1000 per month for six monthsalong with the ICDS nutritional support.

7. Children under 14 age will also get nutritional support/

8. Disaster affected area will get 2 free meals/day up to 3 months,along with destitutes and homeless.

9. The Food Subsidy will go up from Rs. 67,000 crores to Rs. 94,973crores.

10. Use the conventional delivery mechanism, i.e. the PDS, but cashtransfers is already in the offing.

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Salient Features of the Food Security Bill-

11. All costs, including the storage and distribution, shall be borne by the CentralGovt. or the cash equivalent of the procurement cost by the State Gov. AdmnExpenses of a minimum of 6% for implementation. All other costs incurredunder this Act will be shared 70:30 basis between central and state gov.

12. All households living under starvation will be entitled for immediate reliefand 200 days of wage employment.

13. Establishment of a fair price shop within 3 kms of inhabitation, andpreference will be given to community institutions for the licenses to run theshops.

14. Operational and executional responsibities lies on with the state govt.15. Setting up of National Food Commission to enquire into complaints regarding

the entitlements, along with the establishment of the State Food Commissionand appointment of district grievance officers.

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Salient Features of the Food Security Bill-