1

SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT THROUGH EMPOWERMENT.

ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT

1ST APRIL 2014 to 31ST MARCH, 2015

SUBMITTED

TO

MISSION PROCURATOR

NURNBERG

GREMANY

BY

GANA CHETANA SAMAJ

HAZARAPAR, NEAR RAIL GATE

P.O. TEZPUR-784 001

DISTRICT: SONITPUR, ASSAM, INDIA

2

ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT

1. Name of the Organization : Gana Chetana Samaj Hazarapar Near Rail Gate, Tezpur Dist. Sonitpur, Assam, 784001- India

2. Title of the Project : Sustainability Development through Empowerment.

3. Period of reporting : Annual Progress Report 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015.

4. Project Code : IND- ASS- 39001- 03745

OVERALL GOAL OF THE PROJECT

Advancement and economic prosperity of the people in the 10 villages of Balipara and Dhekiajuli Blocks of Sonitpur District of Assam. PROJECT OBJECTIVES FOR THE REPORTING PERIOD: 1. Increase food security among the target communities. 2. Increase in per-capita income of the families. 3. Improvement in standard of living. 4. Alternative sources of income created for the families. 5. Skills enhancement of rural women.

I. WHILE EXECUTING THE PROJECT WE HAD THE FOLLOWING POSITIVE EXPERIENCES:

We had the following positive experiences while implementing the project:

First; we experienced a big support from the office of the Mission Procurator, Germany as you cooperated with us by timely disbursement of the money for the first year. It helped us to carry out the programmes smoothly.

Second; the people had full cooperation with the Organization in completing the various activities. Some farmers gave their free labour and building materials like bamboos for the construction of their piggery farm. In order to carry out the work smoothly, the farmers provided breakfast and meals to the people who dug the pond and installed bore wells. It saved a lot of time and the work continued without much disruption. The people’s active participation in different training programmes was also seen as their cooperation.

3

Third; so many times the farmers came together for the programmes and meetings that helped them to strengthen their bond of unity. It also helped them to have better understanding among themselves.

Fourth; the people who attended our training programmes have gained confidence in speaking, manner and work.

Fifth; Some attitudinal change has taken place in the people as they are adopting the System of Rice Intensification(SRI), a modern method of cultivation. The women were stirred by seeing the new extension to the weaving center with new design machines. Fifteen women started the work of production in the center. Now they are weaving Adivasi towels (gamosa), ‘sari’ and other dress materials.

Sixth; the demonstration Unit is inspiring the farmers to go for the poultry and SRI cultivation. After seeing and learning from the Farm Mr. Augustine Horo has recently started poultry farm for himself.

Seventh; the beneficiaries are making good use of the infrastructure and facilities(bore wells, pond water pumping machines) provided to them.

Eighth; The project has paved the way for networking with the Government departments, Financial Institutions, NABARD and Krishi Vigyan Kendra(Agriculture Research Centre). The farmers can access easily and without any hesitation to these department/Institutions.

II. THE DIFFICULTIES WE FACED:

First; our scheduled programme was affected due to the strike and road blocks. It was not just to organize programmes for the people when our target group was mourning on the attack on 23December 2014 on Adivasis by the Bodo militants.

Second; some good villages are in remote areas and lacking road connectivity. There are Bodo Liberation Tigers (Bodo militants) in that area that hinders us from easy access and to work more freely.

Third; this year there was excessive rain at the latter part of the monsoon as a result the land remained wet for long that affected the potato cultivation. On the other hand there was no rain at all from October 2014 to March2015 so the ground water level went down. The ponds and bore wells dried up and the irrigation was not possible. It was the big disappointment for the farmers because they could not cultivate the rabi crop (vegetables). In such a situation it was difficult for us to keep the farmers motivated.

Fourth; we had the problem of finding resource persons for training programmes organized in the sub-centres/village. They were very reluctant to go to far away places. Sometimes we conducted programmes to such places for the greater participation of the beneficiaries.

Fifth; there was a problem in selection of the beneficiaries for some activities such as shade for piggery, deepening of ponds and water pumping machines. However carefully we identified the beneficiaries, some people did not understand it and criticized us. It was may be because of jealousy.

4

III. ACHIEVEMENT OF THE RESULTS DESCRIBED IN THE APPLICATION:

1. Village Meetings:

The village meetings were conducted in the ten villages in the month of April and May 2014. There were total 352 participants attended the meetings in different village. The village meetings helped the people to know their socio-economic situation at the deeper level which led them to form the Village Development Committees (VDCs) for proper supervision and administration.

TABLE No. -1 Village wise Distribution of the meeting Sl. No Name of the

village Date of Meeting conducted

No. of Participants

1 Dhankhona 29th April 2014 25 2 Bandarhagi 22nd April 2014 39 3 Bengnajuli 23rd April 2014 32 4 Mejanjuli 24th April 2014 30 5 Dhekipela 25th April 2014 35 6 Daragaon 6th May 2014 31 7 Amdanga 1st May 2014 41 8 Laljuli 4th May 2014 35 9 Dhanmara 27th April 2014 50 10 Chapaguri 20th April 2014 34 TOTAL 342

Village meetings

5

2. Seminar on System of Rice Intensification (SRI): Two one day Seminars were organized on System of Rice Intensification (SRI) on 21st and 30th April 2014 at the head office of Gana Chetana Samaj. There were 50 and 45 participants simultaneously for the .seminar. The farmers learnt the new method of cultivation and willing to adopt it. Seminar on SRI

3.Supply of flood resistant seeds: In order to protect the crop from damage caused by excessive rain and water logging we, through Krishi Vigyan Kendra supplied flood resistant seed to twenty (20) farmers. The farmers were very happy because they got a good crop.

4. Bore wells Installed and water pumping machines were provided :

Twenty bore wells were installed and ten water pumping machines were provided to the farmers in Missamari area of Dhekiajuli Block and Chapaguri area of Balipara Block. The purpose of bore wells and water pumping machines is to help the farmers to irrigate their field throughout the year as per the need. These facilities helped the farmers to go for the Rabi crop (crop after the paddy cultivation). But unfortunately last year due to the insufficient rain the ground water went down so many farmers except five could not take the advantage of facilities given to them. Five farmers of Missamari area benefited from bore wells who could irrigate ten bighas (bigha refers to unit of land measurement) of land. Bore well and water pump Fr. Klaus & Fr. George at new Bore well

6

5.village meetings on vermin compost conducted: Ten (10) village awareness meetings were conducted in the month of May and June. The objective of the meeting was to teach the farmers about the preparation of vermin compost, its supervision and its usage. The table below shows the the meeting conducted in different village. TABLE NO. -2 Village wise Distribution of the meeting

Sl. No. Name of the village

Date of Meeting

No. of Participants

1 Chapaguri 10th May 2014 24 2 Dhanmara 14th May 2014 27 3 Laljuli 17th May 2014 29 4 Amdanga 19th May 2014 19 5 Daragaon 22nd May 2014 24 6 Dhekipela 2nd June 2014 25 7 Mejanjuli 4th June 2014 24 8 Bengnajuli 9th June 2014 19 9 Bandarhagi 11th June 2014 20

10 Dhankhana 13th June 2014 22 Meeting on vermin compost

6. Deepening of the ponds: 16 nos. of ponds were successfully deepened in Baithabhanga, Chepaguri and Missamari areas. We deepened the ponds from two feet to four feet as it was required at the particular place. The purpose is the irrigation and fishery. With the given facilities the farmers will be able to use the water in case of need and get extra income from fishery. During the last season the farmers could not get much income because the ponds were new and needed some treatment.

7

Pond deepening

7. Purchase of Dubie Machines:

To accelerate the production of the weaving section new looms were bought. And in order to improve the quality of the products like Adivasi towels, ‘sari’ and other dress materials ‘Dubie’ machines (design machines) were bought. With the help of these new machines the women are working with great interest and enthusiasm. 15 women are fully devoted to the production work. They are given raw materials (thread) for weaving and they submit the finished products to the centre and making charge is given to them.

New Weaving Machines 8. Construction of Temporary Shade for Training Centre

A temporary shade measuring 28 feet long and 10 feet wide was constructed for new looms. The shade has three rooms. There is one small room in the verandah for office purposes will be used by the Instructors. There was a contribution of the villagers in the construction as they supplied us with the old asbestos sheet. The new looms are installed in the new shade which are giving good service.

8

9. A Demonstration Unit:

A Demonstration Unit consisting of poultry, piggery, duckery, fishery and system of rice intensification (SRI) was developed during the last year. Three different shades for poultry (50 feet long and 18 feet wide), piggery(72 feet long and 16 feet wide with 10 rooms) and duckery(19feet long and 13 feet wide) were constructed and later on birds and the animals were put respectively. The villagers and the exposure groups visited the farm and got inspiration from it. Since it the Farm is new so there were not many groups hat visited the farm. This year definitely more groups will come for visit and learn from it.

Near the farm there was an old pond which we repaired and using it as a demonstration for fish farm. After the repair the area of the pond has become 110 feet long, 60 feet wide and 12 feet deep. The sole purpose of the pond is to use it for demonstration for the fishery. We are also teaching the farmers about scientific way of fishery. There are 10 piglets in the farm. They are looked after well by the farm incharge. The poultry farm is functioning well. The villagers are coming to see it and some are inspired. One farmer has started his own farm after our farm. Another farmer also will start soon. Due to the casualties there are few ducks left. We have planned to bring soon another breed suited to the climate of the place. The system of rice intensification (SRI), a method of paddy cultivation experimented in the field of the farm was very successful. We got good crop which attracted many farmers.

Vaccination of pigs in Farm Pond Deepening

9

SRI Cultivation

Poultry Farm

10. Construction of piggery Farm (shade):

Five piggery shades consisting of three rooms were constructed successfully. The beneficiaries from Balipara and Dekiajul Blocks are; Mrs. Sushila Orang, Mr. Manohar Kujur, Mrs. Champa Orang, Mrs. Punam Amar Lata Topno and Mr. Rajesh Kerketta. With great hope they have started rearing pigs in their new farm.

IV. THE EXPECTED LONG TERM IMPACT OF THE PROJECT:

There are symptoms of long term impact of the project from the first year itself. After the study of the activities it was found that some of them will pick up faster whereas some need more follow up. The following activities have laid good impact on the beneficiaries:

• The piggery farm of the farmers is picking up well. The farmers are interested in it

because it fetches good income within a short time. The pigs are growing soon as the

10

farmers are well taking care of. They are very hopeful of their farm. It has motivated other farmers too.

• We have perceived that in near future many farmers will adopt SRI cultivation of paddy. The farmers have seen and experienced this successful method of cultivation. We hope that the people will have the food for the whole year after adopting this method.

• The weaving section of the training centre will be able to give employment to many more women of this area as the women after getting training have shown their interest in production. At present 15 women are fully involved in the production of the traditional dress material and they are paid well for work.

• The farmers will make use of the infrastructure such as bore-wells and water pumping machines the farmers’ clubs have been networked with NABARD, Banks and the Government departments for all types of facilities. The living standard of the people will improve as their economic situation will be better of.

• The village administrative system is improving which is the result of the proper functioning of the Village Development Committees(VDC) formed in the village.

.

V. THE REACTIONS OF PEOPLE WITH WHOM AND FOR WHOM WE ARE WORKING: The reactions of the people we found are as follows:

• The people responded to the village meetings and formed Village Development Committees (VDCs) for future monitoring and supervising of the project. Committee members started working on it.

• By seeing the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and its good result at demonstration farm the farmers were motivated and are willing to adopt the new method of cultivation.

• The new construction at the training centre for weaving and the introduction of new designs machines attracted and enthused the women. 15 women have already started working for producing dress items.

• Construction of Piggery shades has motivated the people to rear more pigs at a time in systematic ways.

• Bore wells and water pumping machines motivated the farmers to go for Rabi crops cultivation in their field other than paddy.

• The farmers whose ponds were deepened could have their link with the District Fishery Department for technical support and they could also approached different local fish traders at the time of selling fish.

VI. SOME TESTIMONIES: Mr. Manohar Kujur is a farmer from Patgaon village under Ghoramari Block, District Sonitpur. He said that last year he had paddy cultivation by adopting System of rice intensification(SRI) in more than an acre of land and got double production. It is a very good method for the farmers he said. Mrs.Sushila Orang, she is a house wife from Chapaguri village, under Balipara Block, District Sonitpur. In 2009 she started pig rearing with two piglets. Now she is having 22

11

pigs. Seeing her interest and motivation GCS helped her in construction of a shade for her pigs which is very hygienic and easy for her to take care of them. Till now she has sold 10 big pigs and 19 piglets for Rs. 1,84,000/-Once upon a time she was a daily wage labourer but now she got employment in her own house. She is able to educate two of her children, one is in the college and other one is studying in high school. She also has been able to add some assets to her family as she could purchase one bicycle and a TV from the income of the piggery farm Mr. Yacub Aind: is a farmer from Dhankhana village, under Dhekiajuli Block of Sonipur District, Assam. He cultivated tomatoes and cabbage in two bighas. He got about Rs 30,000/- in a season which has encouraged him a lot. The money he got has helped him to pay the tuition and hostel fees of his son. He says that he will do still better in coming season.

Date: 30 April 2015 For Gana CHetana Samaj

Place: Tezpur

Fr. George Soreng, S.J.

(Director)