7KHFRPPXQLW\EDVHGPRGHOSURPRWHGE\ 35$'$1KDVKHOSHGLPSURYHWKHOLYHVRI VPDOOKROGHUIDPLOLHVWKURXJKLQFUHDVHG DJULFXOWXUDOSURGXFWLYLW\ A CSP trains women farmers to prepare an organic ferliser in Kathikund, Jharkhand (p.03) newsreach SEP_OCT 2018 IN THIS ISSUE 02 LEAD 13 REPORT 27 FORUM Agripreneurship: Helping In Quest of Fellow The Narrative of Revive Smallholders Travellers on a Road Less Development: Promoting a community-based Travelled: Destination In Search of an Alternative model of agricultural advisory Mendha Realizing that the world of services through Community Service Questioning the dominant mode consumerism and many of the Providers has helped PRADAN of life and livelihood choices and interventions carried out in the improve the lives of smallholder critically analyzing the development name of development will take families through increased interventions aimed at attaining their people away from traditional agricultural productivity them, the villagers of Mendha practices and habits that have MANAS SATPATHY choose the most suitable method of sustained them in good health over a collective way of life for them, with centuries, the Kandho tribe takes a sustainable form of governance active steps to resist any outside mechanism and ecology, adherence help that will snuff out age-old, to values, stakeholder mobilization time-tested resources and ways of and horizontal spread in nearby living and life. In this, they are helped villages by Living Farms, a civil society NEHA JOSHI, SUHASINI BALI, MAHENDRA organization, in South Odisha KUMAR SINGH AND SATISH PATNAIK SATISH PATNAIK 07 FORUM 21 REPORT 33 CASE STUDY Beyond Electoral Politics: Changes through Plastic Bottles: Paving the Women in Local Governance Participatory Theatre Way to Perennial Farming in Haryana Using themes that address Finding a new use for discarded issues alive in the community in plastic bottles, now a ubiquitous and Encouraging women to stand for street plays the ‘Theatre of the deathly hazard to the environment, elections to the local bodies is Oppressed’ gives the villagers the a little revolution is underway in a one step forward; empowering opportunity to observe as well tiny block in Khunti district, where them with knowledge and skills in as act, making spectators ‘spect- tribal farmers are using it to water planning and decision-making must actors’. Entertainment and education their crops in an innovative way necessarily follow if women need go hand-in-hand creating a powerful through machan cultivation, opening to be active creators of their own impact and heralding change up possibilities of greening land that future and not figure-heads and lies arid most of the year. proxy figures for the men of their NEERAJ JOSHI families DEBARATI GHATAK DEBIKA GOSWAMI Newsreach, a bimonthly journal, is a forum for sharing the thoughts and experiences of PRADAN professionals working in remote and far-flung areas. Newsreach helps them reach out and connect with each other, the development fraternity and the outside world. 1 LEAD MANAS SATPATHY AGRIPRENEURSHIP: Helping Revive Smallholders Promoting a community-based model of agricultural advisory services through Community Service Providers has helped PRADAN improve the lives of smallholder families through increased agricultural productivity Abstract experience in improving the lives of smallholder — families through increased agricultural productivity by promoting a community based model of MALLHOLDERS CONSTITUTE agricultural advisory services. Other actors may find nearly 801 per cent of the total farm this useful for adaptation in different contexts. households and make up one of the largest constituencies among India’s poor. Their food, nutritional security Introduction and poverty alleviation pose great — challenges. Their lives can be improved In spite of several initiatives that have been only by increasing their agricultural productivity introduced since Independence, neither the public Sand by promoting off-farm rural employment. This extension system nor the market has been able to requires appropriate technology dissemination reach the millions (200–400) of smallholders in the systems, which will equip them with modern remote areas of our country. Their low self-efficacy, practices, in both farming and off-farm activities. the lack of belief of outsiders in their capability, the This paper captures the lessons from PRADAN’s ignorance of public extension workers about the 1Chand, Ramesh, P.A. Lakshmi Prasanna & Aruna Singh, “Farm size and productivity: Understanding the strengths of smallholders and improving their livelihoods”, Economic & Political Weekly, Supplement June 25, 2011, vol. xlvi nos. 26 & 27. 2 NEWSREACH SEP_OCT 2018 New models have to be developed to ensure that these families have access to the right information, as well as knowledge and skills to optimize the productivity of their livelihood activities needs of these smallholders, and select, engage and supervise local timely information to farmers on the unwillingness of specialists youths to work as CSPs to help input use, scientific production to live and work in such areas their members adopt modern practices, disease and pest are some of the reasons for the practices and to access markets. management, the markets, etc. current state of affairs. The lesson is that when CSPs identify an enterprise to support Although the public extension As a result, the productivity of the production system, they not system in India has widened most of the on-farm and off-farm only benefit the community by since Independence, it still does activities that they are engaged advising them on the scientific not reach a large number of in varies from 50–65 per cent of practices, they benefit themselves smallholder farmers and other the national average. To ensure by finding a means of earning. vulnerable groups, primarily their well-being as well as to It becomes a win-win situation in remote areas. Moreover, meet the national food demand, for both the community and the the models of extension of the this situation cannot be ignored entrepreneur. government and the private or be allowed to continue. New agro-dealers do not meet the models have to be developed to needs of smallholders in hilly and Context ensure that these families have undulating areas. This is, usually, access to the right information, — due to the high transaction as well as knowledge and skills to The promotion of farm and non- costs of reaching these pockets, optimize the productivity of their farm livelihoods is an integral the lack of crop and livestock livelihood activities. part of PRADAN’s strategy to management solutions suitable improve the quality of life in to these conditions and, also, a Efforts are on to come up with an most-neglected rural areas. Severe lack of willingness by extension appropriate model of extension material deprivation diminishes specialists to live and work in into these areas. PRADAN, a not- people’s ability to visualize a such remote and, sometimes, for-profit entity, working for the better life for themselves and to unsafe areas. socio-economic empowerment take charge of working towards it. of rural communities in the most The PRADAN Experience poverty-stricken pockets of seven All such livelihood activities central Indian states, has been involve the provision of extension — promoting Community Service and technical advisory services to In the beginning, PRADAN’s Providers (CSPs) for many years rural communities. These ensure professionals played the role now, to successfully address the critical access to the knowledge of extension agents for various challenge. and information needed to livelihood activities, which they increase the productivity and identified and promoted. This The uniqueness of PRADAN’s the sustainability of farmers’ helped them develop context- approach is that the women production systems. Such specific solutions, in response from disadvantaged households, services play a significant role in to ecological and socio-cultural who are organized into SHGs, risk management, by providing demands. When the prototypes LEAD AGRIPRENEURSHIP: HELPING REVIVE SMALLHOLDERS 3 This model has been quite successful, in terms of making a large number of farming women adopt modern agricultural inputs and practices, at a relatively low cost. They have begun to earn a good price for their produce were well-established, the PRADAN regularly reviewed and activities was visible, was made idea of taking them to a larger supported. The curriculum of the more interactive, to inspire number of families was explored. training and its design kept in them and help them learn For the families engaged in mind their educational level of better. PRADAN mobilized the farm-based livelihoods, the the farmers. To help farmers gain resources for the training of the following services were found more information and confidence, CSPs and for the remuneration necessary: asset creation they were taken on exposure of these service providers. Their through government grants, visits to those sites, where remuneration depended on the working capital mobilization communities had adopted similar number of families they served through credit, supply of quality modern practices. and the tasks they performed. agricultural inputs, knowledge Weekly meetings were conducted and skill transfer for soil health Initially, men were chosen with CSPs by the staff of management, training on nursery as CSPs. Subsequently, when PRADAN, to assess their progress raising, crop production,