19 - 2018 - Annual Report Annual 1 19 Annual Report 2018-19 - 2018 - Annual Report Annual 2 Introduction; Despite political posturing poverty remains the single largest problem facing people in Odisha. As per Niti Aayog SDG India Index Baseline report released in July 2019, 32.59 per cent of the population in Odisha are below the poverty line as against the national average of 21.92 per cent. In a recent publication on state-wise poverty rate, the Reserve Bank of India also corroborated it by stating that 13.85 million population in Odisha are below poverty line as of 2011-12. The latest Economic Survey stated that with 25.1 per cent points decline in poverty since 2004-05, the poverty ratio in rural Odisha stood at 35.69 per cent.1 What is ailing the State? According to the 2011 census, 83.3 per cent of the population in Odisha resides in rural Odisha. Agriculture is the mainstay of rural populations with 61.8 per cent of the 17.5 million workforces is employed in agriculture which contributes 18 per cent to the States GDP. Despite several schemes and measures agricultural reforms have failed to enthuse farmers primarily as the State continues to patronize the Green Revolution model. Thus majority of the farmers concentrate on select crops and adopt heavy use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Poor soil health, climate impacts, depletion of farmer knowledge base, lack of irrigation facilities, rising input costs and falling productivity are the factors forcing farmers to abandon agriculture. Rainfall patterns in Odisha have been more erratic since the 1960s, with below-normal rainfall across all districts 120 days of monsoon rain has shrunk to 60 70 days, and unusual increases in rainfall, with torrential rainfall of over 200 250 millimeters/day, are more frequent during the monsoon, frequently resulting in floods.2 This situation has had a severe influence on agriculture affecting both the khariff and rabi crops. highest diversity of Scheduled Tribes and Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups in the country. Schedule Caste constitutes 16.5 percent of total population. These two groups taken together comprise the bulk of people living in poverty. With an overwhelming 86 per cent of tribal households in the poorest wealth quintiles compared to 58 per cent of non-tribal,3 the economic disparity between tribal and non-tribal is very stark. 1 https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/odisha/2019/jul/20/odisha-second-bigger-state-in-bpl-rank- 2006663.html 2 Odisha State Action Plan on Climate Change 2015-20 3 UNICEF report based on data from Rapid Survey on Children Odisha is rich with its abundant natural resources such as forests, mines, fertile land, water and long coastline. 19 Most of these natural resources rich areas are inhabited by tribal people, who do not have real control over - these resources. Mineral extraction and related developments have ushered in a mindless and insensitive 2018 process of environmental degradation and tribal displacement and impoverishment, and have created social - and environmental challenges apart from affecting traditional livelihoods and displacing people from their ancestral habitats. Odisha has forest cover in about 32.34 percent4 of its total area, which, in addition to ecological contribution, villages of the state either lie inside or on the fringe of forest area. Poverty ratio of forest rich (and tribal dominated) areas is much higher than state average, underlying the fact that forest-based livelihoods have Report Annual largely remained at basic subsistence level. The threats of rapid degradation of forest, due to unsustainable uses and deforestation, continue to grow. Odisha has a very poor image in the country as far as food and nutrition security is considered. Cases of severe ried to address the issue of food insecurity. These schemes may have addressed hunger temporarily but nutrition insecurity has remained a serious challenge, particularly for its tribal people. A whopping 46 per cent of tribal children in Odisha have been identified as stunted compared to around 35 per 3 cent of non-tribal. The severe stunting among tribal children stood high at around 20 per cent, and around 10 per cent tribal children below two years are both stunted (height to age proportion) and wasted (weight to height proportion) . 5 About 20% of the population still does not have access to safe drinking water. There is a huge difference between the data on various government sources and the reality on the ground. Water sources have been shown in the MIS but they may have been non functional for years. The ground reality is most likely going to be worse than what is reported. The rural sanitation coverage (toilet construction) in the state is 58.99%6 (India 88.59%), placed at the bottom of the list of all states and Union Territories. Even if the toilets have been constructed they are either not used or not usable in many cases. Children under 15 years represent 28.9% of the total population of the state as per Census 2011. Odisha has the highest percentage of children aged between six and 14 years who are out of school. Poor infrastructure facilities in schools, communication problem, lack of awareness among communities regarding education of children, poverty of the parents and practice of child labour to supplement family income, cultural restrictions for the girl child, migration along with their parents etc. are some of the reasons that have either kept the children out of the schools or forced them to drop out early. Child trafficking, child sexual abuse, malnourishment and child labour are major challenges. The share of youth population (15-24 years) in Odisha in 2011 was 18.36 percent7. Poor quality education and lack of appropriate skills prove to be hurdles for them to get remunerative jobs. Unemployment rate among youth in Odisha is estimated to be higher than the 2017 India average of 10.54%8. (It was 12.9% in 2013-14 as per Indian Labour Bureau Survey). The unemployment rate in case of female category is much higher. There is no clear data on under employment but it is assumed to be very high. Distress migration among rural youth in the state, particularly in the backward districts is a serious challenge. Thousands of youth, particularly from the tribal areas migrate every year to various parts of the country in search of employment. Without much knowledge of the labour market and statutory provision they often fall prey to unscrupulous agents / brokers. Governments, both at Centre and State, have formulated various acts / policies such as Forest Rights Act (FRA), Right to Information (RTI), Right to Education (RTE), and have taken up numerous programmes including flagship schemes like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Rural Housing etc. for welfare of people and overall development. But governance weaknesses at delivery level affect proper implementation of these initiatives. As a result the intended benefits do not reach most of the targeted population. The Panchayatiraj Institutions have not been given scope to function independently and exercise their legitimate authority. Panchayat representatives are constrained by capacity to influence and establish leadership over grassroots governance. Politicization of Panchayat structure has destroyed traditional institutions and unity in the villages. Though reservations for weaker sections and women have resulted in enhanced social equity, serious efforts need to be made to enhance their functional capacity. 4 India State of Forest Report, GOI 2015 5 Rapid Survey on Children 2013-14, Ministry of Women and Child Development. 6 SBM MIS accessed on 27 July 2018 7 Odisha Economic Survey 2016-17 8 An Estimate by ILO ; 19 - RCDC embarked on its journey with a firm belief that appropriate management of natural resources is necessary to address the current development problems in a sustainable manner, and that the local communities with 2018 - their traditional knowledge and high stakes are or can be the best managers of the resources. This belief has guided RCDC programmes to focus on empowering rural communities for the sustainable management and development of natural resources for securing their own livelihoods as well as for conservation of the eco- system. Annual Report Annual 4 Since its formation RCDC has emphasized on community forest management, drought proofing, land and water management, sustainable agriculture, food & livelihood security, strengthening local self-governance through years have been studies & research on sustainable natural resource management; developing best practices and demonstrative models; promoting collective action through education, and networking and advocacy for appropriate policy and practice changes. Initial years were focused on developing pioneering models and advocating for enabling policies in NRM sector. Many of its efforts have been successful in highlighting the importance of the stewardship of local communities in managing their own resources. It has widely promoted CFM by mobilizing communities to develop productivity and income potential in the forests that they manage through sustainable forest management practices. RCDC established a name for itself as a clearing-house of information on community forest management and on NTFP. Its newsletters, news updates and journals captured the field realities, popularized the best practices and raised the issues that require attention by the policy makers. RCDC is known for its work on developing alternative arrangement for marketing of NTFP; working on market intelligence; product development and sustainable NTFP harvesting. Over the years RCDC has helped form 30 NTFP based cooperatives and also a federation of these cooperatives with an objective to enable forest dependent communities to control, manage and trade NTFP and their agriculture produce. RCDC initiated a cooperative in 2003 called AMVSS Limited in Nabarangpur district for promotion of agriculture and forest based livelihood.