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(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Innovative Approaches in Farm-based Livelihoods

[December-2021]

Innovative Approaches in Farm-based Livelihoods

Context:

The rural non-agricultural activities possess the potential for an alternative that con moke an impact on the economic situation. Thus, community-base livelihood centres around a mix of farm, allied sector activities and non-farm skills.
The aim is to facilitate the beneficiaries to become self-reliant, be in control of their own lives and be independent of intermediaries. The whole process is designed to enable simple semi-literate and illiterate village women to grow in diverse directions as they learn to earn.
Community-based livelihood empowers a woman to think, act and venture on her own, to not only procure but to market products, and to face the world without being intimidated by it.

There are four principal ways of acquiring livelihoods.

1. Production-based Livelihood: A large proportion of the small and marginal farmers gain livelihood through production on small pieces of land. For these households availability or access to inputs and improved methods of production are quite critical for their livelihood.

2. Labour-based Livelihood: Most of the small landholders and landless rural households derive livelihood by selling their labour. For their livelihood, demand for labour, wage rates and prices of food are the critical factors.

3. The Exchange-or Market-based Livelihood: Those rural households which produce surplus food and non-food agricultural products or non-farm goods earn their livelihoods by selling these products in the market. The marketing system for these products and relative prices of what they sell and what they buy, affect their livelihood.

4. Transfer-based Entitlements: The households without any income-earning asset or able-bodied person to work depend for their livelihood on transfers from the government or other social organisations. Government’s social security and food assistance programmes are relevant for this group of rural households in fulfilling their livelihood requirements. The rural livelihood systems in the developing countries thus encompass a broad range of factors and depend on several macro-subsystems of the economy.

Innovative Approaches

1. Participatory Approach: Involving Panchayats in Decision Making

Panchayats sit, think and discuss together village problems and find solutions to them. They
work as a guide and friend for the rural community to build up their capacities to strap up livelihood opportunities. People critically examining the prevailing rural development scenario and studying the gaps in the implementation of rural development schemes and identifying missing links in the planning processes and government officials can work on that.

2. Diversification and Intensification: Restructuring Extension and Adaptive Research Delivery

a) Convergence with schemes and departments
b) Social mobilisation
c) Formation of Block Technology Team (BTT) and Farmer Advisory Committees (FAC) at different levels of Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs).
d) SHGs for commodity marketing

e) Farmer Field School (FFS)
f) Upgrading production system in agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, dairy, food processing and fisheries

g) Risk mitigation through weather insurance. Small and Marginal Farmers (SMF) drought safety net insurance, price risk management, warehouse receipt-based financing for pulses and oil seeds.

(3) Holistic Integrated Approach: Issues relating to

productivity,
marketing,
post-harvest,
agro-processing,
credit,
rural infrastructure,
research,
technology dissemination,
natural resource management should be addressed.

(4) Technology Development and Dissemination: Thrust should not be limited to delivery of goods and services only but towards new methods of technology development and dissemination as well. This includes plan and for setting up web portal including agronomic information, crop diagnostic services, market intelligence, weather advice and market price information. There should also be provisions for phone-based service contract where content provider will provide information on market prices through SMS and voice services. Other plans are cell phone based information services via FFS marketing master trainers and commodity marketing groups.

(5) Group Farming System Approach: Farmers interest Groups (FIGs) and Farmers Associations work well than single individuals. A group approach to involve farming community in decision making and the implementation could be strengthened.

(6) Participatory Planning, Management and Monitoring: This involves devolution of powers to village Panchayats and village panchayat participation in planning and management of rural assets, participation of farmers in identifying needs, planning, implementation and monitoring.

(7) Creating Enabling Environment for Privatisation and Commercialisation: For privatisation of input supply and marketing, increasing private investment and creating enabling environment, It is aimed to encourage greater private sector participation in input arrangement and post-harvest activities through establishment of Project Development Facility (PDF) and privatisation of services which includes promotion of private nurseries, vets, para-workers and farm-polyclinics.

(8) Farmer Self Help Groups: To execute the plan of development people are organised into Farmers Self Help Groups (FSHGs) and Farmer Interest Groups (FIGS) based on their common interest. These groups should be involved in activities related to input supply, marketing and other backward and forward linkages with the objective of creating self-reliant mechanisms.

(9) Privatisation of Services: With the objective of providing better services to farmers, an alternate line of private services is promoted. The farming community is encouraged to pay for good quality, timely and doorstep services.

(10) Farm Polyclinic: Farm polyclinic should be established in every Gram Panchayat or in a cluster of Panchayats to address the various problems related to crops.

(11) Marketing Linkages: The Farmers Self-Help Groups and entrepreneurs to be facilitated to take up input supply activities like seed production, private nursery raising and marketing linkages.

(12) Involvement of Private Veterinary Doctors: As a part of privatisation of services, the private veterinary doctors should be promoted.

(13) Concept of Bio-village: In these villages, activities like biodynamic fertilisation, compost, vermin-culture, Cow Pat Pit (CPP), green-manuring, bio-control agents, Integrated Pest Management (IPM), Integrated Plant Nutrient Management (IPNM), Integrated Crop Management (ICM), etc. to be promoted.

(14) Concept of Seed Village: With a view to attaining self-sufficiency in good quality planting material, ‘Seed Village’ concept should be promoted.

(15) Concept of Farmers’ Field School: For facilitation of convergence of all services related to agriculture and allied sectors, and better outputs these are important.

(16) The Collective Marketing Model: Collective Marketing has armed Community Based Organisations (CBOs), and primarily SHGs with the knowledge, confidence and processes to operate a non-exploitative channel for the marketing of products. These CBOs have captured value by conducting a range of local level activities including drying, sorting, grading, weighing and packaging, for which a range of marketing infrastructures have been created in villages. Having been tested across a wide array of local situations, the methodologies have been proven for application across a variety of contexts to enrich marginal producers through participation in marketing channels. This is one of the successful models
adopted in Orissa.

(17) Enhancing Knowledge through Radio: Improving access to information on agricultural practices and enhancing productivity has been another approach towards rural development. As part of a broader strategy on agriculture extension and in partnership with the Development Support Centre in Gujarat, an innovative radio program on agriculture has been developed to inform and empower small and marginal farmers, by addressing knowledge needs in an effective way. The radio programme aims at promoting agriculture as a viable livelihood option, focusing on agricultural practices that enhance productivity, reduce input costs and mitigate risks. The idea of a radio program on improved agricultural practices emerged from the need to facilitate access to information and bridge existing knowledge gaps on agricultural practices using radio, a widely used communication medium in rural areas.