Micro-planning process

(A field guideline)

Micro-planning is a participatory process where concerned context community and different stakeholders ( or service providers)  come together to

• Identify the gaps (mainly non-availability or difficulty in availing resources) in development process and analyse it through identifying available resources ( social, natural, physical & financial),  gaps in availing ( procedure) resources  and would plan-out  time and resource bound different stakeholder-specific strategy  based on the analysis of resources and possibilities of new resources.

STEP-1

Context selection

For micro-planning it is vital to know where we would be facilitating the process of micro-planning i.e. the context of micro-planning-tribal, rural, coastal, desert and slum. Identification of context is the preliminary step of micro-planning.

Micro-planning could be with any context and for any size of are, but preferably smaller the context area (in terms of population and geography) giver better the micro-planning.

STEP-2

Setting up of Purpose and objectives of the micro-planning

Before moving to the field it is quite important to have clear cut purpose and objective of the micro-planning. Mere just going for the micro-planning without any purpose or objectives would result in few maps and information nothing else.

To set the purpose of the micro-planning it is important to know the basic information of the context and one must raise query on why micro-planning?

To set the objectives of micro-planning one must raise the queries on what and how to achieve through micro-planning?

STEP-3

Formation of team

Once the purpose and objectives of the micro-planning has been set it is important to form a team for the process of facilitation for the micro-planning. It is important to know that “its not we people from NGOs would be doing the micro-planning, it is important that community  along with other key stakeholders ( PRI, NABARD, KVK, Agricultural department, NGOs etc) would do the micro planning, but the major role is of the community and other stakeholders could play the role of facilitators or input providers in developing a better and sustainable micro-planning.

For the NGOs to form the team for the facilitation of the micro-planning process following are important:

• It is better to have a social worker (probably expert in micro-planning), a gender expert, a NRM expert and a health expert in the micro-planning team, but more important is the team must be able to understand the local language and must be able to communicate with the community and the other stake holders. Also it is important to understand that the experts are there to sharpen the micro-planning and for the facilitation, not to include their ideas or their agenda in the micro-planning.

• Team must be clear on various tools and techniques to be used in the micro-planning facilitation

• Team must have clarity on the context, its situation, community and about other stakeholders.

STEP-4

Prior preparation before moving to the field

Planning of micro-planning in terms of use of tools and techniques must be discussed and clear amongst the team members. It would be good to have a team leader for facilitation of the micro-planning at the field level.

Before moving to the field it would be better to have a prior communication with the community, volunteers and indeed with the other stakeholders.

Resources in terms of chart paper, sketch pens, poweder colours, markers, stickies , cello tape and other related required resources must be purchased and packed for the field exercise.

STEP-5

In the field process

After entering the field it would be suggested to have a common meeting with the community and must be purpose and objectives of the micro-planning have to be shared with the community.

Different exercises/tools could be followed in the field to facilitate the micro-planning process as:

Participatory Techniques adopted to facilitate the MICRO-Planning process

• Transect walk-It helped in getting familiarity with the village people and understanding of development issues present there in general way. It also helped in triangulating the information received.  

• Pair wise ranking- With this tool information regarding the prioritization of diseases and the causes of diseases get identified. 

• Social Mapping-This tool could be used to get basic information related with health for each and every household of Mavashiya village. 

• Seasonal Mapping- This tool provided information about the different diseases according to the different seasons .{here we divided the seasons according to the well known things as festivals or crop season. We can divided 12 months in six parts as-Naya Saal ( New Year-from Dec to Jan), Holi (Festival of colour-in March), Kaam Ka Mahina (Season of migration-Apr to June), Rakshabandhan (Festival of brother and sister-August), Makke Ka Season ( Season of Maize harvesting-Sept to October), and Deepawali (Festival of Light-November)}  and what all are the preventive and curative measures people as well as the group members adopt according to the season.

• Causal Analysis : We have conducted this with the community to identify the key problems of the concerned area and the key reasons behind all those problems.

• Focus Group Discussion  (FGD) - This tool  could be used for gathering information on various issues like awareness of people about the different issues as agriculture production, health facilities, health and hygiene practice practiced by the village people, prevalent diseases, awareness about the different government programme, sanitation.

• Time Line/village history – Through this tool we could know about the changes (especially related with developmental prospect) happened over time regarding the change in overall development of the village happened in the past.  

STEP-6

Triangulating information to develop micro-planning

Once the data/information would be collected from the field through the various exercises, along with the community and other stakeholders, planning exercise could be done where focus would be on triangulating the available resources, need of resources and gap between the needs and available resources. For example when our team has facilitated the micro-planning process at Ajmer, after the collection of information from the field team has set with the CBO members, KVK, PRI and NABARD officials to develop the plan and finally Panchayat has approved the same.

In triangulating the information important is considering the feasibility of planning, planning should not be like that which would not be feasible in terms of resources, time and human resource.

STEP-7

After the micro-planning

Once the micro-planning has finished, the planning must be shared by the community to the community and other stake holders, people from NGOs could facilitate the process of presentation of micro-planning.

After presentation planning could be re-worked based on the feedback from the community and the other stakeholders and then same planning written document would be presented by the community members/CBO members to the gram sabaha for the inclusion of planning, planning document would also be shared with the other stake holders for their support (especially with NABARD, KVK, local bank, agriculture department and if possible with the BDO and district collector). It is also important to note that, it not only sharing of plan is vital, important is inclusion of plan in the annual plan of  different stakeholders viz Panchayat, NABARD, KVK etc.

 By: Vinod Pandey

Galku Devi!

...breaking rules and empowering farming!

Age: 52 years

…a widow

…a farmer

…a survivor

…a brave lady to combat life situation and move a ahead with her exceptional work in agriculture

…Flash Back

At the age of 12-13 years Galku devi got married to a farmer of Napoli village and. After marriage she has started contributing to her husband in his agriculture work along with doing other household work.  In Although

“I was just looking for a way to survive and feed my family and eventually found one against society”, says 52 years old Galku Devi from Nepoli village in Mavashiya Panchyat, Shri Nagar block Ajmer.

Galku Devi belongs to a mali ( OBC) community and is extremely poor with a very small landholding of 2 acre. Her husband who passed away some 15 years back had migrated earlier to Jaipur to work as on daily wages..

Galku Devi’s husband used to send a small amount back home which was insufficient to feed the family. “It was not a matter of few days or weeks. I had to take care of my family. So I started growing vegetables just enough for consumption on the farm land”, says Galku devi. She started ploughing her land in early morning so no one can notice as women of the village were strictly prohibited from using the plough. It was believed that in such a case God gets angry leading to draught and starvation. 

How situation has changed?

“In the village where women didn’t consider themselves as farmers, Galku Devi was a small hope. With the support from LIFE ( Livelihood Initiation For Empowerment) project We tried to remove her prejudice and encouraged her to go for organic cultivation on her small patch of land and have supported her with demonstration of wheat seeds and organic inputs; initially she has used mix of organic and synthetic inputs and able to get 30% of increase in wheat production per bigha ( from 500 kgs to 650 kgs) and plough the field during day time”, says Manish, a coordinator of LIFE Project , RCDSSS-Ajmer.

The news that she cultivates her field and is able to  have better production has pread in the entire village, although many of the villages have not considered it as so important as they felt farming is only the job of “men”, but later with her various innovations in the farming in terms of having  multiple, mixed cropping, system of having kitchen garden along with the farm field for vegetables and production and usage of organic inputs.

Today Galku Devi is the motivation factor for many women not only in the napoli village, but for the other villages near by  villages also. Around 15-20 other women of the napoli village plough their land on their own. These women are aware of their rights as farmers and take all the decisions related to their agricultural land. Apart from growing vegetables for the household consumption, Galku Devi is now using shared land to cultivate grains and generate revenue. She also teaches other women to plough their fields and is proud of the difference it is making in their lives. 15 years back when Galku Devi’s husband passed away she collected her all energy to combat against the social norms of farming and with LIFE project she has learn the techniques of modern farming for better crop production. She has also shown her interest for organic certification and with LIFE project we would supporting such women farmers for the whole process of certification.

With the passage of time and better understanding of Galku Devi’s knowledge on agriculture and from last two years continious support from the LIFE project project in terms of generating awareness amongst Today she is one of the active members of the Farmers Club of Nepoli and many times she leads the entire meeting process, members of the farmers club have now decided that now Galku devi is in the position to head the farmers club!

She has become a role model for the other women, who come to her with their problems.

Support from LIFE Project!

LIFE (Livelihood Initiation for Empowerment) project has been initiated in Jan 2010 with the concept of securing the sustainable livelihood options for the deprived targeted community of the Banswara and Ajmer districts of Rajasthan.  The project is being implemented by SJVS Banswara and Disha-RCDSSS Ajmer in 20 project villages of the concerned districts (10 villages in each district). LIFE project also supports for the interests and rights of women farmers. One of the strategy of the LIFE project aims at creating an environment that recognizes women as farmers and inititiatve has been started with supporting women farmers through demonstration plots, involving them in training on agriculture and allied activities and reserving 33% women membership in Farmers club.  With LIFE project till now we are able to recognize 350 women farmers in 20 project villages.

Inaguratio​n of Farmers Club by NABARD & KVK @Banswara in LIFE Project villages

As earlier shared with you all NABARD has approved 3 more farmers club formed under LIFE project at Banswara, NABARD and KVK officials did the official inauguration of Kajapada Farmers club on 18^th/05/2012. NABARD has also given the financial support of INR 5000 to the Farmers club, KVK has also announced the support to the farmers club for subsidized certified seeds, exposure on horticulture and training on organic cultivation.

Out of 10 Farmers club, this is the 2^nd farmer club which has been inaugurated by the NABARD, rest others are also approved and inauguration dates of two more farmer club is in the June 2012.

What would be the future impact?

It is also important to know that with the linkages with the NABARD for LIFE project, SJVS-Banswara has become the 2^nd considerable NGO (Vagdhara is another NGO with which NABARD is working in Banswara) with which NABARD has approved and did inauguration of farmers club and also developed the scope for working on mega projects of NABARD such as WADI & Watershed projects.

Real hero behind the success:

Its our field staff Ms. Priya who has actively mobilized the farmers ( both male and female) for bringing change in the agriculture through collective effort in terms of sustainable agricultural practices and linkages with the banks and institutions like NASBARD. Also our LIFE Project Coordinator Mr. Chandrapal has played a key role in bringing farmers to the NABARD office and regular follow-up with NABARD DDM for the approval and support.

The inauguration of Farmers club has been covered by the leading Hindi national Daily-Dainik Bhaskar.

For more on LIFE project log on to www.caritasindia.org (blog) or www.liferajastha.blogspot.com or follow us on facebook (LIFE Caritas India).

Impact of LIFE project: SHGs now addressing the development issues of other villages also!

Garib Nawaz & Tulsi SHGs formed under LIFE projects, supports the women health development of other village through putting request for Health Center in the concerned village in Gram Panchayat. Garib nawaz is a SHG where women from different religions are the member of this SHG. Also this SHG has started income generation activity in the form of grinding spices and selling of the same.

Major acheivement in LIFE project ( from Feb-Apr 2012) @ RCDSSS- Ajmer

a.      Two trained youth members started earning Rs. 2500 to 3000/- per month through house-wiring work.

b.      Two youth were enrolled in House Wiring training organized by ITI and RMOL.

c.       4 youth members of Mavashiya provided Roadways recruitment form through internet (Jaisingh, Ramesh, Pradhan, Pradhan)

d.      3 proposals of micro-plans are approved and being implemented in Nepoli village out of total 10 works. (Handpump, CC road & drainage system)

e.      32 Farmers got benefits of micro-nutrients spray for wheat from KVK in February, 2012.

f.        2 farmers (Budharam s/o Sujaram & Fulwanti w/o Lalsingh) of Nolkha village established additional vermin units seeing the success of first units.

g.      2 farmers of Surajpura, 2 Farmers of Nepoli, 4 farmers of Mavshiya received benefits of Farm Pond from Agri. Deptt. of Rs. 49,850/- per farmer.

h.      5 farmer club and 6 SHG were linked with BOB Ramsar.

i.        Aradhana SHG in  Guda village mobilized loan of Rs. 280000/-

j.        Bharmal S/o Ramkaran Jat received Rs. 150000/- and Ramdhan S/o Dhukal Bheel recieved 40000/- from KCC which was made with our facilitation.

k.       One Azola unit was established in Kalyanipura village.

l.        37 breed improvement were done in the month including cows of  Geer breed and buffalos of Murra breed.

m.    2 Widow pensions of Badami w/o Narayan singh, Nolkha and Kamala w/o Ratana, Nolkha started and 1 widow pension and 1 palanhar benefit form has been processed in Kalyanipura village.

n.      116 job card holders of Kesarpura applied (filled Form-6) for job under NREGA.

o.      439 people visited Rojgar Dhaba for TV & Internet services and 90 people read news-paper & other magazines related to agriculture etc.

p.      6 farmers of Nolkha & Godiawas received Mineral Mixture at subsidized rate.

q.      3 Farmers established kitchen garden with the help of life project.

r.       3 Production units started, 35 women started training on stitching and tailoring and 10 women started production of processing.

Source: Quarterly Progress Report (LIFE Project RCDSSS-Ajmer, Feb-Apr 2012) 

ASKING (RTI) official about the unpaid amount of IAY Rs. 10,000/- for last 4 yrs. has brought her cheque of Rs. 20,000/-

Kani Devi W/o Hanuman Prajapat got IAY benefit 4 yrs. back. She received one installment of Rs. 15,000/- but another installment of 10,000/- was still awaited. She took part in training of RTI with her friend and Federation secretary Mrs. Sharda of Bhudol. Both of them went to Pagati Prasar Officer about the unpaid amount and they also said that now we don’t get an answer we would file an RTI for this. Immediately the next day PP Officer came to the house of Kanidevi and handed over the cheque of Rs. 20,000/- of her IAY pending installment.

Key result achievement in LIFE project in April 2012@SJVS Banswara

·         Three farmers are growing vegetable by using organic manure and Amrit pani ( an organic input).

·        Three farmers club of Kajalpada, Mundari and Nathpura have been approved by NABARD.

·         Formation of farmers club in Jamrai village.

·         155 farmers have submitted application in panchayat for receiving 100 days Job.    

·         The effort of LIFE team Gramin Bank written off the KCC interest of 8 farmers.

·         50 Farmers has given soil sample to KVK for the soil testing.

Courtsey: LIFE project team of SJVS- Banswara

Who says there is less production with organic cultivation? Bihar has made world record in production with organic cultivation!

World record production of onion through organic cultivation in Bihar!

NABARD approved three more farmers club under LIFE project@Banswara

Three more farmers club approved by NABARD in LIFE project (with  SJVS-Banswara) at Kajalpada, Mundari and Nathpura. The approved farmers club inauguration would be on 18^th May 2012 and in June 2012.

Above is about the approval of Farmers club at Banswra by NABARD (also NABARD has given dates for the inauguration of the same), with this approval almost all the farmers club in the LIFE project are been approved by NABARD. At Ajmer we have already achieved this target, but at Banswara this all was not so easy….a good effort has been gone for the same

It’s an interesting change…which I feel and we all must need to feel it! It has not only change generated an impact on community but on the entire organization.

In last one year what strategy we ( Caritas India) along with the SJVS-Banswara have adopted to sort out the issue?

Proposal refinement and translation in Hindi

• Facilitated the development and application of monitoring tools and set set the LIFE project baseline with the first monitoring ( with the application of monitoring tools)
• Along with the LIFE project team ( including Project Coordinator & Field animator) refined ( based on the application of monitoring tools-set the clear cut target against the baseline) and translated entire project proposal and PMF in Hindi -which has developed clarity amongst the field staff on formation of CBOs.

Capacity building of LIFE project staff

• Sent field animator (Mr. Vijay Katara  of LIFE project to CESSS-Amravati to know more on sustainable agriculture practices.
• Caritas India Project officer facilitated the interface of SJVS-Banswara and NABARD & KVK official. This has been followed by the newly appointed LIFE project Coordinator where he has facilitated the interface between NABARD officials and community members ( this has happened first time in any of the SJVS-Banswara project villages, where NABARD DDM has interacted with the community members in their own villages)
• Did 6 comprehensive workshop with entire LIFE project staff (including project Coordinator & field animators) of LIFE project (SJVS-Banswara) on LIFE project, CBO formation, monitoring tools application, NABARD linkages, & bank linkages.
• Facilitated interface with the SJVS-Banswara and NABARD ( with support from Caritas India Project Officer)
• Visibility of LIFE project through LIFE project web page-www.liferajasthan.blogspot.com  has been shared with the NABARD DDM-Banswara and KVK-Banswara.
• Regular interaction with the LIFE project team by Caritas India project Officer ( on an average every week)
• 42 days field visit by Caritas India Project Officer to LIFE project at SJVS-Banswara in last one year.

Action taken by the newly appointed Coordinator

• Newly appointed Coordinator in last 8 months has an average field visit to around 20 days in a months and has well established his relationship with the project team ( especially field animators-participated in their tribal cultural events, rather than working as Coordinator-worked as a team members-build a good trust amongst the team for the work, shared the pain and happiness of the project team)
• Newly appointed Project Coordinator along with community members for LIFE project at Banswara did visit & interaction to NABARD DDM, submitted the formed Farmers Club approval letter and did the regular follow up for the same.
• The newly appointed Coordinator has developed linkages with the agriculture department and the department has started a framers school in one of our LIFE project village (Amblipada).
• Represent LIFE project on behalf of SJVS-Banswara at district for the promotion of organic cultivation, where LIFE project has been awarded as the 2^nd best project in the district.

Farmers like Gurusamy have been reaching out to their community

Inside a dingy and dark room of a house at Odayarpalayam village in Karnataka's Chamrajnagar district, old earthen pots and worn-out plastic jars are lined up on ramshackle wooden shelves. Inside them are colourful beads and seeds, labelled neatly.

These are native seeds, painstakingly collected and documented by Gurusamy, a traditional seed collector and farmer, who has been in the business for the past 10 years.

P. Rajachar, Programme Officer of the Mysore Resettlement and Development Agency (Myrada), says that thanks to Mr. Gurusamy's efforts, hundreds of varieties of native seeds have been collected and distributed to farmers. These varieties are now grown on nearly 25 acres.

“I think there are more than 3,000 farmers in Karnataka who grow and maintain such seed varieties. We've a good network of suppliers who see to it that our bank balance [read seed bank] doesn't go down,” adds the self-effacing farmer, who has sustained his efforts creditably.

His suppliers are mainly farmers who want to grow native varieties. “Mostly my suppliers are growers who are eager to preserve native varieties. While supplying seeds, I reach an informal agreement with them to give me back a portion of the seeds after the harvest,” says Mr. Gurusamy.

Seeds, symbols of fertility and vitality, have been a part of Indian culture and heritage for long; to a farmer they personify self-respect. In fact, long before hybrid seed companies set up shop and went commercial, the traditional farmer had saved his own seeds, swapped them with neighbours or exchanged them with others.

Mr. Gurusamy said:

“Sadly, this intimate knowledge of the farmer and his traditional wisdom have been systematically devalued by several scientists, who are keen to promote technologies and seeds that are not suited to a particular area or community.

“High-yielding seed varieties and chemical fertilizers and pesticides that came with the Green Revolution destroyed several indigenous seed varieties. As farmers stopped saving and exchanging seeds, and instead started buying them from the market, their native expertise became irrelevant and crop diversity suffered. In a land that once had several thousand varieties of crops, most of them are no more to be found.

“Farmers used to grow these, swap them with neighbours and preserve them for tough times. These seeds have beaten several odds. In fact, even today we're able to hold out against the multinational seed companies that are trying to dislodge us and our collection.

“I normally do not charge for the seeds if the farmer desires to grow it in a small area, say, in his backyard. I simply request him to return a small portion of the seeds. But for those growing the crop on four to 10 acres, I charge a nominal amount. It could be anything between Rs. 5 to Rs. 20, depending on the seed one wants.”

There are four persons who help Mr. Gurusamy in his work. They go to various places in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu to source seeds, and update and maintain a database of native growers.

“Like Mr. Gurusamy, C. Rudriah from Kadambur, C. Palaniammal from Bargur, V. Narayanan from Kottamallan, D. Mahesh from Kadatti, N. Alamma from Kottarai and B. Ambamani from Hongalvadi are some of the farmers who preserve and supply native seeds,” says Mr. Rajachar.

These people are simple farmers who cultivate on their meagre holdings. It is their interest in protecting local and native seed varieties that has turned them into seed saviours.

Mr. Gurusamy's phone number is 09008167819; Mr. Rajachar's is 09449203217.

You can also read it online on http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/agriculture/article3381117.ece

source: The Hindu

SHG members empowering their financial independency through setting up income generating production units@LIFE project Ajmer

SHG women at production center ( in LIFE project at Ajmer there are 21 SHG with around 300 members  and the members of these 21 SHGs have established  four production centers for income generation on revolving fund basis). The four production center focuses on tailoring, sauce preparation, spice preparation and poultry.

Who train at these production centers?

Our LIFE project field staff (expert in tailoring), Jan Sikshan Sansthan and Krishi Vigyan Kendera (KVK).

What’s the future plan of the production centers?

To establish as the income generation units ( later on in future in the form of share holders/cooperatives) for the SHGs members to uplift their living standards and to strengthen financial independency to women

For better establishments of these production units SHG members have submitted the application to NABARD for  further financial support ( under REDP).