Uttarakhand Livelihoods Improvement Project for The Himalayas AAJEEVIKA

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Uttarakhand Livelihoods Improvement Project for
The Himalayas (AAJEEVIKA)
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Project Coverage
5 Districts, 17 Blocks Households
42,690 Community Orgs 4,000 Villages 959
Project Duration
8 years (2004-05 to 2012-13)
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Thrust areas of the project

• Self-Help Groups/Federations/CBOs. Capacity
  building
• Drudgery reduction and Convergence with
  government departments, district administrations,
  line departments (social welfare, agriculture,
  education, health, forestry, horticulture),
  charitable trusts, NGOs
• UPASaC business wheel. Livelihood Enhancement
  Development, Livelihood Support System
• Micro Enterprises, Small Medium
  Enterprises,IGAs,nano,mino enterprises equity

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Status as of date

• 95 women membership in SHGs 70 in BoD of
  federations
• gt 70 participants women in cap. bldg.
  activities
• Approx. 40 grass root workers women.
• SHG Federation members started participation in
  Management committee meetings.
• 207 women SHG members elected to PRI
• Men helping in agri. activities and enterprises

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Fruits of capacity institution building

• Changes are occurring at Household level
• Some SHGs are moving beyond immediate mandate of
  savings/lending
• Income-generating activities
• SHGs coming together to challenge local
  bootleggers
• Taking active role in prohibiting open cutting of
  local forests, cleaning villages, fining
  villagers for transgressions
• Eager to expand into productive activities
• More visibility in local / regional level systems
  of governance
• higher participation of women in Panchayat
  meetings, articulate their demands
• Confidence to engage with district-level
  officials

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Drudgery reduction activities undertaken

• Improved tools (lighter)
• Plastic water pitchers
• Cattle troughs
• Training of bullocks for cartage
• Vermi-composting
• Fast-growing grasses
• Smokeless chullahs (stoves)

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Drudgery reduction interventions
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Improved water pitchers
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DRUDGERY REDUCTION INITIATIVES PLANTATION OF
NAPIER GRASS
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DRUDGERY REDUCTION INITIATIVES TRAINED BULLOCK

• LOCAL MARKET INITIATIVES TAKEN BY THE PROJECT

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DRUDGERY REDUCTION INITIATIVES CONSTRUCTION OF
PAKKA VERMI COMPOST PIT
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Drudgery reduction through threshers 8 hrs saved
per HH per quintal threshed produce.
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Impacts

• Interventions meet very real practical needs for
  women
• Income-generation activities initiated
• Evidence of reducing drudgery of women
• Time saved directed to SHG meetings, childcare,
  womens needs

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Convergences

• innovative ways of pooling resources
• work on second generation concerns (e.g.
  sanitation)
• Working with most invisible of vulnerable groups
  (elderly, widows, mentally physically disabled)
• Offers access to critical resources unavailable
  elsewhere (health camps)

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CONVERGENCE EFFORTS SOCIAL WELFARE CAMPS
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DISTRIBUTION OF KUROILER CHICKS
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Livelihood promotion

• connects SHGs with financial institutions to
  establish cash credit limits (CCLs)
• identifies potentially viable sub-sectors

• Linking HHs to financial resources
• Training women with marketable skills (e.g.
  weaving)
• Encouraging people to think beyond immediate,
  short-term

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Implementation mechanism required for promoting GM

• Gender focal points at PMU and district level.
• Review of GM status at least half yearly
• Expert inputs from time to time to strengthen GM.

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Has income from agriculture increased due to the
project?
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Food security in the last 12 months
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Status of participation of the poorest in Gram
Panchayat meetings
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Fodder from forest
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Fodder from private lands
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Participation in Van Panchayat decision-making
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Status of informal or institutional credit
facilities
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Status of members participation in
SHGDecision-Making
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Status of participation of women (in SHGs) in
Gram Sabha Meetings
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13 Status of access to credit for household
(minor) consumption needs
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14 Access to credit for MAJOR needs (Health,
Education, Durable assets, etc. e.g., gt Rs. 5000)
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15 Capacity Building general (e.g., training for
group activities, record keeping, etc.)
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Capacity Building for SHG Members income
generation activities
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Status of awareness about womens health
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Improvement in living environment (health,
light, etc.) reduction in drudgery (time and
effort)
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Status of womens empowerment decision-making
eg., Participation in meetings, labour and money
management