Fisheries in Rainfed area: A neglected but potential area

1. Fisheries in Rainfed area: A neglected but potential area RRA network Review workshop 7-10th May 2013

3. Background, Context and Design • Project overview: Daultabad, Malkangiri, Chaterpur, Bagli, Kunigel, Burhanpur • Total waterbodies covered: 268 • Context and problem analysis: • Small and seasonal waterbodies • Lack of government support/infrastructure • Most of the perennial and big waterbodies are under influence of contractors • Non availability of quality seed • Poor institutional system • Limited coverage of govt dept. • Fisheries is not seen as opportunity to support livelihood by NGO sector • Opportunities: • Existing large numbers of waterbodies of varied size and seasonality • Ensured local market • Opportunity to establish institutional set up and producers organisation • Opportunity to show case model for how to revive FFDAs • Opprtunity to link technical institutes with farmers • Fisheries is rainfed area has potential to work at higher level/policy level • Absence of research, paper, and publication on this issue • Implication of the program: • CP partners are interested to move forward, Farmers are interested, in some places even government dept is keen to provide support, CIFA mini hatchery technology in CP area

4. Present Potential: • Livelihood Perspective • Diversified Food Systems • Protein and Nutritional Components • Gender Components • Local Economy: Employment Generation, increased market focus through combination of species • Policy Gap • Little Public Investments • Institutional Bottlenecks: Public and Community • Challenges in Common Property Regimes • Maintenance of Water Bodies • Little Research • Prejudice: • Seasonality of water bodies limiting fish production • Inland fisheries is low value vis-à-vis marine • Not recognized as a important source of Livelihood vis-à-vis other sectors

5. Organic constraints:

6. Progress, Achievements • Achieved: • Program is successfully integrated with CP program/Most of the partners are doing first time • Developed linkages with local dept., KVK, Technical institutes( CIFE,CIFA,BAU) • Organic spread in nearby block and Panchyats • Policy paper

7. Some basic facts from program area: • Some basic facts from the data collected from field: • Nearly 85% of water bodies have area under and equal to 1 acre • Nearly 75% of waterbodies has water availability for less than 8 months • None of the selected farmers were earlier trained by any extension and support agency • None of the farmers had received benefit of any government scheme • Intervention like pond cleaning, regular feeding and local scheduled harvest helped famers to earn average 9-10,000 per acre of waterbody area. • In all the ponds women family members also got engaged in feeding and care related management practices

9. Inauguration of FRC Malkangiri by DC

10. Layering: • Community /group level intervention, • Support based intervention • Capacity building, • Group formation • Linkages • Panchayat and block level facilitation unit, • Plan dev., dept linkages , FFDA? • Lease, credit, institution, multi dept., • With State dept, DAHD, NRLM, SLNA, SLM, • ICAR,agri university • State/ National level forum • Issue based research, Documentation, • Publication • Consultation meeting

11. Analysis/ Reflections • We need to work constantly on all the four segment equally. • Documentation and sharing is a challenging area , long term impact, need to strengthen • Most of the NGOs are first generation org./Fisheries • Establish system, protocol at district and FFDA level • Study on institutional aspect and governance , FFDA etc and series of consultation meeting are required more than production enhancement • Pool of human resources are required/ data base mgmt/ analysis • RRA program has potential to contribute at larger level , require consistency

12. Key risk and assumption • Lack of database management, key documents, occasional document etc will loose our evidence base and argument in debate • Limited human resource base is a risk in long term • Missing discussion on rainfed fisheries • Even working with indivisual farmers without a systematic approach may loose program premise • Multi dimensional approach needs convergence at same point

13. Institutional Arrangement and Support Systems • Contribution to CP in program design, step by step progression, linkages • Situation analysis, strategy dev. • Compilation of useful material and dissemination • Study /ResRA • Reporting to: - Secretariat

14. Institutional arrangement Policy maker Existing system: Circular/prog. Govt service provider Targeted selected recipient

15. Envisaged institutional model Convergence budget against proposal from GP: MGNREGA, RKVY, ATMA, NRLM, Horticulture, NABARD etc. Proposals at Gram Panchayat Capacity building and support point Fishery dept./FFDA Farmers Resource Center Single window clearance system for panchayat plans Information and linkages point Facilitate implementation of sanctioned proposals Benefit of this model: Community-Dept-Inst. –public investment convergence for sector dev. Farmers Producer organisationat Panchayat/ Block level, at later stage

16. Key take away: • Work in collaboration with dept. Require strategic intervention, but analysis ,report , evidences are crucial • Working on fisheries issue require long term commitment. • Involving other stakeholders /and sector player is key for success in advocacy. • There is no immediate output. One output lead to many other steps to be taken • Result from one monsoon season is not an indicator of success or failure.

17. Next year plan 268 1300+ Based on the experiences so far and opportunities ahead, this roadmap for this year covers five action area; namely • Community based intervention with indivisual farmers as well as group/coops/SHG etc • Linkages with technical institutions/ICAR bodies • Linkages / Coordination with Govt dept • Documentation, best practices, sharing • Leveraging resources Recommend NFDB for a study and initiation of a pilot incorporating some of the policy recommendations in about 50 blocks in rainfed agro-ecological areas

18. Support to CP: MIS development, Local plan , system to be established for long term plan with dept. • Linkages with Institutions: CP linkages with ICAR inst. and Ag. Uni. • Consultation: One national level and three state level (Orissa, Jharkhand, Karnataka) • Publication: Atleast three working paper( property right/tenural right, institutional and governance analysis, Fisheries in RKVY in 11th V Year plan), Bi monthly e – document, compendium of papers submitted during consultation meet • Leveraging additional support: atleast one additional funding support to be leveraged • Alliance building in other state: advocacy and network related task in some other state including Maharastra • Institutionalising a dedicated org. on this theme • Support expected: • Team of HR to be placed at strategic location( Jharkhand, Dewas, Malkangiri, if possible even in Bankura) • Budgetary clarity and support • Some travel support to visit outside CP location like in Maharstra, W.bengal, Bihar, Chatishgarh • Opportunity to develops a national level forum on this issue.

19. To be contd.... Moving forward...