bundelkhand fishery program scale up strategy
TRANSCRIPT
Major area of Intervention:
1. Institution Building – for i. Socio political empowermentii. Economical empowerment2. Womens economic empowerment3. Market and Value chain4. Advocacy and leverages with government
programs5. Diversification of pond based livelihood
opportunities
Institution Building:
Relation between Sangathan and Producer Company:
C1
c2
…C
Cluster unit 1
c2
…C
C1
Cluster unit 2
Cluster unit ..n
c2
…C
C1
Sangathan(Apex Body) membership
Sangathan(Apex Body) membership
Fisherfolk’s producer company
Fisherfolk’s producer company
Function:
•Community mobilization for control and access over pond
•Develop internal governance system, transparency and capacity building
•Community leadership development
•Policy advocacy and liaison with Government
Cluster level unit will be responsible for:-•Rout chart of fish for marketing from pond site•Ensuring quality of product•Maintaining records for cluster level and individual member transactions•All decisions related to providing individual benefits like loans, credit, govt scheme etc•Capacity building of member cooperatives and empowering members
Function:•Backward and forward •linkagesDevelop Enterprise around fish value chain•Promote womens economic leadership
All the Cooperative in any cluster that follow norms of sangathan can hold membership. Only shareholding cooperative will be
member of producer organisation ( they will also have agreement with company)
What is a Producer Company?
• It is essentially a cooperative organisation functioning within the Company Law
• It retains many of the features of a cooperative while bringing the following benefits of a company– Autonomy in management– Good monitoring over legal compliances
• A producer company helps us run a collective business without outside interference but ensures that the business is done in a disciplined way
Main features of Producer Company
• Membership can be given to individuals and/or producer groups (unregistered as well)
• One member—one vote or in the case of producer groups, voting can be on the basis of business done with company
• Limited dividend like cooperative• Withheld price can be distributed at end of season• Surplus can be shared in proportion of business with
member
• Freedom to decide on all internal affairs—staff appointments, elections, audit, etc.
• Board size of 5 to 11 Directors including experts who can be inducted
• Good rules to avoid misuse of company by directors– Loans to Directors to be approved by General Body– Directors will lose position if they do not conduct regular
meetings, submit accounts regularly– Loss suffered by company on account of illegal decisions by
Directors will have to be paid by Directors– Gap between annual general meetings should not exceed 15
months
• Importance of professional management stressed by Act– Full time Chief Executive required– Company Secretary to be appointed if turnover
exceeds 5 crores
Our plans for company registration
• Initiated operations as a unregistered organisation• Will have a small six member committee on temporary basis
till registration is done (one from each cluster unit)• After consultation with members, we can finalise by-laws and
register the new organisation• One Company secretary is preparing Bye laws and other
document. • Process of registration-July ‘2009 onwards
Cluster level: Market facilitation unit
• Cluster level unit will be responsible for– Rout chart of fish for marketing from pond site– Ensuring quality of product– Supplying fish as per district organisation instructions– Maintaining records for cluster level and individual
member transactions– All decisions related to providing individual benefits like
loans, credit, govt scheme etc– Providing facilities for members to handle fish and process
it
District level marketing unit/ Producer Company
• District level organisation• Responsible for overall planning and intervention• Will organise the marketing• Ensure timely supply and procurement of fish seed, fish
seed and services• Negotiate terms with traders, exporters, etc.• Direct sale to markets, if found necessary• Ensure collection of money and payments to member
cooperative• Deal with banks, financial institutions and other sources
for credit and financial services
Role of Different Bodies• General Body
– To approve annual accounts, budget, work plan– To appoint Board selected by Programming Committee– To approve by-laws and amendments– Appoint auditor– To give policy guidelines
• Programme committee– To review all activities and programmes on a regular basis– To select Board members and put up to General Body for
appointment• Board of Directors
– Overall responsibility for management of organisation– Appointment of Chief Executive and staff and fixing their work and
terms– Providing policy directions to Chief Executive– Approval of accounts on regular basis and placing of annual report
and account to general body annually– Sanction of loans, etc.
Governance• The ownership of the collective and its ultimate responsibility
will lie with the primary members cooperative, fishermen and fisherwomen
• However, a large marketing/business organisation is a complex operation dealing with a fast changing outside world and markets
• Hence the regular business or operations require qualified professionals as Executives and staff who must be given freedom to run day to day operations
• Need for independent directors is essential as they bring neutrality and objectivity; they also bring knowledge, expertise and useful links to the outside world
Strategies for scale up:• There is potential to involve MPRLP and MP-DPIP program partners to replicate pilot
project of vikalp with fisherfolk community in other parts of MP. • Initiate or leverage Small organisations fellowship program through Bundelkhand
fisherfok forum to scale up above listed initiative in pilot basis and later on link them with other support agency (Like NFDB, CIFE, American green bank, MP-RLP,MP-DPIP etc.)
- Lead: Initial steering has to be commanded by Bundelkhand fishery forum (BFF) to ensure accountability of Partner organisation and Sangthan. It will also serve as organisation development, system development process at partner organisation level.
- Limitation in this process: Lack of professional approach and support at Vikalp and Sangathan level.
• Sangathna and Vikalp has developed member cooperatives quality appraisal tool in form of Cooperative grading system. Earlier, it was difficult to use this tool from Vikalp/Maria office because of distances and accessibility issue. But this year, block level/cluster level offices has been started to address proximity issue. Now, local block/cluster level leaders can perform Grading exercise at community level to develop system, transparency, governance, production, entitlements and access to service-market related issue
• Use of GIS based decision support system is important tool to make community level planning, resource utilisation, make management decisions and ensuring peoples rights and entitlements. Some staff should be trained enough to do step by step planning using GIS based software.
• Deliberate effort has to made to ensure 50% enterprises to be operated by women’s group along fish value chain.
• Mahila Shakti sangthan has potential to be as voice of fisherfolk and other womens in Bundelkhand to address womens issue and demand for womens right and entitlement
• Womens enterprise group/SHG can be linked with MP-DPIP program for sustained support
• Develop systematic and formal agreement system with fishing cooperative and Producer Company
• Young and new leadership will be promoted and trained at block /cluster level with sangthan to imbibe value and culture of right based approach. Then after two –three years of services with sangthan will be placed with Producer Company based on their interest and capability. In this way, flow of human resources from sangathan to company will ensure human rights approach with market initiatives.
• Annual shareholder sammelan will ensure better functioning at company end
• Policy analysis and support level linkages with NFDB, CIFE, Planning commission working group on fishery, and other state level peoples organization to influence state level inland fishery policy needs to be strengthen.
• Learning and sharing with other like minded organization like SRTT, Wateraid, AIF, UNDP, Ford foundation etc. to ensure scale up in other state and with other organization.
• Submission of pond wise plan to district administration to leverage NREGA and other development fund using GIS based planning software.
• Strengthen Bundelkhand fisherfolk forum for ensuring awareness and advocate for proper implementation of new fishery policy.
• Influence fishery dept. to develop model aquaculture based economic development program in one block per district of State.