1

Draft

Pathways Program – India

Collectives Engagement Model

Introduction

Pathways India design builds upon collectives to empower poor Scheduled Tribe1 and Scheduled Caste

2 women

smallholder farmers to have enhanced productivity and equitable engagement in sustainable agriculture and gender

empowerment. Collective selection for CARE India has been very critical and was driven by a set of principles such as;

inclusiveness, target both formal and informal collectives, work at multiple levels of society and communities, build on

plurality of collectives and purpose for which each collective was established without externally determining/collapsing

the purposes into one form of the collective or another, engage with different kinds of collectives as an opportunity to

support impact population to influence decision-making processes at multiple levels and to facilitate women’s

empowerment processes from multiple angles. Based on these principles seven different types of collectives have been

identified for engagement in Pathways which includes Self Help Groups (SHG), Farmers Clubs, Cooperatives (focused on

providing agricultural, financial and technical inputs) and Van Samrakshyana Samitis (forest protection committee)

(VSS), Forest Rights Committees (FRC), Watershed Committees, Pani Panchayats (water users groups) (focused on

natural resource management).

Engaging with Collectives in promotion of sustainable agriculture livelihoods

These collectives have highly varying proportion of Pathways’ impact group as members. SHGs, for example, have high3

(99%) representation of women members in general and SC & ST women members (92%) in particular whereas, the

natural resource management related collectives have limited number of women representation as members which

range from 6% to 33%. Keeping this in mind, Pathways primarily, will work to strengthen the varied prioritized

institutions on the role they play in agriculture and natural resource management and, to enhance the access of impact

group members to sustainable agriculture skill building opportunities ; productive resources, services, markets and also

to promote the voices and priorities of women smallholders from SC and ST communities in governance and decision

making fora and build solidarity between and support for SC and ST women smallholders. The project also seeks to

strengthen the participation and influence of impact groups in Palli Sabhas, which are large village level institutions

focused on political governance and resource allocation, and in which members of all collectives are natural members

(as Palli Sabha comprises of all adults in a village), through facilitating increased scheme/programme based interaction

between Collectives and Palli Sabha. Focus will also be given on capacitating the collectives to liaison with different

government line departments and Panchayati Raj Institutions to ensure effective implementation of public

schemes/programmes related to food security, NRM and resource allocation and recognizing rights and entitlements of

1 Scheduled Tribes are a substantial indigenous minority, entitled to certain affirmative actions under the Indian constitution. 2 Scheduled Castes are a historically disadvantaged caste of low rank, entitled to protection and special benefits under the Indian constitution. 3 Data based on the study conducted by CARE India in August 2012 by administering Collective Readiness Tool.

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impact group members. On the other hand, ‘village approach’ will be adopted for implementing interventions related

to sustainable agriculture practices and market engagement. SHGs for their wider presence and high representation of

impact group members will provide the platform to host and lead demo plots to be undertaken under Pathways for

providing technical knowledge to impact group members from different collectives as well as other members from the

collectives and villages those who are interested. Besides, SHG and Cooperative (promoted by NGO primarily for

livelihood and financial transactions) collectives will be strengthened for market engagement i.e. collective pooling and

selling of products by building their skills and capacities on pricing, quality maintenance, processing, fair trade practices

and traders linkage.

Availability of timely quality inputs and at right price has always remained a key constraint for the farmers and especially

for women farmers. To enable the IG members to access quality inputs (especially seeds, fertilizers) collectively, ,

efforts will be made to strengthen the SHGs to establish linkage with input suppliers such as, Govt. Centres / Private

input suppliers. Further, they will also be groomed for collective pooling and selling the outputs especially the farm

products and Non-Timber Forest Products. In areas where there exists more than one SHG, the collective with a majority

of IG members participating in a particular produce will act as the primary group to coordinate collective actions relating

to market engagement at village level. Thus, the collectives will complement to each other through working on a

particular produce and in bringing in greater coordination among the collectives as well as the IG members. Capacity

needs of collectives to enable them to undertake this function will be identified and accordingly skill building will be

done on various aspects such as; pricing, quality maintenance, liaisoning with traders, storage practices etc. through

imparting trainings, market exposure, information sharing and interface with traders. While in certain areas collectives

will be playing an active role in aggregation of inputs and outputs, in few areas revenue based Agri-kiosks will be

promoted on pilot basis. These Agri-kiosks will emerge as efficient and inclusive institutions offering multiple services in

terms of inputs and knowledge to impact group members.

Most of the SHGs are formed around thrift and credit function. So, another key area of thrust of collectives’ engagement

will be to strengthen the SHGs to continue with their existing core function to enable the IG members use the internal

saving for undertaking productivity related activities. In addition, activities like, aggregation of agricultural inputs and

collective pooling and selling of outputs by collectives will require finance for which the collectives will be encouraged

and capacitated to access financial service under government schemes and programs or from micro-finance institution

and bank. To start with, strong (i.e. mature) SHGs and Cooperatives who are in need of such support will be identified

and linked with government or non-government financial institutions and than gradually the weak SHGs and

Cooperatives covered after they are strengthened on governance and management front along with other collectives

who are also in need of financial service to undertake similar activities.

In the beginning intensive handholding support will be extended to the collectives (SHGs and Cooperatives) to carry out

functions of aggregation of inputs and outputs and establish financial linkage through the sub-grantee staff i.e. CRPs and

Project Coordinators. The initiative also aims to develop a cadre of women leaders and groom them on social and

gender analysis to play an increased role in leading the collectives and in particular the Reflect circle contributing to

their own empowerment and that of the impact group.

Further, to help impact group members access productive resources, particularly land resource SHGs will also work for

resource rights. However, intensity and period of engagement with them will vary dependent on their current status.

Initiative will be undertaken to educate the SHGs on land entitlement scheme and capacitate them to facilitate claim

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filing process. For undertaking forestland issues, Forest Rights Committees existing in Pathways area will be

strengthened on the provisions and procedures of the concerned legislation. With the support of CRPs capacitated SHG

leaders / members representing in FRC and FRC representatives will steer the process of claim filing in the village and

will have increased interaction / dialogue with local Revenue Department, Forest Department and Tribal Welfare

Department officials for claim settlement. In subsequent years, SHGs in other locations will be capacitated to work

around revenue land rights. To work In this regard, CARE India will partner with other agencies like Landesa and also

seek support of state level agency working exclusively on forestland issues for building the capacities of project

implementers/facilitators.

Farmer’s Clubs (FC), Van Samrakshyana Samitis’ (VSS), Forest Rights Committees (FRC), Pani Panchayats (PP) and

Watershed Committees (WC) are essentially been established as part of large government development programs with

clearly defined purposes. However, these collectives have limited representation and participation of Pathways’ impact

group members. Keeping this in mind, the project initially will encompass activities to sensitize them to support

members of impact group to become active members and to take on leadership roles. Simultaneously, these collectives

will be capacitated to engage effectively, as per their mandatory role, in agriculture and natural resource management

and extend cooperation to each other while carrying out their functions to help the IG members avail inputs and services

to improve their agri-livelihood. In addition, where these collectives are addressing inclusion of impact group members

as per the mandate/ and having capacitated on equity in representation, are interested and exhibits potentiality, will

further be capacitated to be involved in sustainable agriculture livelihood interventions especially in aggregation of

inputs and outputs as per the mandate of the collective . However, which collective to be capacitated on which aspects

will be determined based on the assessment of their current mandate, strengths and limitations. Again, these collectives

are promoted by government and the government has a mandate to build their skills under different schemes, so

efforts will be made to leverage opportunity for strengthening the collectives. At the same time critical gaps not

addressed but essential for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of the collectives will be identified and capacity

enhancement plan will be built accordingly. Efforts will also be made to strengthen collectives to access benefits and

entitlements delivered through different schemes and programs.

Engaging with Collectives in addressing Gender Equity and Resource rights issues

Promotion of ‘Gender Equity’ and ‘Gender Empowerment’ constitute the two common areas around which all

collectives will work. One of the foremost mandate of Collectives like Farmer’s Club, VSS, FRC, PP and WC under

Pathways will be to work towards increasing representation and participation within the groups as well as in

leadership positions from impact group to support them to avail inputs and resources to improve their livelihoods. To

maximize the results these groups will be working together exhibiting greater coordination and cooperation among each

other through Reflect platform.

Sensitization of members of farmer’s club will not be a one-time event rather will be taken up constantly during their

routine meetings. Inclusion of IG members in the collective and strengthening Farmer’s club to undertake their

mandate activities will enable the IG members to avail agriculture inputs, information and services under government

schemes and programmes. Efforts will also be made to establish coordination between farmer’s club and IG members

through increased interface especially between the former and SHGs to facilitate flow of agriculture related information

from the former to the latter. Active member(s) from farmer’s club will be identified and encouraged and supported to

disseminate information to IG members.

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On the other hand engagement with Forest Rights Committees will include capacitating the collective members both the

impact group members and non-impact group members (male members) of FRCs on Forest Rights Act and Rules along

with the recently enacted amendments with an aim to build the understanding/knowledge of members to enable them :

i) to enable women members to participate actively in the activities of FRC

ii) to facilitate the process of claim submission with regard to individual rights over forest land in areas where

claims have not been filed and,

iii) to extend support to gram sabha to undertake necessary follow-up actions where settlement of claims has not

been done by the concerned government authorities.

FRC members will be oriented on nature and extent of rights enshrined in FRA, process of claim submission, verification,

settlement and appeal mechanisms, role and responsibilities of FRC and Gram Sabha, functions of concerned

government authorities like forest department, revenue department and ST & SC Welfare department and different

committees like Sub-Divisional Level Committee, District Level Committee and State Level Monitoring Committee. On

the other hand, actors like Gram Sabha members and local forest, revenue and ST & SC welfare department officials will

be oriented on their respective role and responsibilities to respond pro-actively to the actions of FRC. In this regard

support will be sought from state level organizations who are exclusively engaged in building the capacities of

government officials on FRA.

Forest Rights Act also recognizes community rights over forest resource and so, focus will be on both, individual as well

as community rights under FRA. FRC members will also be informed and strengthened on the process of constitution of

forest protecting group under FRA to capacitate IG and non-IG members from FRC to play an active role in the process.

This will be done through holding exclusive trainings for women members and the leaders of the collective and also

orienting other members of the collective. Facilitation of process at the village level will be lead by selected capacitated

women and other members of FRC through extensive and constant handholding support from CRPs. Initiative around

convergence actions will also be undertaken to ensure that IG members are benefited from land development activities

under the flagship programme i.e. MGNREGS. Collective members will be educated in this regard and will undertake

follow-up actions with the appropriate government authorities.

In locations where VSS is formed by Forest Department for management of forest resource, a critical strategy will be to

engage with both the female and male members to strengthen participation of former in the activities of the collective.

Orientation of women/IG members and other members of VSS on role and responsibilities of members and the group,

sustainable forest resource management, collection and marketing of NTFPs and on gender equity issues through

trainings, discussion during VSS meetings and exclusive interactive sessions with Reflect circle members will drive the

male members along with women representatives to contribute to the process of pushing forward the agenda of making

the female members active participant in the group. In certain locations where forestry projects such as, Orissa Forestry

Sector Development Project is under implementation, VSSs are actively functioning in the ground as they are engaged in

implementing different forestry and village development activities financially supported by forest department.

Furthermore, through VSS, financial support is extended by forest department to SHG in the village for undertaking

income generation activities. This offers opportunity to engage with these groups to support SHG in collective sourcing

of inputs and marketing of outputs. Simultaneously, participation of female representatives in maximum numbers in

the collective meetings and trainings organized by forest department will be ensured through continous dialogue with

forest officials and VSS leaders.

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In case of Pani Panchayats and Watershed Committees similar strategies will be undertaken to strengthen women

member’s involvement in activities undertaken by the collective. This will depend on the fact that women (or IG

members) are represented in the collective. So, in Pani Panchayat(s)/Water User Associations where women are not

adequately present as per the related state act [Orissa Pani Panchayat (Amendment) Act], the groups will be oriented on

the amended provisions, membership process and extended handholding support to execute the membership selection

process giving priority to women’s (IG members) inclusion as per the mandate of the Act. Simultaneously, dialogue will

take place with the concerned frontline government officials to provide push to the process initiated by the collective.

Whereas, within watershed committees, the issue is non-participation of women members in meetings and activities of

the collective. These collectives are at different levels with some playing an active role and some are in defunct stage.

So, strategies for engagement with watershed committees will primarily focus on strengthening the governance and

functional aspects to enable the defunct collectives to revive to be able to undertake their functions properly and along

with other collectives play an active role in promoting gender equity in representation and support IG members access

and sustainably manage productive resources that is, land and water to improve their livelihoods.

Overlapping membership between SHG, other collectives and Reflect circle (consisting of representation from all

collectives and beyond) will provide platform for regular interaction among the collectives on problems and strategies to

address the problems. To promote a women responsive value chain system SHGs along with other collectives who will

be participating in aggregation of inputs and outputs for collective marketing will pursue continuous dialogue and

engagement with the service providers and other market players through interface workshops influencing them to

appreciate and support the needs and priorities of impact group members.

Membership in collectives overlaps with the local governance forum i.e. Palli Sabha. The program will build on this

advantage to facilitate increased interaction between the collectives through the leaders and Reflect circle and Palli

Sabha with the latter functioning as a platform to enable communities be aware of the critical role being played by the

collectives, ensuring representation of community’s needs and aspirations emerging through the above collectives and

overseeing that appropriate support is extended through various government schemes. Aspects like importance of palli

sabha and participation in Palli Sabha will be taken up along with gender equity in representation and empowerment in

Reflect circle. Members of Reflect circle and impact group members representing in different collectives will be

encouraged to actively participate in palli sabha to keep themselves informed about government schemes and

programmes and through their active participation in the existing governance forum contribute in decision-making

process to fulfill their needs and interests. On the other hand, Reflect circle will also be strengthened to take up the

role of pressure group to interact and dialogue with local governance institutions (Panchayati Raj institutions) to

become responsive to the development needs of impact group members through extending invitation to local PR

representatives like ward members to join the meeting of Reflect circle, apprising them about the issues of IG members

and lobby for taking up the issues with higher tier of PR institutions. Furthermore, Reflect circle will provide a platform

to the local PR representative to reach to the IG members with information on government welfare schemes and

programmes.

For advocacy actions around issues like land rights, forest use, tribal rights, local governance, access to state

entitlements, and tenancy reforms, strength of sub-grantees will be explored to facilitate linkage between the

collectives and the existing networks/collectives processes to raise voices at different levels. The following table

describes about the specific areas of engagement with seven types of collectives in Pathways.

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Collectives vs areas of engagement

SHG Cooperative Farmer's

Club

VSS FRC PP WC

Adoption of sustainable agriculture practices

[Knowledge and skill building]

Though SHGs and Cooperatives will play a lead role but, IG

members from other collectives will also receive skill

building inputs.

Aggregation of agricultural inputs (Linkage

establishment)

Aggregation of farm based and forest products

for collective selling

Increased representation and to raise their

interests in NRM and livelihood based collectives

(Gender Equity in Representation)

Support IP to access productive resources (Land

rights)

Linkage establishment with different actors like

government and private financia institutions and

government lien departments

Accessibility to forest resource

Accessibility to water resource

Support IP to raise and address issues related to

decision-making, violence (Gender

Empowerment)

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Key Approaches and Strategies for Collectives Strengthening

1. Common Critical Gaps

Broad area

of constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address

constraints

Activities

Governance

and

Management

Absence of rules and

regulations for day to day

functioning and proper

documentation of these

rules and regulations

Collective leaders capacitated and

undertake participatory approach to

evolve rules and regulations for functioning

and properly document the rules and

regulations

Develop an uniform understanding among collective leaders

and members on the group’s goal, purpose and activities

through meetings at village level

Workshop for leaders of SHGs and Cooperatives (from

Categories C & D) to evolve rules and regulations in

participatory approach

Participatory institution strengthening strategy development

meet (with a focus on roles and responsibilities & action

planning )of leaders of PPs, WCs, VSSs and FRCs

Handholding to collective leaders for framing rules and

regulations and documentation in the initial period

Facilitate exposure visit to other collectives to learn about

best practices

Irregular meetings

Skills of collective leaders enhanced to

identify the reasons of irregularity and

develop strategies to minimize / eliminate

the problems

Interaction with collective leaders and members at village

level to identify the reasons of irregularity in meetings

Mentoring collective leaders to develop strategies to

minimize/eliminate the problems in village discussions

Absence of mechanisms

to ensure transparency

Collectives capacitated to adopt

mechanisms to share information among

the members such as, conducting meetings

regularly, documenting the proceedings

and presenting in each meeting, using

information display board

Follow-up with Collective leaders encouraged to document

the proceedings of each meeting and read out the discussion

and decisions in each meeting

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All members of the collective with micro-

finance as the core function provided with

a passbook wherein their transactions with

the collective are recorded

Training to record keeper on documentation

System to ensure accountability in financial

matters developed at collective level

Extend support to collectives for joint operation of the bank

account by leaders, cash deposit in bank by members on

rotation basis, ensuring accountability for cash in hand

(members sharing responsibility for cash management)

Collectives encouraged to use information display board to

ensure transparency

Poor record maintenance

(non-financial records)

(irregularity and

dependence on external

agencies for maintenance)

Leaders/office bearers or the member(s) of

collectives with minimum writing skills

capacitated on record maintenance

- Collectives hire services of capacitated

young literate women and girls or men

and boys from the community for

documentation work if there are no

literate members within the group.

Training of leaders/office bearers or the member(s) of

collectives with minimum writing skills or young literate

women and girls or men and boys from the community on

book keeping

Refresher training to leaders/office bearers or the member(s)

of collectives with minimum writing skills or young literate

women and girls or men and boys from the community on

book keeping

Extending handholding support to the trained personnel to

undertake documentation in the initial period

Weak leadership (

irregular rotation of

leadership, poor decision

making and conflict

resolution skills)

Collective leaders conduct election /

selection of leaders at regular interval

Facilitate interface meetings between PPs and the concerned

line departments to undertake leadership selection/election

Collectives evolve proper checks and

balances to ensure that the leaders are

accountable to the groups and ensure

participatory decision making and resolve

conflicts/disputes among the members

Facilitate discussion on rotation of leadership with collective

leaders and members during the routine meetings

Promotion of a cadre of women managers

to support collectives to be more inclusive

and effective, to encourage impact group

members to play leadership roles and to

serve as long term change agents

- SHGs participate in Parab mela (local agriculture fair) and

put up stall on their activities at district level

- Training to equip SHG and Cooperative women leaders

(Category A & B) with leadership skills i.e. facilitation,

communication, conflict resolution, linkage and GED

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Financial

sustainability

Poor book keeping skills

Leaders/office bearers or the literate

member(s) of collectives capacitated on

book keeping

Technical assistance to the book keepers identified within the

collective or from the local community on maintaining

transactions in individual pass book through imparting

trainings

Collectives hire services of capacitated

young literate women and girls or men and

boys from the community to serve as book

keeper if there are no literate members

within the group

Extending handholding support to the leaders and members

to carry out book keeping in the initial period

Collectives lack skills on

participatory resource

planning and budgeting

and linkage establishment

to mobilize financial

support

NRM based collectives developed

competencies on resource planning and

resource plans shared with different

government and private agencies for

mobilizing financial / technical support

Technical assistance to NRM collectives (PPs, WCs and VSSs)

on resource planning through training in collaboration with

government/non-government technical agencies

Information on potential government and non-government

agencies shared with the collectives

Interactive sessions between the collectives and different line

departments and private agencies to dialog and share the

resource plans

Collectives mobilize financial resources

from Panchayat by sharing the resource

plan in local governance forum i.e. Palli

Sabha/Gram Sabha and influence

incorporation of the same in Village /

Panchayat development plan

Facilitate participation of collective leaders in

Village/Panchayat development planning process and in Palli

Sabha discussion

Building

linkages

Poor horizontal and

vertical linkages between

the collectives

Collectives capacitated and participate in

local governance processes to ensure

effective implementation of public

schemes/programmes related to food

security, NRM and resource allocation

Facilitate participation of collective leaders in

Village/Panchayat development planning process and in Palli

Sabha discussion

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Promotion of federation of Self Help

Groups (i.e. secondary institution) by

facilitating networking among them

horizontally and vertically or linking them

with the existing federation and

established linkage with financial

institutions (such as, Bank and MFIs) to

support individual SHGs avail financial

services

Mentoring of SHG leaders to form or join the federation and

to form institutional structure and rules and regulations (in

case of formation of new network)

NRM collectives networked horizontally

and vertically in pathways areas or join the

existing common forum operating at the

panchayat, block, district and national

levels to give voice to IG members and

emerge as strong constituencies for policy

and institutional change

Facilitate exposure visit of SHG leaders to interact with

federation of SHGs in other regions within the state

Facilitate face to face discussion between the SHG networks

and financial institutions through organizing interactive

meetings

Mentoring of leaders of NRM collectives to network

horizontally and vertically

Building the capacities of networks by orienting the members

on policies and negotiation skills through orientation

sessions, sharing of communication materials

Organize workshops with bureaucrats and policy makers on

policy issues

Opening spaces for dialog and interaction between collective

leaders and line department officials and Panchayati Raj

Institution representatives through interactive meetings

Gender

inclusion and

improved

relations

Poor representation and

participation of impact

group members in

Agriculture and NRM

based collectives

Agriculture and NRM based collectives

promotes greater inclusion of impact group

members in terms of representation and

participation

Collective leaders and members oriented on the issue of

gender inclusion during their routine meetings

Visual display used in the platforms of the collectives to

sensitize the members

Discussion facilitated in SHG platforms with the overlapping

members to put pressure on male members of other

collectives

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Orientation sessions especially with the leaders of collectives

and promote them as change agents to facilitate discussion

on the issue at collective level in village meetings

Engage into dialog and discussion with the frontline

government officials to push the agenda of greater gender

inclusion with the collectives promoted under government

development program

Analysing gender relations

in the family and

community not given

priority

Sensitize the collective members to the

dynamics of gender relations in the family

and community to initiate a discussion at

different levels

Discussion facilitated using community dialogue tools on

gender empowerment during the routine meetings of the

collectives and in common platforms existing at village level

Widely sharing of communication materials especially

pictorial posters

Workshop on building dialog skills of male change agents on

GED

Awareness generation and sensitization on gender and power

relationships issues through cultural shows at village level

Organising special events during local festivals and

celebration of International Women’s Day

Interface between collectives and reflect circle

Develop a cadre of women leaders and

groom them on social and gender analysis

to play an increased role in leading the

discussion and sensitization initiatives

Training to women leaders on leadership skills i.e. facilitation,

communication, conflict resolution, linkage and GED

Food and

Nutrition

Security

Lack of capacities to deal

with food and nutrition

insecurity situations

Collectives strengthen impact group

members to deal with food and nutrition

in-security situations by promoting better

access to food, greater awareness for

intake of nutritious food and complement

existing efforts of the government

Awareness generation on different government schemes and

programs related to food security, NRM and resource

allocation through interaction with line department officials,

PRI representatives, video show/cultural show and poster

display at Panchayat level on public rice distribution day

Collectives function as platforms through

which frontline health, nutrition and

sanitation workers can promote

Conduct workshops with government frontline health and

nutrition functionaries and PRI representatives at district

level to share the study findings

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information and peer support and learning

related to nutritional issues

Use the study findings to sensitize impact group and non

impact group members on gender equity in household food

distribution through collectives and Reflect circle platforms

Institutional

sustainability

Absence of self-

assessment mechanisms

Collectives themselves review their

strengths and weaknesses for institutional

strengthening

Training to collective on administration of PPT/CCAT for self-

assessment

Handholding support to collective leaders on PPT/CCAT for

self-assessment through regular interactions

2. Gaps related to Functional Management

Self - Help Groups and Cooperatives

Broad area of

constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address constraints Activities

Financial

management

Weak internal and

external loan

management

mechanisms leading

to loan defaulter

- Collective leaders developed competencies to

undertake credit need assessment of members

and to facilitate periodical review of credit

needs of members

Training to enhance skills of SHG leaders on

financial planning (e.g. credit need

assessment of members, prepare credit

plan, bank/MFIs loan accessing formalities)

- Leaders capacitated to develop credit plan for

the collective, to build linkages with banks/MFIs

to avail financial support and to undertake

appropriate agri-livelihood interventions such

as, aggregation of inputs and collective

marketing at collective level.

Mentoring of leaders in preparation of financial

plan during initial period

- To start with, strong (i.e. mature) SHGs and

Cooperatives who are in need of such support

will be identified and linked with government

or non-government financial institutions.

Information sharing with the SHG leaders on

financial institutions operating in the locality

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- At collective level systems at place to ensure

timely repayment of credit by the members

internally and externally

Information sharing on financial services under

different government schemes and programs

and of financial institutions (Bank, MFIs)through

mobile van

Defaulter collectives work out ways to fix the

problem

Facilitate linkage establishment with

government schemes to leverage financial

support/technical support

Influence the training agenda of government to

address the capacity building needs of

collectives through dialog, interaction and

sharing the capacity need assessment plan

Interactive meeting between default SHGs

and bank officials to fix up the problem

Resource rights Poor access to land

resource

Strong SHGs undertake campaign on land rights

((revenue and homestead) to enhance the access

of eligible IG members to land resource for

enhanced productivity

Training to SHG and Farmer's club leaders

on revenue land rights (farm and homestead

land)

Organise land rights camps (shivirs)

Farmer’s Clubs (FCs)

Broad area of

constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address constraints Activities

Gender inclusion Inadequate scope to

include IG members

in the existing

collective

Form new Farmer’s Club under leadership of

impact group members to deal with varied crops

where there is potentiality and scope

Dialog and negotiate with different agencies like

NABARD; ATMA, Agriculture Department, Govt.

of Odisha to organize impact group members to

form Farmer’s Club

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Vana Samrakshyana Samitis (VSSs)

Broad area of

constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address constraints Activities

Forest / NTFP

governance

Inadequate

forest/NTFP

planning and

management

Collectives develop NTFP inventory and

sustainable harvesting protcols and undertake

periodic production assessment

Training to collective leaders on participatory

village development planning and sharing with

line department

Collectives capacitated on village development

planning for leveraging resources under

government programs

Handholding support to collective leaders on

participatory village development planning

Collectives extend support to SHG to undertake

business planning

Training to VSS leaders on business

planning and loan management

Forest Rights Committees (FRCs)

Broad area of

constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address constraints Activities

Lack of technical

knowledge and

skills

Inability of collective

leaders to undertake

follow-up actions and

post claim

mechanisms due to

lack of technical

knowledge and skills

- FRC members (IG and Non-IG) strengthened on

Forest Rights Act provisions and procedures with

a focus on both individual and community rights

Video show to build skills of FRC leaders and

representatives and Gram Sabha (both IG

and Non-IG members) on policy provisions

and procedures at village level

- Collective leaders capacitated on post claim

mechanisms such as, follow-up with different

mandate institutions, developing conservation

management plan, land demarcation

Claim process submission will be lead by

capacitated IG and other members of FRC

through handholding support from CRPs

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- Gram Sabha members and local forest, revenue

and ST & SC welfare department officials oriented

on role and responsibilities to respond pro-

actively to the actions of FRCs

Technical assistance to FRC leaders on land

demarcation and conservation management

plan preparation

Support of state level resource agency will be

sought for building the capacities of CRPs and

orientation of govt. officials to capacitate the

FRCs

Increased interaction between FRCs and

SDLC, local Revenue Department, Forest

Department and Tribal Welfare Department

officials for claim settlement by conducting

sensitization workshops

Extend support to gram sabha to undertake

necessary follow-up actions where settlement of

claims has not been done by the government

authorities

Land resource

rights Absence of collective

- Dialogue and negotiate with government

agencies for promotion of new FRCs where there

is a need and potentiality

Undertake need assessment and negotiate with

concerned line departments to constitute FRCs

in pathways area

Convergence

with different

development

programs and

schemes

Convergence with

different

development

programs and

schemes

FRCs enable the members benefit by accessing

different entitlements through convergence

actions under the flagship programme i.e.

MGNREGS and other govt. programs

Collective leaders educated on different

potential government schemes and programs

through sharing of communication materials

(pictorial posters)

Collective leaders capacitate to undertake need

assessment of members

Opening spaces for dialog and interaction

between collective leaders and line department

officials and PRIs through interactive meetings

and sharing of need assessment plan

16

Pani Panchayats (PPs)

Broad area of

constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address constraints Activities

Lack of technical

knowledge and

skills

Inadequate

capacities relating to

crop planning, water

budgeting and

management

Collective leaders strengthened to facilitate

water budgeting and crop planning in

participatory approach

Technical assistance to collective leaders to

facilitate participatory water budgeting, water

tax levy and collection and crop planning in

coordination with government technical

agencies

Collectives develop strong internal

mechanisms to levy and collect water tax for

maintenance of water structures

Mentoring collective leaders to facilitate

participatory water budgeting, water tax levy

and collection and crop planning in coordination

with government technical agencies

Water resource

rights Absence of collective

Dialogue and negotiate with government

agencies for promotion of new PPs where there

is a need and potentiality

Undertake need assessment and negotiate with

concerned line departments to constitute PPs in

pathways area

Watershed Committees (WCs)

Broad area of

constraint

Specific Constraints Approach / Strategies to address constraints Activities

Lack of technical

knowledge and

skills

Inadequate

capacities relating to

crop and financial

planning and

maintenance of

water structures

Collective leaders strengthened to facilitate

water budgeting and crop planning in

participatory approach

Organize exposure visit to other collectives to

learn about best practices

Collectives develop mechanisms for maintenance

of structures during post project

Training to leaders to facilitate water budgeting

and crop planning in participatory approach in

coordination with government technical

agencies

Collectives extend support to SHG to undertake

business planning for better financial

management

Training to leaders on business planning

and loan management

17

Addressing Empowerment issues through Reflect Approach

Gender and power relationships within households and at a community level are characterized by a high degree of

inequality with women doing most of the work, but unable to contribute to, or influence decision making, particularly

related to productive activities within home front and also unable to represent, participate and influence community

development processes. In general, women’s mobility (beyond certain household chores) is restricted. Women in SC

and ST communities typically do not own land and other assets. When they do, it is often in name only, with little

participation in decision-making on the use of such land. Joint ownership is seldom practiced, even though promoted

through policy instruments. Also, they have limited access to agriculture inputs, extension services, information and

market as they are marginally / not represented in NRM and agriculture based collectives and have limited capacities.

To deal with these structural barriers Reflect approach will be adopted in addition to engaging with seven types of

collectives as described above.

Constitution of RC

Selected impact group members from Collectives and Households not engaged in collectives will come together to form

Reflect Circle (RC). RC will ideally comprise of 15-20 members. Initially this process will be undertaken in 2-3 villages per

sub-grantee location and based on learning and experiences expanded to other potential areas.

Purpose

RC as group and as individual members (on case to case basis depending on the context) will engage with men and boys

(and also with women and girls) in households and communities and with male dominated collectives, governance

institutions (i.e. PRIs) and government and private service providers and market institutions and, work towards bringing

attitudinal and behavioural change within these actors that promotes a positive and equitable gender and power

relationships.

How RC will operate?

RC will primarily function as a platform to trigger a thought process on issues around gender and power relationships

within households, community and collectives through awareness generation and building consciousness and create a

pressure on the latter groups to act upon the issues to bring a positive change in the relationship.

To perform the above role, RC will be nurtured and groomed through varied capacity building inputs and hand holding

support. Focus will be given on enabling the members to have an enhanced understanding on issues around gender in-

equity and empowerment in household and community such as, gender discrimination; power relationships within

household, community, market; sexual division of labour, gender based violence, decision-making at household and

community level and access to NRM/livelihood collectives, resources and entitlements. To help the members to

participate, learn and contribute appropriate means like PRA, pictorial tools, cultural programmes, songs will be

increasingly used. Capacitated RC members together as a group will help the impact group members and male

members in the household, collectives, community and governance and market institutions to reflect and analyse the

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gender and power relationships and build critical awareness on the rights of IG members through facilitating discussion

by holding orientation meetings, interface sessions, display of visual aid, performance through cultural troupe and using

group dialogue tools like, pile sorting, power walk, ideal man/woman, obstacles and challenges in working with partner

and plan and implement actions for change. In the process support of common platforms like village development

committee, youth club etc. other than the existing collectives will be sought for awareness generation on these issues at

community level. These activities followed by continous dialogue, interaction and engagement by capacitated IG

members with their male counterparts will contribute in facilitating positive and enabling attitude of men at household

level where in, male members show appreciation towards women’s need for increased skills and capacities, enable

women members to participate in activities initiated by Pathways, show willingness to share the workload of women (IG

members), participate in sensitization/orientation activities meant for them and support IG members in taking joint

decisions on productive and other matters. In addition, men among IG households will be identified and promoted as

change agents and, RC will work closely with these change agents to influence men and boys on gender and power

relationships.

Reflect circle by virtue of having representation from all collectives provide a common platform to bring together all the

collectives for discussion and dialogue on gender inclusion. Women members representing from different collectives in

Reflect circle will take the issue back and initiate discussion in their respective collectives. Thus, with representatives

coming from different collectives into RC, it will act as a connecting link between the collectives and thus, help the

members of all collectives to have information on the processes and developments happening at individual collective’s

level. Reflect approach is expected to encourage the NRM collectives to have increased women (IG members)

representation and participation. As collectives become more inclusive and effective, they will become - focal points for

enhancing women’s skills and knowledge around sustainable agriculture practices; processing and linkages to markets;

forums for articulating demand for and accessing quality services; accessing and exchanging information; platforms for

solidarity, support and problem solving and offering opportunities for integration of improved food and nutrition

practices. Furthermore, as a result of continous sensitization and engagement with PR representatives and local

governance institutions, there will be a push from these actors to IG members to participate in local governance forum

and decision-making process to influence implementation of government schemes, rights and entitlements in their

favour.

RC will have monthly review and reflection meetings to assess the process and Pathways undertaken by it and other

collectives, community, institutions and households and such meetings will be facilitated by a person (facilitator)

selected from the IG. However, during the initial days the group might meet more frequently as per the need and

context. It is assumed that by going through a reflection process within the RC, impact group members collectively and

individually will be in a better position to raise voices for their needs and interests within their respective collectives and

households in particular and at community level in general.

The role of RC can broadly be summarized as follows:

- Steer the gender equity and empowerment process being the connecting link between all collectives,

- Reflect on issues relating to gender in-equity at agency, structure and relationship level towards achieving a more

secure and resilient livelihood (particularly in the context of agriculture livelihoods) and empowerment (at

household and community level) and,

19

- Inform, sensitize, dialogue and influence collectives, households (i.e. community at large), elites and Palli Sabha to

address issues relating to gender, in-equity and empowerment.

Efforts willbe made to ensure that the process evolves organically and is community managed through having a regular

discussion on issues related to gender in-equity and empowerment influencing the lives and livelihood of IG members

and sharing the experiences of RC from different places in different collectives. RC will appoint a representative from

the local community to act as the facilitator. The facilitator will possess the following qualities:

- be from the impact group;

- a young married woman with leadership, mobilizing capabilities so that the risk of change of leadership in midway is

minimised;

- good articulation skills;

- willing to invest time to the process.

To capacitate Reflect facilitators to facilitate the dialog process following key activities will be undertaken:

• Training on facilitation and communication skills to REFLECT facilitators

• Information sharing on gender rights and gender laws through visual aid/cultural show and poster display

• Training to Reflect facilitators on GED dialogue tools

• Mentoring of Reflect facilitators to facilitate dialogue and discussion on issues around gender and power

relationship with boys and men and girls and women at different levels

• Meet of REFLECT facilitators for cross learning

Diagrammatic representation of community mobilization and collectives engagement model is presented below:

20

Cooperative

Forest Rights

Committee

Vana Samrakshyana

Samiti

Watershed

Committee

Pani Panchayat

Farmer’s Club SHG

REFLECT (GE & Empowerment)

HH HH HH

Local Elites: Big

farmer,

Moneylenders,

Traders, Village

leaders, Sarpanch,

Non - ST & SC HHs

Value Chain & Market

Engagement

Sustainable

Agriculture

Palli Sabha (Political

Governance)

Palli Sabha (Political

Governance)

COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION & COLLECTIVE ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

COMMUNITY MOBILIZATION & COLLECTIVE ENGAGEMENT FRAMEWORK

21

Mapping of Collectives and Capacity Needs

• Out of 1911 mapped collectives, 1512 collectives are found ‘ready’ (falling under category A & B) and 399 collectives

‘not ready’ (falling under category C & D). Out of the 399 ‘not ready’ collectives there is a scope to get engaged with

250 (those have potentiality to improve with capacity building inputs and support) while the rest 149 collectives not

found suitable for engagement. Thus, Pathways will engage with 1762 collectives (comprising 1512 ‘ready’ and 250

‘not ready’) during the project period however, the engagement with these collectives will be taken up in a phased

manner.

• To begin with, in 2013 collectives engagement and strengthening process will be initiated with 562 collectives from

all Categories A, B, C and D (77% from categories A & B and 23% from categories C & D) to support the IG members

from the collectives to participate in sustainable agriculture and market engagement, work towards enhancing

representation and participation of IG members in the institution and activities undertaken by the collectives,

support IG members avail their rights and entitlements channeled through these groups and participate in NRM and

sustainable livelihood activities as per their mandate and capacity.

• Under institutional strengthening, emphasis will be given on further improving group governance/health related

aspects like, group management rules and regulations, bookkeeping and record maintenance, transparency &

accountability, financial management and linkage, networking and liasioning and sustainability, identified as critical

gaps through CRT and CCAT. These groups will also be strengthened to extend support to other groups and IG

members to raise voice and undertake initiative to address gender and resource rights related issues. Members of

these groups will also be trained on sustainable agriculture practices, value-addition, quality maintenance,

aggregation of inputs and outputs, market engagement and ensuring nutrition and food security. Looking at the

current situation, capacities and limitations of the collectives, capacity building plan will be developed. To enable the

collectives to have review, reflection and assessment of the Pathways undertaken by them and the results achieved

to influence their activities, collectives will be capacitated to use Participatory Performance Tracker tool on a phase

wise manner. In the initial period, i.e., till 2013 PPT will be undertaken only at selected SHGs level where as, CCAT

will be followed for all engaged collectives. Based on the experience and learning, PPT will be expanded to other

collectives in 2014. Besides, to nurture the cadre of women leaders , leadership development with a focus on social

and gender aspects will be given a priority.

• To work on gender and power relationship issues Reflect circle will be promoted in 2-3 villages per sub-grantee

locations.

The Timeline

In the year 2003, the project emphasizes on developing models in the areas of Collectives engagement, Sustainable

agriculture and Market engagement to expand and upscale the initiative in the subsequent years.

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1. Collectives (institutional) strengthening – In the first year i.e. 2013, 562 collectives representing from 7 types will be

capacitated. To set the ground , a brainstorming process will be undertaken to facilitate discussion with all the

collectives on what has worked, what didn’t work and why to identify the critical gaps specific to each type of collective

develop graduation plan for different type of collectives.

2. Sustainable agriculture – In the first year i.e. 2013, a minimum of 5000 Impact Group members will be capacitated to

adopt sustainable agriculture practices around selected crops, NTFPs and small ruminants.

3. Market engagement – To start with, a minimum of 5000 members from different collectives and beyond will be

strengthened to participate in value-chain and market processes.

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Annexure - 1

Brief descriptions about the identified Collectives

1. Self Help Group (SHG): SHGs are collectives where women engage in financial and economic activities. They

generally are strong in terms of financial capacity, stability, and group cohesion. There is strong presence of Impact

Group so, there exists high potential for women's participation and leadership. SHGs are collectives where women

engage in financial and economic activities. SHGs are a promising entry point for agriculture and women’s

empowerment-related activities.

2. Farmers’ Club (FC): Farmer’s clubs primarily consists of male farmers. They engage in activities like, adoption of

agricultural practices, and purchase of agricultural inputs.

3. Cooperative: Cooperatives are collectives promoted by NGOs and this is a small percentage of total cooperatives.

They are primarily for livelihood and financial transactions.

4. Van Samrakshan Samiti (VSS): VSSs are promoted by Forest Department under Joint Forest Management program.

Their activities have direct implications for forest and NRM issues, as well as the food security components of

Pathways. The mandate for women’s involvement in VSS creates an opportunity to build women’s capacities and

promote empowerment.

5. Forest Rights Committee (FRC): FRCs are constituted under Forest Rights Act, 2006 [The Scheduled Tribe and Other

Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006]. They are involved in activities related to forest

land and forest resource rights, again linked to natural resource management and food security issues. The mandate

for women’s involvement in FRCs creates an opportunity for capacity building and empowerment

6. Watershed Committee (WC): WCs are responsible for watershed management and their activities have a direct

impact on the rain-fed agriculture practiced by impact populations. These collectives are generally male dominated.

7. Pani Panchayat (PP): PPs also known as Water User Associations are constituted under Orissa Pani Panchayat Act,

2002. They are involved in activities related to water management.The mandate for women’s involvement in Pani

Panchayats creates potential for women’s leadership and involvement in community-level decision-making

processes.

24

Annexure -2

Learning questions on Collectives

1. Appropriateness: Which type of collectives and which type of activities are best suited to meeting the needs of sub-IG

members (Group-based enterprises, nutrition training etc.)

• Does engagement with SHGs translates into maximizing reaching out to the members (within the group) and

majority members from the IG within the community (through Reflect) and meeting their sustainable agriculture

and value chain management needs?

• Which are those activities (such as, trainings, exposure visit, interface/interactive meeting with different

stakeholders, networking for advocacy actions, Reflect, leadership development, strengthening the record

maintenance, gender & equity, legal education, promotion of women agri-managers, establishing inter-

connectedness between collectives, engaging with men and boys) and processes undertaken under Pathways

project aimed at strengthening collectives (Watershed Committee, Van Samrakshyana Samiti, Forest Rights

Committee, Pani Panchayat) lead to triggering action, maximizing reach and enabling households access, services,

rights and entitlements?

2. Group Dynamics, Power and Empowerment: How do relations between groups and within groups actually work?

What are the factors that lead to success and how can we avoid traditional failures?

• How does different type of collectives (SHGs, Cooperatives, Pani Panchayats, Watershed Committees, Vana

Samrakshyana Samitis, Forest Rights Committees, Farmer’s Clubs) complement and supplement each other to work

for a common goal i.e. improving sustainable agriculture livelihood of impact group members?

• How effective are the Pathways’ activities (collective strengthening, market engagement & sustainable agriculture

practices) to truss the members together to emerge as a demand group?

• Does multiple membership has an influence over inter-collective dynamics?

• Does interface meeting lead to building better relationships between the collectives to work for a common cause?

3. Collectives and Ecosystem Linkages: How do groups serve as a platform for interface with key stakeholders? What

works, what doesn’t and why?

• How effective are the collectives as an enabling platform to facilitate interaction of IG with agri-extension service

providers, market actors and government authorities (to access information, services, rights, benefits and

entitlements)?

• Does participation in Reflect circle capacitate IG members to influence decision-making process in local governance

namely, Palli Sabha?

• To what extent do participation and discussions in Reflect circle help IG members to influence the agenda and

effectiveness of various collectives? What are the key drivers and challenges here?

25

• Under what conditions do collectives network and build alliances among themselves and with key stakeholders? Do

effective collectives lead to increased and influencing collective action?

4. Collectives, Households and Communities: How does women’s participation in groups lead to change in gender

relations and increased voice and power within households, markets and communities?

o Does increased knowledge among the impact group members lead to demand for increased representation and

participation in collectives?

o Does increased representation and participation of women in collectives influence their access to productive

resources and means of production?

o How effective is Reflect circle in pushing the agenda of women’s empowerment at household level?

5. Intervention Sequencing and Timing: What is the best sequence of interventions and how does this vary by sub-IG?

How can we exit?

• What skills and capacities are critical for the IG to participate effectively and make their collectives more impactful

and sustainable?

• What approaches and strategies are more useful in rendering collectives inclusive?

• Does ensuring better access to market leads to strengthening solidarity among the members within a collective?