Home 
Publications Catalog Online Publications ADB Review Article
Building Livelihoods
|
The Surendrangar district of Gujarat state in India receives just 450 millimeters of rain a year and poor pastoral communities there struggle to survive, rearing sheep and goats amid frequent drought.
Meanwhile, villagers struggle to find clean drinking water—almost 60% of villages have no assured source throughout the year—while many residents still have not recovered from a devastating earthquake in 2001.
Under Asian Development Bank (ADB)-administered projects funded from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR), ADB is working in association with women’s federations in the region to restore or improve livelihoods and, through a locally managed water distribution arrangement, to overcome acute water shortage during droughts.
In a subproject under the program, the government of Gujarat has gone into partnership with women’s federations in Sayla and Chotila blocks of Surendranagar district to establish a cheese manufacturing plant. This plant is expected to give 500 women from families living below the poverty line a sustainable additional source of income by selling cheese.
The Aga Khan Rural Support Program (AKRSP), a nongovernment development organization that is active in over 500 villages, is implementing the program in three economically and environmentally vulnerable areas of Gujarat. It is using local expertise to develop viable income sources.
AKRSP identified cheese making in the Surendranagar area as highly suitable to the resources available in the region. The population of goats and sheep in this region is high and cheese made from goat’s milk has good market value. A survey revealed that milk flow throughout the year was large enough to operate a cheesemanufacturing unit. Moreover, the dry climate prevents the growth of microorganisms like bacteria, which is an advantage in cheese making.
Through a series of consultations and participation by the local women’s federations, the cheese plant has been installed and is expected to result in increased visibility and self-confidence among rural women in handling economic activities.
A plant was set up with Rs2.4 million ($53,213) under the ADB-JFPR project, just off the Sayla–Chotila highway where it is easy to access transport, electricity, and water. Milk will be obtained from 25 nearby villages within a radius of 50 kilometers of the plant. AKRSP has procured the machinery and made arrangements for collecting, treating, and pasteurizing milk; and pressing, packing, and marketing cheese.
AKRSP is also facilitating buyback arrangements for the better sale of cheese by the women’s federations. It has finalized the registration of the producers’ company under the project.
Professional staff have been hired to look after all operations of the cheese plant and maintain the modern machinery for processing.
“ AKRSP broached the idea of a cheese plant to the women in January 2004 and the women took over. After that, most ideas came from the women—on who would run it, and how. They were confident they could do it themselves ”
- Umesh Desal
Manager
Rural Support and Livelihoods Aga Khan Foundation
Under the same JFPR program, ADB is also working through the women’s associations to establish more reliable water distribution mechanisms. Erratic rainfall, poor groundwater, recharge, and priority to irrigation over drinking water have resulted in a severe drinking water crisis. Some village water supplies are tainted by salinity and fluoride.
As a result, women are often forced to walk long distances to fetch clean water, use shallow wells dug by villagers in riverbeds called virdas, or queue at hand pumps and wells.
Furthermore, inadequate village water supply leads to inequity in water allocation and social unrest. Erratic water delivery by water tankers forces women to stay at home and forfeit wages, and to spend inordinate amounts of time collecting water.
Health and livelihoods are harmed. Children, the aged, and the sick are neglected; education and literacy levels have dropped sharply; and dropout rates have risen, especially among girls, who are expected to help their mothers search for water.
Under the ADB-JFPR program, members of the Sayla and Chotila women’s federations ( mahila manchs) will now supply drinking water to 33 villages in the Surendranagar district through water tankers. They are expected to benefit 4,000 households.
Two women federations have been selected to implement the project. The federations have conducted project sensitization meetings, procured equipment including two tractors and trolleys, and appointed a driver to start water distribution. These federations have delivered 480,000 liters of water to different villages during the water crisis. The women charge Rs150 ($3.33) per tanker, which is half the market rate, and the demand is pouring in. Private operators are now reducing their tariffs to remain in the market.
The JFPR Program is thus helping women’s groups manage drinking water distribution through a viable mechanism during droughts. Under the project, the mahila manchs who are responsible for supplying water to member villages, purchased two tractors with a capacity of hauling 5,000 liters. The objective is to equip the women’s groups to take up drinking water distribution management in their villages during droughts. The project will ensure that the money stays with the village women.
The Gujarat earthquake rendered many not only homeless but also jobless. In addition to restoring livelihoods, the JFPR program aims to provide sustainable options for reducing economic vulnerability by empowering women. The approach is also based on enhancing management skills and providing assistance through free kits, financial assistance for lost structures, working capital, marketing links, training, and capacity building.
Go back to current issue
© 2008 Asian Development Bank Privacy | Terms of Use |
 Top of page |