Rural Livelihoods Agriculture Production Cluster Project Odisha

Keeping up with the objective of Samagam, that is to reflect on collaboration and to jointly come up with a roadmap for sustainable development goals, a session on Rural Livelihoods with special focus on Agriculture Production Cluster Project (Odisha), implemented jointly by Government of Odisha, BRLF, BMGF, PRADAN and civil society partners.

Agriculture Produce Cluster (APC) is the project implemented with Department of Agriculture and Dept. of Drinking water, Orissa, PRADAN and local NGOs. It is a perfect example of Government, civil society and Market collaboration. The project was initiated with the aim of introducing agricultural ecosystem in 40 Tribal blocks in the state of Odisha. Climate change resistant crops were integrated into the agricultural practices, with the collective efforts and convergence of different departments like lift irrigation, horticulture and agriculture.

Migration Challenges - Aajeevika Bureau and Martha Farrell Foundation

• Dr. Yogesh Kumar: Founder member and Executive Director of “Samarthan- Centre for development Support”
• Alex Paul Menon (IAS) : Labour Commissioner, Chhattisgarh
• Mr. Kamlesh Sharma, Ajeevika Bureau, Udaipur, Rajasthan
• Mr. Anant Bhagwati: Dasra
• Mr. P. P. Sharma, Joint Labour Commissioner, Udaipur, Rajasthan

Closing remarks (09 Min)- Mr. Santoosh Poonia, Ajeevika Bureau, Udaipur Rajasthan

Covid-19 Response and Beyond

COVID Action Collaborative: COVID-19 is a global emergency that calls for unprecedented multi-sectoral collaboration for social good. To minimise transmission and reach out to those affected, it was important to act swiftly and more importantly, act together. Therefore, The COVID Action Collaborative was set up. The Collaborative has individuals, organizations and networks representing the public, private, civil society, academic and other sectors who have come together with expertise in areas of Public Health, Medicine, Engineering, Technology, Sociology, Behavioral Science, Mental Health, Migration, Financing, Humanitarian Emergencies and more. The aim of the COVID Action Collaborative is to support various stakeholders – civil society, private sector, academics, networks, foundations and governments to rapidly and cost-effectively prevent new infections, diagnose early, treat appropriately and mitigate any other impacts.

Education – Govt. of Maharashtra, SEWA, Samvedna, UBS (TBC), Akashwani, and Pratham

Collaborators:

Government of Maharashtra; Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), Samvedna, UBS, Akashvani, and Pratham

The consequences of the COVID – 19 pandemic have been severe and far-reaching. Millions of children, youth and adults have not been able to attend school or other educational institutions for months. It will take us time to understand the long run impact of the prolonged school closure on students, parents and the community, even more so in vulnerable and underprivileged contexts.

However, in these gloomy times, one of the major boons has been the coming together of diverse sets of individuals and organizations to address the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic threw in our path. Everyone realized that in joining forces, efforts would multiply, more communities would be reached, and many more children could be engaged.

NRM & Livelihoods - West Bengal ‘Usharmukti’ – Govt. of West Bengal, BRLF & CSO Partners

KEY MESSAGES

• Governments should build on the strengths of CSOs to make their islands of excellence mainstream.
• CSOs can benefit from state collaboration by gaining access to greater scale and resources.
• Tenacity of stakeholders is crucial in managing resistance from within state institutions and community members.
• Participatory planning can lead to better implementation while simultaneously empowering local communities.
• Building of a shared vision is necessary for collaboration and can be achieved through regular review systems.
• Capacity building within community is essential to create lasting impact that does not need continuous intervention

Chhattisgarh Mega Watershed – Govt. of Chhattisgarh, BRLF, ABF & CSO Partners

Welcome address: Opening speeches delivered by Mr Jacob Ninan.

Mr. P C Mishra

• He was the former MGNREGA commissioner, and Former principal secretary, Department of Panchayat Raj and Rural Development in Government of Chhattisgarh.
• The concept and idea of starting the Chhattisgarh Mega Watershed Project are derived from the model of Project Usharmukti implemented by the Government of West Bengal.
• Systematical evaluators: BRLF/PRADAN/AXBF
• Gives action to the project 12 district-26 blocks
• Collaboration with community members and front line workers

Health and Nutrition – DWCD (Govt. of Odisha), Care-India, and PHRN

The session saw two state presentations from Odisha and Bihar. These presentations discussed various nutrition and health interventions implemented in these states for the welfare of woman and their children.

Nutrition Interventions in Odisha

This presentation was made by Ms. Nandita Nayak from the WCD, Odisha. Ms. Nayak majorly talked about State level partnership with APPI to deliver SDGs on Nutrition:

• To accelerate the efforts in reducing undernutrition, Government of Odisha (GoO) has entered into an MoU with Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiatives (APPI) in December 2015.
• GoO and APPI’s programmatic interventions will complement the nutrition related national and state programmes through a multi-sectoral approach with a goal of reducing stunting, wasting and underweight across the state with a special focus on tribal districts.

Youth and Mental Health – Rural Development Trust, PRIA Youth, and Youth for Mental Health

This discussion aimed at addressing the following key questions:

This presentation was made by Ms. Nandita Nayak from the WCD, Odisha. Ms. Nayak majorly talked about State level partnership with APPI to deliver SDGs on Nutrition:

• Why did you choose to, or why was it important for you to collaborate on the project being discussed?
• Why was it easy or difficult to work as a collaborative unit? What did you do to overcome some of the challenges that you faced?
• What are your key learnings and insights about the making of a successful collaboration
• What is your current feeling about working together with different stakeholders? Would you want to collaborate again? Would you want to do anything different next time you take up a collaborative project?