Youths from PREM’s operation area learn computer software at a vocational institute in Puri.

LIVELIHOOD

PREM’s commitment to sustainable livelihood as an integral part of holistic community development has been a part of its work in Adivasi, Dalit and Fisherfolk areas for more than a quarter century.

Beginning in 2011 PREM in partnership with Axis Bank Foundation is engaging in one of the most comprehensive programmes for Vocational Training for Adivasi and Dalit Youth of its kind in India, called Project PREMA. Over a five-year period, more than 10,000 youths—over 80% of them girls and young women—will get training in areas like computer hardware and software, hotel management, electronics, nursing, advanced agriculture, driving, security guarding and Grihini—PREM’s own innovative vocational programme for Women’s Livelihood & Leadership.

Click here to download a brochure on Project PREMA

Paddy cultivation through Shreepadhati in an Adivasi village

Community meeting in a tribal village to discuss National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

Members of an SHG involved in turmeric processing

The youths of tribal communities participating in a workshop on a vocational plumbing course

PREM supports and facilitates the training of hundreds of women’s Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and other Community Based Organizations (CBOs) in Micro-Finance and Micro-Credit Initiatives for sustainable livelihood. These grassroots programmes support financial security through small savings and credit schemes, and the collective strength of the SHG network has also empowered people to bargain with the commercial banks to benefit from credit terms. Through this process of empowerment the SHGs are able to mobilise the existing financial assets for sustainable economic activities such as social forestry, cashew nut production, community-managed livestock rearing, fishery and collective marketing.

In 2009 PREM’s People’s Rural Insurance Programme—in which 100,000 are covered with a premium of as little as 20 rupees per year—was highlighted by International Labour Organization (ILO) as an innovative livelihood guarantee initiative.

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MG-NREGA) is one of the most important aspects in the lives of many Adivasi and Dalit communities in Odisha, and PREM is working to build the capacities of grassroots governance and CBOs to access the provisions of this scheme and gain fair employment.

Beginning in 2002 PREM in partnership with DFID initiated a five-year project for Agro-Forestry in tribal areas, which included workshops and interventions in the following areas, focusing on innovation and sustainability: Land Use and Development; Distribution of Seeds; Soil Testing; Composting; Nurseries; Irrigation; Stone Fencing; Animal Husbandry; and Biodiversity. The impact of this project included a drastic reduction in migration due to the fact that more Adivasis could achieve a living wage from their agricultural labour at home. Nutrition also improved and the instances of disease fell. People felt that their communities could thrive and not face disintegration.

Since 1997, PREM has been supporting livelihood initiatives in its programme areas for the Sustainable Cultivation of crops such as turmeric and cashew which are native to the tribal areas. In one intervention, a PREM study found that turmeric farmers in Kandhamal district were getting a low price for their product, and tests showed that their turmeric contained low qualities—less than 2%—of the active ingredient Circumin. PREM facilitated the introduction of higher quality turmeric from Assam and Kerala to 60 villages of Kandhamal, with the result that the percentage of Circumin rose to 5.9%. The farmers’ income per kilogram tripled.

Click here to watch a video: Beyond Shifting Cultivation