Outcomes
- One of the most important achievements of the project was imparting skills successfully to inculcate in members proficiency to handle their groups as independent units and decrease their dependency on the facilitating NGOs their operations.
- The members utilized the collective savings in times of emergency. The major impact of organizing such formal groups and training them was seen that members had initiated with small enterprises like tea stalls, Tiffin stall, and poultry. The savings of the group members was not wastefully utilized nor inertly lying in the bank but being utilized actively as productive capital from a small revolving fund.
- One of the leaders, after attending this training and exposure visit said that it had facilitated their SHGs to taken the shape of formal economic institutions. The members on a regular basis pooled in their little savings. Their control over economic resources, which they could access according to their need has boosted their self-confidence. In short, micro-finance could become an instrument of providing credit support in small quantities along with other complementary support such as training / other related services to those with poor resources and skills for enabling them to take up economic activities.
- It has provided a common platform so as to bring in the best practices to impart technical inputs so as to strengthen the efforts of integrating micro finance into the economic cycle of the rural poor.
- The capacity building programme importantly enforced self-esteem among the women collectives – SHGs. They understood that economic units could be very well managed and developed by women themselves despite gender-biased ownership of resources, which characterizes the feudal society in Jharkhand.
- Women have started taking up various economic activities and through this the processes of economic planning have been introduced amongst the SHG members. Earlier, though a bit hesitant, tribal women have now started to explore more alternate forms of processing and value addition, which can fetch them more profit.
- Strengthening the local economy: increasing savings and capital accumulation; enhancing micro enterprise; alternate credit facility.
- An illustration of Common Pool Resources as a successful intervention highlighted in the third training of trainers, Dumka is given below
As indicated in the above example Common Pool Resources (CPR) could be a major source of livelihood security for poor and other marginalized sections like women. The women, who have already been organized in credit groups, could be considered as crucial stakeholders for CPR. The common fund, which the group invested in a common economic activity such as agriculture significantly contributed towards livelihood security. Efforts were made to involve the members of the SHGs in the decision-making and in the management of the activity undertaken. Especially in the tribal belts the forest serves, as an important source for meeting some of the basic biomass needs of people like fodder, fuel wood, fire and fruits. Utilization of the vast resources through CPR ensures availability of various products for consumption and sale supporting the poor to attain self-reliance. A number of economic activities could be undertaken in CPR like
- Tussar Cultivation
- Herbs collection and Processing
- Non-timber forest produce collection and sale
- Agriculture
The involvement of the members of SHGs in such collective activities to some extent ensured equity in terms of management of such resources due to the experience of the members in handling the common fund. Due to such collective agro-forestry taken up by the members of the SHGs, it has not only motivated the members to utilize their common fund in a productive manner but also enhanced agricultural production. With increase in productivity, it would result in better food security for the rural household.
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