INTRODUCTION

SUNGI’s Sustainable Livelihood (SL) programme efforts have been contributing to the local communities living system first by enabling them to recover from the possible stresses and shocks of the vulnerability and prepare them to anticipate the present and future challenges of the livelihood systems. Second, the programme has been empowering the communities to maintain and enhance their capabilities and assets base both in the prevailing and future conditions and the activities required for the means of living. There has been a strong precondition for both of these facilitation that the programme interventions and communities living system must not undermine the natural resource base of the village.

SUNGI’s SL programme intervention starts as soon as the SM&D programme outputs have been engrossed in the form of mobilised, organised and socially capacitated communities. Onwards this point the programme has been taking further steps of mobilising the communities on the offshoots of the livelihood systems. The process of analysis and mobilisation of the communities starts from the Village Development Planning (VDP). The VDP process gives an opportunity to the communities to analyse the factors contributing to their vulnerability of livelihood. The futuristic and prevalence level threats have been assessed and analysed how to minimise the vulnerability threats specifically related to the poor and deprived segments of the society. The VDP process gives an opportunity to the communities to assess their capacities and assets base (natural, physical, social and financial). On the basis of these analysis the communities plan on how the assets base can be increased to sustain the livelihood system. The SL programme facilitation has been initiated in various areas of community identified priority needs. The programme strategies focus on motivation of the rural people through its research and demonstration of the development activities in the specific areas of local living systems. The SL strategies focus on the transformation of rural lives through equitable and sustainable use of resources.

Side by side research and demonstrating of the development activities the programme institutes its rights and advocacy based programmes in the rural communities. Necessities The programme has developed its advocacy strategies to address the communities’ pro-active needs on the issues of food security, conservation of bio-diversity and environment. The programme has been sensitising, raising the awareness, and mobilising the communities for ensuring their rights of the livelihood. These campaigns have been largely contributing in ensuring the government’s accountability on its adverse policies towards the rural communities and resist the influence of the multinationals on the local livelihood systems.

Natural Resource Management

The analyses of the rural living system shows - the main stay of the locals have been on the natural resources. As soon as there has been a threat to the natural resources the chances of the vulnerability and poverty of the rural lives has been increasing. The factors risking the natural resources and hence the living systems and vice a versa have been varying dependent both on the external and man made elements. The SL’s Natural Resource Management (NRM) programme has been facilitating the rural people in resolving the issues of some of the main offshoots of the natural resources ecosystem. The three main areas where the programme facilitation has been extended are the agriculture, livestock and forestry along with the cross cutting themes of food security, environment and bio-diversity. The NRM field operational strategies have been facilitating the communities in three dimensions. First the programme has been supporting the rural people to recover form the stress and shocks presently the living system and hence the natural resources have been facing. The programme endures to take step in mobilising the communities to secure and increase the productivity of available natural resources using cultural practices and indigenous method of conservation. Second the programme has been enduring to capacitate, renew and enhance the human and natural assets base of the poor in order to sustain the local living system. Third the programme has been enabling the people to prepare themselves to face the man-made external threats from the exploitative polices of the state and WTO.

The communities’ dependence on the natural resources has diversification and covers various dimensions rural farming society. The NRM programme facilitation in agriculture has been extended to number of pre-harvest, harvest and post harvest activities. The facilitation has been initiated form the cultural practices of the land use planning to storage and marketing of the produce through various capacity building and research and demonstration initiatives.

Community seed-bank and breeding initiatives:

For the revival and protection local genetic resources SUNGI has been promoting the community’s seed bank and breading concepts. This concept has been promoted first by the involvement of the communities in the on-farm search and demonstration of how to get higher yield of indigenous crops using the cultural and local methods of cultivation. And second by motivating the communities for the establishment of the seed wealth centres. The NRM programme has demonstrated 105 plots of vegetables, field crops and medicinal herbs in year 2001. The local seeds obtained from these plots would have to be delivered to the partner communities for propagation and dissemination. The seeds of the local crops of different varieties have been collected and have been displayed in eight seed wealth centres, four each in zonal offices and community.

Renewal of forest resources:

One of the core demonstration activities of the NRM programme has been renewal and enhancement of the of natural forest assets. The prolonged drought season has badly affected the forestry activities. However, the programme has carried out two plantation campaigns. During these demonstration campaigns a total of 240,599 forest and fruit saplings were distributed among the community partners. In order to sustain the forest renewal and assets building campaign the programme has been focussing on promoting the community nurseries. Four community nurseries have been established in collaboration with the community partners. The community has also been facilitated in grafting over more then 6,500 olive plants in collaboration with the NWFP Agriculture Department. Community partners of the Balakot working area identified the issue of walnut weevil attack. Walnut has been one of the major sources of earning of the local inhabitants of the area. The NRM programme explored cause of the problem in collaboration with the Centre for Agriculture and Bio-science International (CABI). Based on the research recommendations, environment friendly local mechanisms have been evolved to control the disease.

Investment in communities capacities building:

NRM has facilitated the communities in building their capacities in the various areas of the agriculture, livestock and forestry. A total of 62 plantation, agriculture and livestock extension workers, poultry farming, vegetables growing and nursery raising trainings events have been arranged for the 1,279 community members. The community has been supported with the provision of literature on sustainable agricultural practices. The NRM section has arranged 13 field days and three exposure visits of community partners. A total of 3,180 poultry birds have been distributed among the women community partners.

Physical assets building:

The NRM Productive Village Infrastructure (PVIs) schemes serve multi-purpose objectives in the areas of physical assets building and increasing the farm productivity. A total of 22 NRM schemes have been completed benefiting a total of 12,403 community partners. The community share in these schemes has remained over 34 percent of the total cost. With the completion of three irrigation channels 7,701 kanal of rain fed area has been converted to irrigated land. Work on 15 schemes has been in progress.

Social capital formation:

The NRM programme has taken viable steps for the integration of new local bodies’ institutions, Kissan Awam Council (KAC) and Area Co-ordination Council (ACC). An umbrella organisation has been evolved both for the smooth implementation of NRM activities and for checking the government’s policies affecting the natural resources base of the area. For the pro-active involvement of the farmers in the programme’s research and demonstration activities and in the conservation of natural resources 40 NRM committees at the village level have been organised.

Securing the rights of small farmers:

NRM section has been actively involved in mobilising the communities and the research institutions to resist the agenda of globalisation and WTO. The programme has arranged a series of seminars for general public, civil society activists and for the researchers and policy makers. NRM programme has facilitated the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faculty of Agri. Economics and Rural Sociology in the establishment of WTO cell broadly for searching the issues associated WTO.