Impact assessment of Improving farm based livelihoods project in Leh - Ladakh

JAYATI VASHISTMANU VATAYAN

Introduction of the study• LNP is a non-profit organization , founded in 1978 • Its focal areas are • primary health care, • education, • agriculture, • handicrafts, and • nature conservation.

• Initiated a farm based livelihood project in January 2013 funded by TATA Education Trust. • Formation of SHGs, imparting training on Potato Crop Improvement and vegetable

storage cellar, setting up of greenhouse and LEISA, promotion of horticulture and tree plantations, construction of artificial glacier and conducting workshop with all the stakeholders were focused upon.

• Since promotion of horticulture and tree plantations was initiated in this year only, its outcome could not be measured as the trees did not bear fruits yet and there was no income generation through sales.

• Secondly, study of impact of SHG had already been carried out previously by LNP. Therefore, in this report impact assessment is mainly carried out for five activities including greenhouse, LEISA, PCI, storage cellar and artificial glacier

Why was the intervention needed?o Is one of the driest parts of India . Cold desert !

oAccess to even better food is difficult, remote areas. Road is closed for more than half of the year

oThe irrigation part of agriculture has always been thought provoking .

oShort summer season the people of Ladakh are able to cultivate only one crop per year and in the winter season which extends from October to March the fields in Ladakh are frozen as fallow lands with no production at all.

Why was the intervention needed?Constraints Implication

Inaccessibility • Poor mobility• High transportation costs• Poor communication

Fragile environment • Harsh climate• Only one cropping season – Farmers are able to cultivate only

one crop per year and in the winter season which extends from October to March the fields in Ladakh are frozen as fallow lands with no production at all.

• Vulnerable to natural hazards like landslidesLow production but high potential

• Instability of market• Tendency to look for short-term gains• Practising subsistence farming

Limited support system • Inferior quality of seeds• Mixed source of income• Limited production options

Objectives• The first and main specific objective of the project is to assist rural

populations in developing additional income generation activities. • Provide better education to their children • Live a healthy lifestyle.• Promoting the horticultural sector in the region.• Rural persons shall be able to set up additional income activities by

growing vegetables all year round• To make agriculture an easy and economically profitable activity.• The possibility of increasing the area under cultivation• Changes in the cropping pattern and techniques to give higher

output and a more varied and nutritious diet.

Farm based livelihoods

Artificial Glacier

Greenhouse&

Trenches

Vegetable Cellar

Potato Crop

Improvement

Outcome indicators

• Additional income generation activities.• Empower rural women by increasing their self-

confidence and financial independence.• Improve health by enabling the communities to produce

balanced food during the six months of harsh winter.• Sustainable livelihood.

MethodologyQuasi Experimental- One group pre-test post-test design

Purposive SamplingProject Population Sample

Greenhouse 38 15

Potato Crop Improvement/

Vegetable Storage Cellar

43 18

Trench 54 24

Artificial glacier 258 18

Total 135 75

Artificial Glacier• Difficulties in irrigation , the solution was Glacier melt water.• But when the water is needed in the fields, this glacial melt

water doesn’t reach till then.• The crops need to be sown in the month of April which is an

essential component and if it’s not done at this time, the yield would be of low quality as the maturity would not be reached.• The melting of water takes place from summer which is late

May and June• This water reaches the fields till mid-June as the natural

glaciers are located at a higher altitude and at a distance from the villages and till the water reaches the fields it is too late for sowing of crops.• So the Artificial Glaciers are the solution for this 2 months

gap from April to June.

• Artificial glaciers are large reservoirs that are created upstream of villages, which capture melt-water that would typically run off during fall and winter. • This captured glacial melt water is allowed to freeze during

winter which is in October and November, and since it is collected at a lower altitude, it melts early enough to be used for irrigation in April directing it to a specific site through pipes and channels where it is then frozen and contained stockpiled for use in March and April.• This project for climate change adaptation represent a new

genre of design work that could have considerable implications.• In the face of global climate change, radical design proposals

present a rare optimistic perspective for future environmental adaptation, and ultimately, human survival.

Impact of Artificial Glacier• Target beneficiary – the whole village

Findings !

Economic• Cash through extra produce• Extra Cash Crops and Plantations • More Trees leads to larger area of green belt• Healthy livestock

Environmental• Increase in the green belt cover• Check on soil erosion.• Increase in livestock leads to increase in manure, which is used

instead of fertilizers• Increase in water table and recharging of underground aquifers

Social• No more disputes on usage of water.• People work together in harmony during the construction and

maintenance of artficial glacier.• No inequality observed and people work irrespective of age,class

and sex.

Sustainability of Artificial Glacier• Climate change is eroding the glaciers in Ladakh with alarming speed and, in

many cases, irrevocable outcomes.• Artificial glaciers rely on natural glaciers at even higher elevations, as well as

the annual snows, precipitation, and cold winters that sustain them, to exist. Indeed, if the highest glaciers in this region were to disappear completely, the artificial system would also cease to exist.• Artificial glaciers suspend water (as ice) that would otherwise reach the Indus

River. While it is unlikely that such glaciers wont impact the flow of such an enormous river, there would be a reduction of flow downstream if this design solution were to scale up across the region. Overall, the ecological impact of these designs interventions is both minimal and site-specific, primarily causing water to be held longer on site and then diverted to nearby fields for agricultural use.• While artificial glaciers will not add water to the mountains, they make

maximal use of existing water resources by storing and relocating glacial meltwater for irrigation.

Greenhouses & Trenches • In Ladakh, most of the agricultural land is rendered fallow in

winter season due to heavy snowfall. In order to protect the plants from the adverse climatic conditions such as wind, cold, precipitation, excessive radiation, extreme temperature, insects and diseases and providing favorable environment condition to them, greenhouse technology is implemented. • They help in extending the growing season of vegetables from 3

to 8 months. They also require less water for irrigation. The vegetable crops that can be grown in greenhouse are mongol, coriander, tomato, capsicum, cabbage and cauliflower.• Several plots are designed with technical inputs from expert

which enables villager to cultivate green leafy vegetables even in harsh winter when temperature outside is -25 degree.

• The standard size of the trench is 10*12 square feet and its depth ranges from 1 to 1.5 feet, Whereas the standard size of the greenhouse is 18*32 square feet and it is above the ground.• The important thing regarding construction of the greenhouse

or trench is the orientation and the angle so that it traps maximum sunlight during winter season as the sunlight in these days is minimal.• During winter season, it is covered by a plastic sheet in order

to maintain its internal temperature. The working of a trench is similar to that of a greenhouse. The only difference lies in its cost and size. • Average cost incurred in construction of a trench ranges in

between Rs.5000 to Rs.6000 whereas Average cost incurred in construction of a greenhouse ranges in between Rs. 25000- 35000

Potato Crop Improvement• Training on cultivating potato crops from specialist is one of the

key component which enables farmer to grow better crops.• The farmers are given training on • sowing pattern, • frequency of irrigation and • providing HYV potato seeds.

• In the first year, “Chandramukhi” seeds were provided and in the second year “Jhoti” seeds were provided. The yield is expected to be three to four times the input. • The produce from the seeds not only enables the farmer to fend

themselves but also makes them capable to produce surplus and sell it off in the nearby market or supply them to the Indian Army

Vegetable storage cellar

• Most of the crops are harvested in September. In order to retain their freshness and prevent them from getting destroyed in extreme climatic conditions, storage cellars are provided to the farmers. • These cellars are like a small room dug up to six feet under the

ground with a door for easy access. • Prior to these cellars, farmers used to dig a hole of size three to

four feet under the ground, put their vegetables inside it and cover it with a plastic sheet. • The main drawback of this method was that the farmers found

it very difficult to take the vegetables out of the hole when they required it. Also sometimes, the whole lot of the vegetables use to freeze .

• Villagers who used to fetch water for irrigation in less than an hour was 50% but After the coming up of AG , that percentage of people has risen up to 73%• 42% people who used to

fetch water in 1 to 2 hours earlier has now reduced to 25%.• Women now save this

time and use it for other purposes such as farming and household work and for leisure.

<1 1 to 2 2 to 3 >30%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

49%

42%

6%3%

73%

25%

1% 1%

Before After

Time taken to fetch water for irrigation

• Almost every villager of the Egu village has affirmed that there has been increase in cultivable land and green belt area which tells the success story of Artificial glacier.

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Increase in cultivable land

• The water from artificial glacier has improved the life of the villagers and the distribution of water is done for different purpose mostly which has been recorded as usage in irrigating fields and apart from that in Livestock, Alfalfa, Fodder .

Farms

Fodder

Alfalfa

Livestock

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Distribution of water from AG

Distribution of water from AG

Satisfaction level from profits

• Beneficiaries are pretty much satisfied with the profits they have gained after the coming up of AG.

• 83% people responded that their satisfaction level is good or more than that after AG.

Fair17%

Good33%

Excellent50%

Impact Analysis• The frequency of consumption of fresh vegetables is visible.

Initially NowUsed to eat dry vegetables or potato.

Consumption of fresh leafy vegetables

No gifts. Households gifted with fresh vegetables

Never used to purchase green vegetables from the market

Purchase leafy veg from market. Culture shift can be seen.

Home consumption of vegetables once or twice a week.

Home consumption of vegetables jumped to three or four times a week.

More intake of leafy vegetables

77%

No change2%

Can't say21%

Change in food consumption pattern

More intake of leafy vegetables No changeCan't say

Empowerment of women is visible

Have co

ntrol o

ver pr

oject

relate

d incom

e

Make all

decis

ions r

egard

ing sp

endin

g patt

ern

Can't s

ay0%

10%20%30%40%50%60%

0%

30% 34%

8%

27% 31%

49% 53%

12%

43%

17%23%

Poor Fair Good Excellent

Initially Now

Elders or men use to have control over income.

In 92% of the cases, either women or both husband and wife are controlling the income.

Less involved in decision making in the household.

More and active involvement in the household level decisions

Additional income

Marketing skills

Communication with more people

Recognition in the village

Involvement in household decisions

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

77%

65%

40%

68%

50%

23%

35%

60%

32%

50%

Increased self confidence levels

No % Yes %

• Self confidence levels of beneficiaries has increased a lot and they attribute their confidence to marketing skills and Additional income coming from greenhouse.• They also agree that are

being more recognised in the village if the produce from greenhouse is good.• Marketing skills have def.

helped as never before it happened that they were selling vegetables in winter.

Children's educa-tion

Re-investing in agriculture

Purchasing household assets

Gifts to relatives and neighbours

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

34%

6%2%

58%

Spending pattern

Spending pattern

• Mostly all the beneficiaries have spend their income (coming from greenhouse) on children’s education.• More than half of them keep

gifting the produce to their relatives or neighbours.• Villagers who don’t own a

greenhouse are the ones who receive these gifts, mostly.• There were very less

instances where beneficiaries have used this income to purchase household assets.

Yes No0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Store for future

Store for future

• More than 60% of the Chandramukhi users have stored the seeds for future usage of the same because of the healthy produce.• Around 30% did not store.

This number might contain those people who ended up their stock of seeds in that season.

Average Input

Average output-Before

Average output-After

Difference

3 begs 6 begs 15 begs 9 begs

Selling Price of vegetables Oct-Nov Mar-Apr Differenc

e

Potato Rs 15 Rs 40 Rs 25

Carrot Rs 12 Rs 30 Rs 18

Cabbage Rs 15 Rs 30 Rs 15

• Chandramukhi users have produced upto 5 times the average output which was earlier just twice.

Recommendations• Learnings ! Case studies of the best practices should be brought out.• Success stories ! Case studies on the success should be brought out.• To develop “sustainable” market linkages.• Contracts with Army or nearby hotels.• Niche markets should be targeted. Eg. Strawberry, Apricot, Sea buckthorn.• Brand development. Eg. Organic food. through leaflets etc.

• Ladakh has a potential to be a special agro-climatic zone for seed production and storage. The dry climate of Ladakh region with low moisture content has been identified as naturally suitable for preservation of seeds.

• Can be developed as a Seeds Export Promotion Zone.

• An opportunity for setting up a mechanism for organic certification and marketing for catering to growing domestic market, tourists and exports.

• Records should be maintained by Animators and SHGs to keep track of production quantities, income, expenses and profits for further studies.

• People are moving away from livestock which is a negative trend.

Recommendations/PotentialsAreas RecommendationsMarketing “niche” products

• High value crops such as apricot, sea buckthorn and strawberry should be targeted.

• Favorable climate.• High demand from outside Ladakh.• Branding strategies could be adopted similar to that of Kashmiri apples

and walnuts.

Developing sustainable market

• Contracts with Army or nearby hotels.• A detailed analysis of the supply chain could be carried out specifying the

conditions of purchase of the buyers in relation to quality, safety, quantity, packaging, transport and delivery and pricing and payment.

• What training and investments do they require to meet the above conditions?

• What arrangements can be made for farmers and buyers to meet, for buyers to visit farms and for farmers to see how their products are marketed and used?

Development of Seeds Export Promotion Zone

• Ladakh has a potential to be a special agro-climatic zone for seed production and storage.

• The dry climate of Ladakh region with low moisture content has been identified as naturally suitable for preservation of seeds.

Contd….Areas Recommendations

Promoting organic farming

• Disease/pest free environment translates into disease-free seeds and planting material for export, low/no pesticide costs and high yields under correct conditions.

• An opportunity for setting up a mechanism for organic certification and marketing for catering to growing domestic market, tourists and exports.

Improving management techniques

• Records should be maintained by Animators and SHGs to keep track of production quantities, income, expenses and profits for further studies.