LESSONS FROM SIKKIM- INDIA

Rome, October 1997

The study is based on the experience of the FAO Technical Cooperation Project entitled Development of Small-Scale Livestock Activities in Sikkim , India (TCP/IND/4451). The author wishes to acknowledge the substantial contributions to this project that were made by key project staff. The PRA team and extension staff responsible for village-based participatory activities during implementation were an exceptionally committed group, and deserve much credit for the successful completion of the project. They include P. H. Chettri, H. Chettri, B. B. Garung, P. Kafley, M. Rai, K. Ongmu, O. T. Namchoo, and R. K. Tamang. The Goat Development Officer, Mr. N. T. Lepcha, and the Project Liaison and Training Officer, Miss Durga Upreti, were outstanding in their dedication to the project, and in their resourcefulness under difficult circumstances. FAO staff, including C. L. Koenraadt and Simon Mack in Rome and Ms. Renuka Thaimni in Delhi, also recognized the importance of this project and worked hard to support it despite difficult communications and limited funding. The professionalism and expertise of fellow consultants Dr. Christie Peacock and Daw Chandra Devi Baral also deserve recognition. Finally, the participants themselves were the real stars of the project, and were able to improve the well-being of their families through their willingness to learn, and to work together toward a common goal.

The opinions expressed in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

PREFACE

The study is one of a series of background papers being prepared for a "Workshop on Gender and Participation in Agricultural Development Planning - Harvesting Best Practices" to be held in Rome in December of 1997. The Workshop will provide the opportunity to bring together nationals from a number of countries where FAO has tried to assist institutions and communities to support planning processes which are participatory and that address the different needs and priorities of rural women and men. The objectives of this workshop are to:

· compare and share experiences from different countries and thereby build capacity among institutions and organizations working in the agricultural sector to use participatory and gender sensitive approaches in agricultural planning;

· from this shared experience, potentially develop a framework or model for gender-responsive participatory agricultural development planning;

· share what was learned from this field experience with interested FAO technical divisions and explore linkages with complementary FAO programmes, such as the Special Programme for Food Security (SPSF)and the Socio-Economic and Gender Analysis Programme (SEAGA).

It is hoped that this case study will be of interest to others working on programmes and projects - especially in Sikkim - which seek effective ways to include rural women, their experience and their priorities in agricultural development processes.

ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS

I. Introduction

Activities focused on livestock breeding, and on training of agricultural and forestry extension staff and community development workers in a range of new approaches and methods. These included participatory assessment, planning, and monitoring; gender analysis; and rapid appraisal of tenure. As with other projects studied in this series, the training focused on looking at differences in access to various resources by gender and age. The training also emphasized applied, field-based practical tools and techniques to allow the trainees to explore the differences in the activities, constraints, and priorities between adult men and women, boys and girls, and elderly men and women. There were several main outputs and results of this project:

· training of a small group of mid-level Government of Sikkim (GOS) field staff that are capable of applying such techniques in future GOS projects, as well as training other GOS staff in the methods;

· training of low-income participants (primarily women and girls) in several villages in small-scale livestock rearing (e.g. goat and poultry production) and in resource conservation techniques;

· initiating a range of activities related to small-scale livestock production including goat-breeding with Jamnapuri bucks in two villages; promotion of stall-feeding and zero-grazing techniques; on-farm research into tree and field fodders; the introduction of Rhode Island Red (RIR) breeding stock in three villages; and monitoring the environmental and social impacts of these activities;

· raising the awareness of GOS higher-level officials in the benefits of participatory, gender-sensitive approaches and methods.

This project is worthy of examining as a case study because it had positive impacts that went beyond the original boundaries and scope of a modest TCP project. While originally conceived as a conventional livestock production and training project, it evolved over its short life span into a more comprehensive initiative with impacts that expanded beyond those first envisioned. Key to these expanded impacts were the participatory rural appraisals (PRAs) that were undertaken in several villages. The PRAs significantly enriched the information base about agricultural practices, gender roles and responsibilities, land and natural resource tenure in rural areas, natural resource use and condition, and seasonal cycles of food insecurity, risk, and indebtedness. Indeed, little applied field work had ever been undertaken at the subsistence level in Sikkim, and there was not much information available about farming systems or gender roles. The PRAs yielded a wealth of new information that was shared with at least five Government departments. The demonstrated success of the small-scale livestock activities, particularly in village poultry, further demonstrated to policy makers and to field extensionists through a series of interactive meetings the value of participatory, gender-responsive methods. As a result, the TCP project brought new insights, ideas, and field methods to the attention of policy makers at the middle and high levels throughout its lifetime. This was probably the first time in Sikkim that these issues received such attention.

The Development of Small-Scale Livestock Activities in Sikkim India project coincided with a period of renewed interest by the Government of India in development issues in Sikkim and the other northeastern Indian states. Both the Government of India and the state Government of Sikkim have recently put forward broad new policies of economic development, including strengthening of rural agricultural sectors, in this isolated corner of India. The state and national governments have adopted policies of strong support for minority tribes and scheduled castes, which make up a majority of the population in Sikkim. The project also coincides with a period of renewed interest in locally based participatory and gender-sensitive approaches.

The PRA and gender analysis methods used in this project represent a range of tools and techniques that were developed or adapted by various team members, including the author. The mix of tools and interdisciplinary techniques proved to be extremely useful and beneficial, not only in the PRA exercises, but also during monitoring activities. As with other projects in this case study series, this project was a powerful learning experience for all involved, from the participants who improved their skills and initiated their own mutual assistance activities; to the committed extension and community development workers who implemented the project on a day-to-day basis and were largely responsible for its success; to the consultants and FAO technical officers who set up the framework and training and provided support services; to the AHVS decision makers who had not quite thought through the implications of reorienting a project to target rural women and female headed households. And thus the purpose of this document is to review and compare the combined experience of this project with other case studies in the series, in order to share what was learned in terms of:

· building capacity within extension services to use gender-sensitive, participatory approaches;

· using participatory rural appraisal to enhance learning about gender based differences in agriculture; and

· mainstreaming gender issues in the Government of Sikkim, Government of India, and in other nations where gender differences are prominent in agricultural production and food security.

The organisation of the paper is modeled after others in this series. The case study begins in Section II with some background information on Sikkim, which may be unfamiliar to many readers. This is followed in Sections III and IV with a description of the project and its conceptual framework, and its implementation strategy. As with other case studies in this series, the analysis is organized around a discussion of six "challenges" what were inherent to or emerged during the process:

· the entry point, i.e., determining at what level to start and the implications that had for how to structure and support the process;

· the tools and methods that were used and how they worked in terms of learning about and documenting gender issues in agriculture;

· gender information, i.e. a brief analysis of the major findings from the PRA/gender analysis;

· capacity building, i.e. whose capacities were enhanced and what strategies and methods worked best to accomplish that task;

· linkages, i.e. how did the project promote linkages with planning processes; and

· institutionalisation, i.e. what changes did or should take place in order to create a more enabling environment for gender-responsive, participatory approaches to agricultural development planning.

In the final section, highlights of the main lessons learned are offered in the form of advice to others interested in supporting similar processes.

The author would like to stress that the methodology for writing this case study did not involve a formal evaluation process. As with the other case studies in this series, the document is instead based upon an understanding of the situation derived from the author's intermittent participation in the training activities, planning, implementation and monitoring of the project; much discussion with participants, Government counterparts and colleagues; and a review of project-related reports, field notes and other relevant documentation.