Cox's Bazar trainings on Project proposal writing, and Learning Cycle for the CMDRR project.

Dear friends,
Kindly click on the following links:

http://www.ziddu.com/download/16764283/ProjectProposalReport.pdf.html http://www.ziddu.com/download/16764284/LearningCycleReport.pdf.html

to download the final reports for two Cox's Bazar trainings Sept 18-22nd - Project proposal writing, and Learning Cycle for the CMDRR project.
Thankyou,
Michael.

Michael Chew
Climate Change and Environment Specialist
Concern Universal Bangladesh

House - 8 (4th & 5thfloor).
Road - 28, Block -K, Banani.
Dhaka - 1213, Bangladesh.
Cell: + 88 - 0175-547-8841       

Barisal field visit with Nepali Team

Concern Universal Bangladesh organized an exposure visit for partner organizations of Nepal on 1 -8 July, 2011. These partner organizations are part of the ‘Capacity Strengthening on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation’ project.

That was 3^rd exposure visit for its partner organizations. On that occasion the following 10 participants attended from Nepal:

·         Ramesh Prasad Timalsina – President, National Committee of Human Rights Education Club ( HRELIC), Nepal

·         Deepak Prasad Bashyal – Programme Coordinator, Hoste Hainse, Nepal

·         Mridula Sharma Dhakal – President, Women and Children Development Forum

( WCDF), Nepal

·         Tilottam Paudel – President, Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN)

·         Sharmilla Ranabhat – Vice Treasurer, Hoste Hainse, Nepal

·         Bhuvan Poudel – President, Volunteer Aid, Nepal

·         Kabita Rai – Vice President, CWIN Youth Forum, Nepal

·         Vidya Sagar Pandey – Member, Jagriti Child and Youth Concern, Nepal (JCYCN)

·         Rama Ale Magar – President, HIMAWANTI, Nepal

·         Gita Bohara – General Secretary,HIMAWANTI, Nepal

   

On 3 July participants went to visit at Natun Char village in Babugonj Upazilla, Barishal. They meet Natun Char CMDRR Committee on that day. INDAB one of the partner NGO’s of Concern Universal Bangladesh. They found the following observations when speaking to the village people:

Ø  Village livelihoods- men mainly fishing, women have some small eggs and poultry to sell at market

Ø  Village has been at current location for around 20 years. But there is continual erosion so the landscape is always changing

Ø  Community Learning Centre (CLC) is nearby – it is used for facilitating knowledge sharing and training

Ø  Community lost everything in Sidr (2007), but after practicing CMDRR, damage was reduced by 40% in Aila (2009) compared to neighbouring village

Ø  There are many connections between this village and the next one, opportunity for positive influence knowledge sharing

Ø  They raise money for adaptation actions through each person contributing 10-20 taka a month

Ø  Village woman – trainer, trained by INDAB, she trained villages in action planning, risk analysis, as well as practical actions -> preserving vegetables, protecting tube wells etc

Ø  Previously they had heard of several of the adaptation practices, but had not seen the effectiveness of them first hand

Ø  Key positive effect on village apart from technical ability was that the training/engagement brought the village together, they feel strong sense of community, mutually help each other

The committee is practicing some adaptation techniques. These are:

Ø  Houses on raised stilts

Ø  Second story houses

Ø  Raised garden/hay storage beds

Ø  Strengthened house fitting (ropes and gaps sealed)

Ø  Portable stove

Ø  Burying valuables in water-proof bag

Ø  Early warning Monitoring with radio and tv news warnings

Ø  Hand-megaphone for alerting community

Ø  Tie up tubers and crops

Ø  No cyclone shelter in area, so they use schools (after getting agreement from schools authority), and some strong/rich houses instead (rich people can be ‘village philanthropists’)

Ø  Planting more banana trees near waterline to provide a wind break.  Can also make very simple boats out of banana skin

Afterward, they visited in Babugonj Girls Pailot High School, where INDAB has been continuing their DRR programme in Schools. Their interventions are:

Ø  Curriculum includes CC/DRR                        

Ø  Focus on all stages – pre-disaster, during, and post-disaster, gender sensitivity – eg girls/women more vulnerable due to hair and clothes

Ø  Girls can be change agents in their community through personal connection/conversations – as they are educated, people respect them

Ø  INDAB would like to expand the education program and are seeking grants and assistance for this.

Following this, the exposure team attended a sharing meeting in INDAB office. Mr. Tilottam President of Jagriti Child and Youth Concern Nepal (JCYCN), thanked Concern Universal Bangladesh and as well as INDAB for arranging the visit. During his speech he said, “This kind of programme will increase the intellectual exchange between the Nepal and Bangladesh. We are very happy to learn many things from Bangladeshi community. We will try to apply some from them in our country.”

PGUK is another Partner NGO in Kuakata, the exposure team visited their Panjupara VLDMC (Village Level Disaster Management Committee) on 4 July. The following observations were made about the community:

Ø  Located in highly vulnerable area very close to Bay of Bengal. (500m) for around 16 years

Ø  PGUK has been involved for 2 years, initially running a Community Based project, now transitioning to Community Managed

Ø  They have CMDRR committee with president, vice- president and secretary

Ø  They demonstrated their hazards ranking sheet – which cyclones and floods as their main hazards

Ø  Hazard assessment form

Ø  Capacity assessment

Ø  They lost almost everything in Sidr, then the PGUK project started to build their capacity.  Previously learnt 2yrs ago at project’s start how to rise houses (have done approx 16 so far), they were a lot more prepared for Aila.

Ø  Monitoring of plan – if it goes beyond their own capacity, then it goes to UP management committee to ask for resources

Ø  Social map of village – updated every 6 months

Ø  So far only external relationship of PGUK is with UP in area, they have aims to expand this

Ø  Challenges in current action plan – tube wells draw up saline water, the UP could not assist them with this

Ø  Currently 45 volunteers total, trained by PGUK to educate the community, with access to small equipment (megaphones etc)

Some recommendation from Exposure Team:

Ø  Should have a committee/club for young people so that they can develop their life skills while raising awareness of CMDRR

Ø   The community’s own CMDRR committee should responsible for all responsibilities, Respective NGOs role will be only facilitating.

Ø  To increase the effectiveness of the existing school program, classroom project activities should be introduced.  Class projects could be exhibited publically to raise exposure

Ø  How to replicate the learnings from these villages? One example - the villages can share their stories to inspire neighbouring villages to take action

Ø  How to make the CMDRR process sustainable for the long term, after the project has finished?  One example - the CMDRR committee needs to function well and have the community’s support. It should make links with other local organizations to strengthen its actions, and to access resources.

Reported by,

Masud Rana

Sub-Districts Level Sharing Meeting at Amtali Upzila under Barguna District

As a partner of Concern Universal, Nazrul Smriti Sangsad (NSS) organized a sub-district level sharing meeting on “Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation” at Amtali Upzila under Barguna districts. Upzila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) attended as a Chief Guest of the meeting, this meeting was held on 03 July 2011 at Amtali Upzila conference room. Another meeting was held on 04 July 2011 at Babugong Upzila conference room under Barisal district organized by Integrated Development Association of Bangladesh (INDAB) one of our capacity building partner organizations. At This meeting the Upzila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Babugong upzila attended as a Chief Guest. Representative from sub-district administration, disaster management department, several non-government organization, civil society organization, educational institution representative and community people also attended in that meeting.  

 

UNO of Babuganj Upozila

Upzila Chairman of  Babugong Upzila

Training Report on “Local Resource Mobilization and Management”

Group photo of Training

The training on “Local Resource Mobilization and Management” was designed and provided for the staff of Bangladeshi PNGO name CARITAS, AVAS, DRO, SHAPLAFUL, INDAB, POPI, SEBA, SEDA, IDEAL, NSS, MJF. This training course was designed, developed and conducted by Concern Universal-Bangladesh for the “Capacity Strengthening on Community Managed Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation” Project by the financial assistance from Cordaid, Netherlands. 4^th – 5^th July, 2011, two days long residential training was took place in AVAS Training Center, Barisal, Bangladesh.

Group Photo of Training

The goal of the training was to develop knowledge and skills for the effective mobilization of human and other resources for enhancing the participating Organizations’ capacity (internal and external), and to implement the Project.
The broad objective of the training course was to enhance knowledge and skills on Local Resource mobilization & Management, ability to analyze resource provider, resource management activities and also to develop an action plan.

The Objectives of the Training:

·               Describe the definition, standards and outline of Resource and Resource Mobilization.

·               Identify the types of resources and resource providers.

·               Differentiate the mechanisms of Resource Mobilization and their advantages and disadvantages. Also to evaluate the effectiveness of the mechanisms used within one's own Organization.

·               Analyze the factors that motivate the resource providers.

·               Find out the gaps between Resource Mobilization and the Organization's strategy and evaluate the state of Resource Mobilization in one's Organization.

·               Map the Resource Providers and collect information essential for Resource Mobilization.

·               Develop an Action Plan for Resource Mobilization.

Group works

The discussion and presentations were interesting and assessable to the participants. The major topics of the training were as follows:

• Definition of Resource and Resource Mobilization, Types/ classification of Resources
• Moral aspects of Resource Mobilization
• Importance of Resource Mobilization, Features of Resource Mobilization
• Outline of Resource Mobilization

-       Mechanism of Resource Mobilization

            -    Resources

            -   Types Resource Providers

• Analysis of factors that motivate Resource Providers
• Identification of Resource Gaps, Gap between Resource Mobilization & Strategic Planning
• Management of Resources

                        -   Transparency (policies. Guidelines, procedures, agreement)

            -   Compliance / Approval

            -    Accounting (Cash/ Bank Management) / audit

            -   Tax (if appropriate)

            -  Communication / Nurturing

            -  Budget

            -  Reporting

• Mapping Resource Providers and Information Collection
• Development of Resource Mobilization Action Plan.

Different participatory methods/techniques were applied in the training course to ensure the involvement of all of the participants and also to make their learning process interesting.  The methods used were: Lecture, Discussion (Groups, pairs and open), Brain-storming, Group presentation, Question & Answer, Games.

Pair group discussion

The main benefits of this training were – effective participatory methods were practiced, participants’ were very enthusiastic, assessable learning materials were supplied in every session, classroom facilities and the learning environment was friendly, the training programme was well organized, support facilities were good, and finally the relationships both between the facilitators and participants’, and between the participants, were very positive for learning.

Participants expressed their expectations and fears about the training through card writing. Most of these expectations were very close to the set objectives. Participant's expectations and fears were diverse but fell under particular clusters. These were:

# Primary concepts of Resource Mobilization & its types, necessity for CMDRR

# How to develop a Resource Mobilization Action Plan

# Mechanisms of Resource Mobilization

# Types of Resource Providers & the techniques to motivate the Resource Providers

# Management of Resources

# How to use the resources in CMDRR

Feedback from participants revealed that this training will help them to provide a better form of service in their communities. They will now be able to identify & mobilize the right resource providers who will be able to provide the resources, and will also be capable to manage these resources in the right way, in the right time. 

Reported by,

Masud Rana

Clay pellet method of rice cultivation maximises yield

The Hindu, 30.06.2011 by M. J. Prabu

The Hindu NO HELP: Ram Abhilash (left) making clay pellets along with his family members. Photo: Special Arrangement

Farmers need not wait for monsoon to start sowing under this method

“In our culture, innovation is dubbed as craziness, but our success lies in identifying more 'crazy' people so that the innovation revolution can spread across the country. The present generation is fast losing out on scientific knowledge. In the last several years we are losing much such affordable scientific knowledge due to sheer neglect,” says Prof K. Anil Gupta, Vice Chairman, National Innovation Foundation, Ahmedabad.

Lack of support

“Funds crunch, lack of adequate assistance from government officials and private sector firms, and lack of awareness among people are the main deterrents in identifying such rural innovations as a national movement,” adds Prof Anil, who calls for considerable more interest from science and technology institutions in validating, value adding in people-driven knowledge and innovations.

Besides being cost-effective and eco-friendly, these potential scientific discoveries need to be commercialised and even exported, adds Prof Anil.

Source of idea

Take the example of a simple farmer Ram Abhilash Patel from Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. Mr. Ram developed a concept of sowing paddy seeds inserted in clay pellets. The farmer claims that he got this idea from within the household.

“I noticed that children made clay pellets for playing and used to throw them away. Suddenly during monsoon, I used to notice a small seedling growing from the wet pellet.

“This inspired me to try using the same method for growing paddy,” he explains.

Finding the right kind of clay soil posed a problem. Other soil types tend to break under pressure while pushing the paddy seeds into them.

Germinate well

The seeds can be easily inserted inside clay and remain safe during sowing and later germinate well.

Pond or river soil is mixed thoroughly with 3-4 paddy seeds to make small balls of pellets. The pellets are made during April - May and dry within 2-3 hours.

“Pond soil is very fertile and helps in minimizing weeds,” explains Mr. Patel. The farmer is practising this method for the last 15 years and impressed by it, many others in the region are doing the same. “The pellets can be sown manually or by using a seed drill. Rows are made facing east to west or vice-versa so that the germinating plant gets ample air and sunlight. This method saves both time and money and the need to prepare a nursery for paddy plants does not arise,” he says. By adopting the conventional nursery method, paddy crops take approximately 160 days to mature while using this technique it takes only about 145 days.

Waiting time reduced

Farmers need not wait for monsoon to start sowing under this method. As pond/ river soil, is fertile, the dependence on fertilizers is reduced and as the seeds are in a mud shell they are protected from birds etc. The process also saves water as no standing water is needed in the field.

Better output

“Most importantly, the output gets maximized by this method. Mr. Ram Abhilash proved experimentally by cultivating paddy in a field by all three methods namely pellet, nursery, and direct sowing. The paddy production using these methods was 1.7, 1.5 and 1.4 tonnes respectively,” says Prof Anil. Though some products are being commercially manufactured and exported, there are millions of ideas such as Mr. Ram's, waiting for assistance in terms of funds, technical and design support.

For more details contact Mr. Ram Abhilash Patel, Vill. Tikari, Po. Kanti, Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh 212107, Mobile: 08127199855.

India: Tribal 'seed mothers' confront climate insecurity

In the eastern state of Orissa, women are advocating traditional farming methods using locally cultured seed varieties and bio fertilizers. These women are spreading awareness about the resilience of these seeds against drought and water-logging.

Bhubaneswar: In eastern Orissa state’s tribal hinterlands about 200 ‘seed-mothers’ are on mission mode - identifying, collecting and conserving traditional seed varieties and motivating farming families to use them.

The seed-mothers (bihana-maa in the local dialect) from the Koya and Kondh tribal communities have reached 1,500 families in the Malkangiri and Kandhamal districts and are still counting. These women are formidable storehouses of knowledge on indigenous seeds and biodiversity conservation.

Collecting, multiplying and distributing through exchange local varieties of paddy, millet, legume, vegetables and leafy green seeds, the seed-mothers already have a solid base of 80 converted villages.

As they spread their message through the hinterland, targeting another 140 villages, the women also promote zero dependence on chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Considering that Malkangiri is Orissa’s least developed district, with literacy at a low 50% and isolated by rivers, forests, undulating topography and poor connectivity, the achievement of the seed-mothers is admirable.

Confronting climate insecurity:

The struggles of Malkangiri farmers with climate change is visible in the Gudumpadar village where seed-mothers are passionately reviving agricultural heritage and convincing the community to stay with local seeds and bio-fertilisers and pesticides.

"This is the best way to cope with erratic rainfall, ensure the children are fed and avoid the clutches of moneylenders," says 65-year-old seed-mother Kanamma Madkami of Kanjeli village, who has multiplied 29 varieties of local millet and paddy seeds.

Mangu Adari, 35, who owns less than two hectares of rain-fed land, some of it on a hill slope, is one of the new converts to local seeds. Last monsoon he could cultivate paddy, millet, beans and pulses on only half his land due to late and heavy rains. This year he hopes to have a surplus to take to the market to sell for badly needed cash.

"This is the best way to cope with erratic rainfall, ensure the children are fed and avoid the clutches of moneylenders" says 65-year-old seed-mother Kanamma Madkami

"Local plants are products of centuries of adaptation to local climate and soil characteristics, hence, indigenous paddy holds out to drought for 30 days compared to 15 days by high-yield hybrid varieties," explains Kusum Misra, coordinator in Orissa for Navdanya, a network of seed-keepers spread over 16 Indian states and supported by 54 community seed banks.

Similarly paddy grown traditionally in the lowland can survive two weeks of water logging while highland paddy varieties yield quick harvests in just 60 days, compared to the 125 days for hybrid paddy, Misra said.

Restoring agricultural heritage

Based in rice-rich Balasore district, Misra has collected and propagated more than 65- varieties of traditional paddy, including strains of aromatic rice, those with resistance to salinity (for coastal farming), floods and droughts and some with medicinal properties.

The traditional varieties respond to natural fertilisers and pesticides; and if seeds are preserved properly the farmer actually has access to no-cost farming. "When they own the seeds farmers can time the sowing or even resort to a second round of sowing if needed," says Kanamma.

"By keeping procurement prices for traditional varieties low the government discourages their farming; one reason being that rice millers prefer uniform sizes and varieties of paddy. Also, government hybrid seed outlets have sales targets to be met," says Misra.

Omprakash Rautaraya, chairperson of the Organisation for Rural Reconstruction and Integrated Social Service Activities, a non-profit responsible for reviving the concept of seed-mothers, says that methodical "seed mapping of local varieties and prioritising them on the basis of usage, cropping patterns and water requirement has made multi-cropping possible".

With a mix of six to 14 crops grown simultaneously, even during the frequent droughts, upland farms now harvest at least two crops.

Promoting indigenous seeds

Seed-mothers need little more than a backyard patch to propagate seeds and supplement family nutrition. Kausalya Madakami of Malkangiri’s Manga village developed 57 varieties of food plants and exchanged them too.

Annual community seed fairs, organised right after the monsoon harvest, help promote and exchange traditional seeds and knowledge. Here the seed-mothers cook and showcase various traditional items made from indigenous paddy and millet.

Annual community seed fairs, organized right after the monsoon harvest, help promote and exchange traditional seeds and knowledge

Tribal women are re-learning the traditional ways of seed preservation from the seed-mothers. Vegetable seeds are smeared with wood ash, bitter begonia or neem leaf powder and stored in hollow bamboo poles while paddy and millet are safe in jute bags hung from rafters. Pre-sowing treatment may involve cow-dung and cow urine or the use of ivy gum as anti-fungal and pest repellant. 

Poor seed quality marketed by the government is a real worry. The government’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in a status report on seed development released in March carried data showing falling rice production in six eastern states, including Orissa - the rice bowl of the country.

In Orissa, the seed germination rate for regular paddy is just 55% and may drop as low as 25%. According to the NABARD report, land under cultivation in the state is shrinking and poor quality seeds and increasing floods and droughts are making farming increasingly un-remunerative.

Well-known environmental activist and founder of Navdanya, Vandana Shiva, told IPS that "climate resilient seeds in women's hands are vital to climate security and corporations that have taken out some 1,600 patents on climate resilient seeds are bio-pirates". 

"Allowing corporations to hijack and monopolize seed supply is a recipe for food insecurity and climate insecurity," Shiva averred.

Source : IPS

Workshop on –‘ Local resource mobilization and Management’ & PMEL:

Concern Universal – Bangladesh organized a four days workshop on –‘Local resource mobilization and Management’ & PMEL. This was held in the Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal, India. Partner organizations from West Bengal and Assam send their 17 participants in that workshop. First 2 days , 13^th and 14^th June, 2011 were fixed for the trainings on - Local resource mobilization and Management. The training session was very compact and the subjects of discussions were very vast but participants were charged with the deliverable by the trainers. After the end of the trainings they got an idea on developing knowledge and skills for effective mobilization of human and other resources for enhancing Organizations capacity and also learnt its implementations.

There were many group discussions and group activities on finding gaps, making strategic planning etc. At the end of the session they submitted a draft action plan for resource Mobilization.

On15th June, there was a new session on – Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation Learning. This was new ideas to many of the participants. So , Masud bhai, trainer from CU-B discussed some preliminary concepts with them. There were discussions and brainstorming on issues like- development – its process and partners, assessing developments, participatory developments  and its type, participation in monitoring and evaluations, etc. On the last day, most of the issues was discussed and explained by another trainer, Sabrin Sultana from CU-B. She also conducted a session where the participants discussed their leanings and also clarified their doubts. Some times, Mr. Sufian also accompanied her. This session was ended on 16^th June.  

In these four days, participants learnt a lot as well as many new ideas came out. There was some signings, dancing, and some drama. Though, these participants came from the different places of Bengal and Assam but they became a team. Both the trainers and trainees stayed in the same hotels so there were discussion after the session. Sometimes, the debate lasted up to mid night. …the learning became joyful learning !

Reported by:

Snehamay Mondal,

RLSK, Gosaba, WB, India