COHESIO

N F

OUNDATIO

N T

RUST

Striving fo

r Holis

tic D

evelopment

Annual Report

2018-19

www.cohesionfoundation.org

This year has been quite vibrant not only nationally but internationally too. This has been the last year of NDA Government before the parliament elections in April/May 2019. Internationally, commitment to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the year 2030 has been giving a road map to different countries for taking appropriate policies and plans in that direction. There have been new conflicts emerging, but silver linings have also been there in form of peace talks. There have also been changes in the design of programs in India in the core social sectors – health and education. There has also been demand for increasing employment opportunities. The leadership has also been witnessing changes in different spheres with youth making efforts to get involved for bringing social, economic and political changes.

The jargons of humanitarian sector have changed but the underlying vulnerability of those who are not represented remains the same. Cohesion, though a tiny entity in such macro environment, cannot work in its silo and comfort zone and has to undertake a requisite role. We are strongly committed to achieving the SDGs through our work.

With expansion to 69 new villages in Kutchh and Surendranagar district in the year 2018-19, Cohesion team had a very busy year. Getting funds although is becoming very challenging these days but the promotion of Corporate Social Responsibility by the government is a sigh of relief as many windows of opportunities have opened up. To continue working in areas which are vulnerable and to reach out to other areas as well, we are proactively trying to tap such resources. Cohesion continues to be a trusted partner of AIF, ActionAid, IGSSS, NABARD, John Deere and UNICEF who have again committed resources for the coming year, while recent partnerships with Reach to Teach UK and WWF India are getting established and streamlined.

I laud the team for their continued association with Cohesion, many of whom have been with us for more than a decade and not to forget the fresh perspective and energy of new team members.

I also welcome the new all women Board of Cohesion Ms Neha Trivedi, Ms Alice Morris and Dr Ms Meena Bilgi. With extensive experience in different facets of development sector, we humbly value their support and guidance in our endeavors. In the end, I reiterate our commitment to work with major players in empowerment and development, such as Government, bi & multi-lateral agencies, other international organizations, different networks and CSRs. The vulnerable communities, the reason for our existence, continue to remain the nucleus of our partnership.

Rajesh KapoorCEO

FOREWORD

01

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PROGRAMMES

1.1 EDUCATION AND CHILD RIGHTS

Learning & Migration Programme - LAMP Pathways

Education & Community Programme

Education My Right

1.2 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

The Working Group for Women & Land Ownership

1.3 AGRICULTURE

Sustainable Standards in Cotton Farming

WADI: A Model for Integrated Development of Tribal Families

1.4 HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT

FINANCES

Inclusive Cities for Urban Poor: Women Domestic Workers of Slums

Tribal Women Development

01

02

03

04

05

06

08

09

10

11

12

13

14

16

12

Breaking Stereotypes

Matkiphod is a sport that celebrates the birth of Krishna, the eighth avatar

of Vishnu. It is celebrated every August/September, the day after Krishna Janmashtami. It involves

communities hanging an earthen pot filled with dahi (yogurt) or other milk-based delicacy, at a convenient or difficult to reach height. Young men

and boys form teams, make a human pyramid and attempt to reach or

break the pot. As they do so, girls surround them, sing with music,

and cheer them on.

PROGRAMMESGirls participating in

Matkiphod event in village

02

Education is important for the personal, social and economic development of the nation as it empowers minds that will be able to conceive good thoughts and ideas.

Cohesion has been working for education since 2005 with a strong belief that it is the right of every child irrespective of the hardships in their surroundings or within their families.

1.1 EDUCATION AND

CHILD RIGHTS

Gujarat

149Villages, Kutchh and Banaskantha district

Basic Access Support

Improving school attendance

Parental engagement

Reducing drop-outs

Promoting Girls' education

Maharashtra

09 Villages, Pune Rural

Quality Learning

Promoting Girls' education

School Infrastructure Development

EDUCATION OUTREACH

Community engagement, Training for

quality teaching, Provision of quality

learning materials, Networking and

advocacy, Solutions for all stages of child

development.

Change Strategies

The education providers should rise up to diminish these hardships and make education available and accessible to all.For the girl who grows up poor in a remote rural area, staying in school and learning can protect her from child marriage, intimate-partner violence and continued poverty. For the boy who lives in an urban slum, schooling instead of child labor can provide him with the skills needed for a better-paying and more fulfilling job as an adult(UNICEF).The two geographies that we cover in Gujarat viz. Kutchh and Banaskantha have two differences in terms of issues related to education. On one hand migration affects continuous schooling in migration prone villages of Kutchh thus leading to drop out. Whereas on the other hand patriarchy and strong rooted cultural practices such as early marriage prevent girls from continuing education beyond elementary.

Empowering Adolescents

Motivating Girls for

regularity in schools

03

4

Learning & Migration Programme - LAMP Pathways

Footfall at Village level

Science Fair

Children SMC members

Parents PRI members

3921 1351152 70

The Community Learning ResourceCentres (LRC) help to cover learning deficits and improved learning levels through innovative Teaching and Learning Material (TLM) and activities conducted across the elementary schools covered by LRC Facilitators.

Science fairs were organised in 25 villages covered through LRC. The aim was to create awareness among parents and motivate them to send their children to school on regular basis. The major activi t ies during the event was Community meeting, Demonstration of s c i e n c e m o d e l s , B a n k m o d e l , Handicrafts, Best from waste, Height andweight measurement besides many others.

We provide continuous learning support into secondary for Grades 9-10 in select subjects and content areas to enable students to overcome learning obstacles and improve their self-study, exam

Grade 7 students exploring Newton's Law of Motion through TLM at resource centre

Children showing their aspirations on 15th August

Meeting of Adolescent Girls' Group

Grade 7-8 students trying to understand the path ofelectricity

School Governance

27Government seasonal hostels monitored

14 SDPs submitted

SMCs &SMDCs strengthened

815

Improvement in learning

increase in number of children in higher

category at the time of endline compared

to baseline

17%

People trained

324 SMC Members

PRI Members

Youth Volunteers

081

162

360Girls engaged in group

activities through Adolescent Girls' Groups

Since 2005

81Villages of Rapar & Bhachau Taluka

of Kutch district

25 Elementary Schools

05 Secondary Schools

2600+LRC Children

(1650 from grade7- 8950 from grade 9 -10)

84% Retention in Hostels Out of 100 children identified at risk of migration

63% Retained in seasonal Hostels

456 304Boys Girls

21% Stayed with family members

456 304Boys Girls

16% Migrated with Parents126Boys 66 Girls

Out of this 84% Children

04

The role of community and the education system in bringing the desired changes in overall education scenario is as important as working with the children to improve their education. In 2018 Cohesion partnered with Reach to Teach for education and community programme called Udaan.

The project has Community Facilitators in all 40 villages who establish a positive environment between communities and schools. At school level there are Teaching and Learning Facilitators who are responsible for supporting teachers in delivering quality education to the children. Five project clusters have been established with each cluster having eight schools.

Education and Community Programme

Launched various toolkits in the year used as TLM in all 40 school during the year. Maths Toolkit strategies were useful to clear misconceptions of children in maths.

The Toolkits consists of Maths and Language classroom materials designed to boost learning, attendance and overcome common learning misconceptions.

Praveshotsav (enrollment) programmes with schools and their follow up was done where total 1029 students were enrolled in standard 1 out of which 29 students were identified and enrolled by project team. Average attendance of std 1 children during 1st month was 87%. As Diwali (A Hindu festival) break approaches, there is sudden fall in attendance after the break.

The efforts of team resulted into 280 students returning back to their villages before the reopening of schools. There was 68% average Attendance during 1st week of school reopening in std 1 to 8. The project has also installed 884 Attendance Buddies and 300 potential volunteers in 40 schools.Parental engagement is achieved through Mohalla Meetings and involving parents in Annual Day celebration. More than 60% parents of the 40 schools were covered through Mohalla Meetings. 21 Schools celebrated Annual Day where 3360 adults and 5170 pupils participated including teachers, Govt Officials, Pupils, parents, SMC Members, PRI members and Village Leaders.

The main objectives

Udaan

To promote high quality teaching and learning processes in the Standards 1 to 5 classes of the government schools

To ensure regularity of children of school going age through community and parental engagement

To ensure a protective environment for children within the project schools

Villages26 Schools40Children 9000+

Lot of emphasis is given upon training and capacity building of Government Teachers (GT). Government Teachers Professional Development Program (GTPDP) was organised three times in a year for Professional Development of all GTs of Std 1 - 4 across project schools.

283 teachers participated in these trainings. The impact of these trainings has been Observed in GT's behaviour while dealing with children and other teachers. GT's could learn various teaching & learning strategies which supports them in their classroom del ivery. GTs could understand chi ldren misconceptions in mathematics and language and support them to clear the doubts using different strategies.Pragna Training was also given to develop better understanding and to support GTs in Pragna class 1-2

05

Children participating in a programme launch event in school of Bhachau taluka

Head Teachers Meeting in Bhachau

As child protection is one very important aspect for the project, Orientation and training of project s ta f f , Head Teachers and Government Teachers on child protection was carried out.

Child Protection

A very distinctive feature of our work in Bansakantha is that we are working with the existing systems of service delivery in education and we have been able to develop synergies with the stakeholders at village level, block level and district level. Working since 2016 in partnership with UNICEF, we have developed a beautiful model for emphasizing the rightful place of a child of school going age-SCHOOL.

With the slogan of darek balak shala ma hoye (Every child in school), the programme has been able to engage community and schools in building an environment conducive to innovations in each day of the school - the aim being continuous improvement in attendance, retention and transition in schools and promoting education which is inclusive and gender responsive.

Education My Right

Life skill education for adolescent girls

Mapping strategies for transition and strong networking with government department

Direct parent counseling for reducing drop-outs and irregular children

The focus

Strengthen adolescents and generate evidences for transition through

community engagement.

Identification of

Problems

732 Drop-out ChildrenIdentified

Lack of Amenities inSchool

349Boys 383Girls

Mapping

The mapping activity was done at two levels. First to identify the amenities present within the school and the requirements. The result of this mapping was later shared with the SMCs so that they can include the needs in the School Development Plans. Second mapping was done to identify and plot the location of children who are irregular or dropped out. The output maps acted as a roadmap for the rounds of one to one parent meetings, hamlet wise meetings and meeting the SMC members to influence them in ensuring regularity of their children. Based on this map Cohesion staff listed the name of such children with information regarding their age, grade, reason for not coming and address.In some cases where it was found that family is not supporting, we tried to find out the relatives who had influence on the decision-making process and used their help to advocate the issue. In some cases, the results were very positive and the children started going to school.

School Infrastructure

Irregular and Drop-outChildren

Mapping Exercise

Outcome Children regularized

Customized Solutions

Village level group meetings with parents

One to One meetings with the families

Meetings with the Children

Maps converted into list of issues & shared with SMC

15Because ofGroup Meetings

22Because of child-parent counselling

25 Because of one to onemeetings with parents

40Girls admitted inKGBV in hostels

Outcome

- Children Regularized

Interventions

Parental Engagement

The mapping exercise was used to list out children with details so that their parents can be contacted.

Three methods were used:

Group meetings in hamlets

Meeting the mother and father in the house

Meeting with the children directly after parental consent

06

A school map made by school children in a mapping exercise

School children involved in a mapping exercise

Education My RightLife skill education to Adolescents

Cohesion has made 43 adolescent girls groups at school level in which 1238 girls are members and 35 groups are in villages in which 1024 girls are members which are mostly out of school girls. There are three groups of adolescent boys having 79 boys.

31 existing groups having 473 members at ICDS centers were also activated to extend the learning of the project to these girls.Various activities that are undertaken with the girls cover issues ranging from life skills, career guidance, skill development, gender, hygiene and menstrual hygiene.

Total 90 training benefitted 2906 girls and 322 boys. Leadership, asking questions, gender difference awareness, how to change gender stereotypes.

Unique concept of breaking gender stereotypes was planned in Ruvel village by Girls' group. The Matkiphod on the occasion of Janmashtmi (Lord Krishna's birth) was done exclusively by girls from Adolescent groups, while boys cheered them. The girls fearlessly formed a human pyramid to reach the top and completed the ritual. With participation of 700 community members the programme was organised completely by villagers with support from SMCs and schools.

Class V, VIII, X and XII are the key grades where if the children are not followed up for their attendance, they become irregular and eventually drop. To ensure that children especially girls do not drop out during these transition stages three girls from each class are awarded for maximum attendance every quarter. This has led to significant increase in the attendance of girls.

Schools themselves started such quarterly events even for boys. More than 1100 girls were rewarded for their regular and highest attendance setting an example for others to follow.

Matkifod Program by Adolescence Girl's

Group:

Setting examples through highest attendance champions

SMC StrengtheningWe carry out regular capacity building programmes for SMCs besides meeting them every month with special focus on women members. There are 1126 SMC members from 91 SMCs in our project area and we try to meet more than 300 members every month. We have formed their network and this year as SMCs were re-elected and there are new members in most of the schools, we carried out activities related to their capacity building and making them aware of their roles and responsibilities.

Capacity building of the SMC network was undertaken in 70 schools of 36 villages. Total members who remained present for the same were 141. Out of which 109 were males and 32 females. To increase participation of women SMC members, special meetings at village level were organised.

SMC network meeting was planned on 30th August 2018 and total 71 SMC members participated in it. This was the first meeting of the SMC network. Care was taken that women's participation is encouraged. Taluka Primary Education Officer, Block Resource Coordinators, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya team and UNICEF team members were present and detailed planning to form new SMC network was undertaken.

Second meeting of the SMC network was carried out in March where 44 members from 32 villages participated.

Doosri Azadi1st - 9th October 2018

A second enrolment drive to enroll the drop and irregularchildren and include them in the schools and support

the enrolment drive programme of Government.253 children were made regular.

The mapping exercise carried out at school level gave information regarding irregular children in the schools. Based on this information we carried out meeting with 483 parents and 458

children in 40 villages to sensitizes them regarding regular attendance in schools.

We carried out street plays through a team of local artists. More than 23000 people were present during these plays across 41 villages. These plays highlighted the importance of education, regular attendance and girls' education through witty dialogues and local jargons Feb: From 12th to 14th February 2019, entire

project team went on exposure to Doosra Dashak.

The residential classes run by Doosra Dashak for 4 months especially for drop out girls motivated the team. The team

returned with lot of learnings which will be useful in Cohesion's area of work.

On 18th December 2018, a training programme on Child Friendly School Systems was imparted to 61 SMC network members including 14 women members. These members represented 40 villages of Kankrej block and project target area. The training was imparted by education expert from UNICEF. American India Foundation and Cohesion had planned state level SMC convention in which twelve SMC members from our project participated along with the staff.

SMC network training on Child Friendly School Systems

Girls of Saraswati Adolescent Group of Dudhasan Upper Primary School participating in group building activity 07

Highest attendance awards to girls.

1.2 WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

A Wadi beneficiary woman has made her own greenhouse for growing grafts for her nursery

As the burst of population in cities has not been in proportion to the growth in infrastructure, the poor working in informal sector are the worst affected. We have been working with the urban poor of Raipur, Chhattisgarh since 2014. This year as a departure from the earl ier intervention approaches, collectivization of workers and slum-dwellers has been the principal strategy of the Samaveshi Sheher approach and urban poor's vulnerability has been mapped and defined in terms of residential, occupational and social vulnerability.

The project reaches out to 4300 urban poor residents through strengthening their identity as residents and workers, through facilitation of democratic participation in urban governance, livelihood enhancement and advocacyin four slum settlements. The theory of change is formation, capacity building and strengthening of community-based organizations (CBOs) who in turn are the ones leading local community level, and city level initiatives, and engaging with the urban local governance mechanisms to improve the situations in their community.

The project has formed eight local level community collectives. Among eight groups, two groups are of construction workers and rest are Domestic Workers. To identify their issues a digital baseline survey was carried out in seven hamlets of Kota and Santoshi Nagar, Raipur. IGSSS provided training for digital collection of baseline data in SewaSadan; Kolkotta. We had six federation members and two youth volunteers who supported in data collection.

The Collectives function as self-sufficient, sustainable and democratic spaces for local participation in urban governance. Their meetings have been regularised as a result of continuous support and motivation provided by Cohesion team. Three collectives from Kota slum and one collective of Santoshi Nagar slum are functioning with self-sufficiency due to linkage with NULM activities .

08

Cohesion has been working in tribal blocks of South Gujarat since 2012 with an objective of reinstating women's identity as women, tribal and farmers.

Working in 50 villages, the project has reached 15000 women, men and children.

Tribal Women Development

Cohesion promoted women federation, Bal Panchayats (Childrens’ Parliament) and Youth groups are actively engaged in village level activities and many of the members participate in state and national level consultations and workshops.

Women federation Ujaas Mahila Khedut Sangh and Cohesion have been part of National and State level networks.

Ujaas along with Working Group of Women and Land Ownership and Mahila Kisan Adhikaar Manch (Forum for Women Farmers' Rights) is also doing policy and advocacy work on women farmers.

Cohesion is the secretariat of Ekal Nari Shakti Manch (Single Women's Forum). This forum covers ten villages from three districts of Gujarat. The fellows also work towards ensuring rightful and dignified place of single women in the society.

With 400 single women as members the forum has helped single women by linking them to various government entitlements such as old age pension, widow pension etc.

Four Fellows have been placed in Kutch, Patan, Navsari and Vyara. They have done outstanding work for demanding housing rights, exploring linkages for livelihoods and agriculture schemes for Single women farmers in Kutch, Patan and Vyara.

The programme already has introduced ecological farming. Revival of traditional seeds is one of the important aspects of it as this will ensure seed sovereignty. Access to resources and especially mapping of commons is also done in 10 villages.

5 Forest Rights Committee have been activated under Forest Rights Act-2006. As the village Sarpanchs received training on PESA (Panchayat Extension Act to Schedule Area), they have started showing interest in the same and want to implement it in their villages.

MAKING DIFFERENCE THROUGH SMALL ACTIVITIES

355Portal Registration by

Women Farmerson FRA Land

Ujaas

Ujaas women farmers participated food festival in Ahmedabad organized

by Srishti and IIM Ahmedabad. Making a traditional recipe

with a profit of

30,000/-Rs.

Participation

Women Farmers of Kotwalia (PVTG) community participated in bamboo product training given by Gujarat

Matikam Kalakari and Rural Technology Institute

Gandhinagar.

Training

20Women received training to make Papad from Ragi at Waghai

Benefits

Youth Leadership Demonstrations

23

i-Kisan

Trainings on women land rights attended by 60 women.

03Trainings on POCSO given to 700 children of Bal Panchayat.

30

Women received benefits from Government linkages

423

64Youth leaders trained on youth leadership and linkages developed with Adivasi Ekta Parishad.

Women farmers involved in demonstrations of traditional

variety of seeds.

530

09

A m t rr aib f a rl e w h o nim la on ot u ns oi in tg c udr du ed rg rye

C so mh re ofs i no on i ste na em p h we ol dp ii wn g p uw lo lifm e ton

Inclusive Cities for Urban Poor: Women Domestic Workers of Slums

These collectives actively participate in city and state level federations advocating for the issues of residential and livelihood rights of poor in urban spaces. The members actively participate in various consultations at state and national level and raise their concerns on these platforms. Two Ward level workshops were conducted with leaders of the Federation for vulnerability mapping, effective budget allocation, gender budgeting. Ward level and district level workshop with Ward Representative, Government Official, Concerned Stakeholders, other duty bearers wasorganised which has resulted in awareness and support from the counsellors to the Federation and sensitivity to the slum issues. A training programme was conducted in September on 74th amendment for Domestic Workers and youthsattended by 32 number of participants. This training helped the community to become aware regarding how to safeguard their housing rights and protect them against eviction.

A one-day program was organized in December for awareness regarding women related problems and domestic violence laws. The outcome of the activity was that federation initiated legal support for Domestic Workers Act in Chhattisgarh state for prevention of violence against them at working place.

We have also established two Urban Resource Centres in Kota and Santoshi Nagar Slum. The role of URC has been to facilitate and leverage schemes of government through Federation Members. The volunteers; especially youth group plan and execute their activities for awareness and sensitization at the URC.

Eight street plays were conducted in 3rd and 4th quarter to sensitize the community with regards to form Mohalla Sabha under the 74th Amendment of Constitution of India in every slum for representation of slum issues.The community residents and youth leaders Raipur emerge as community change makers and urban leaders who engage and lead the local city level campaigns

Strategies

Advocacy formalgamating &regularizing Domestic worker's Act

Advocacy for proper implementation of Unorganized workers Social Security Act 2008

Inclusion of Domestic workers and youth leaders in ward and Urban Local Bodies

Establish dignity & identity of Domestic workers federation

Inclusion of gender budget in annual municipal allocation

Networking with city state level alliances

Strengthen domestic workers federation replicating good practices from other CBOs, federation etc

Advocacy for regularizing ward structures

Enhance Livelihood opportunities of women and youth

Digitizing access to Government resources through youth leaders

EMPOWERING THE THIRD GENDER

A state level perspective building workshop on Third Gender of Rural and Urban was done in January with state representative, Government Officials and Concerned Stakeholders.

The workshop was attended by Transgender group members from different cities of CG besides Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Kolkata & Raipur. A Charter of Demand was prepared at the end of the workshopOne day consultation for interstate learning exchange was organised by Centre For Advocacy and Research, Bhubaneswar with local transgender group SAKHA in November at Bhubaneswar.

The Major focus of the workshop was addressing the transgender issues of Chhattisgarh alongwith creating a common platform for the TGs of Bhubaneswar and other neighbouring cities.

8.98Crores leveraged from Governmentresources

Rs.

Types of Entitlements018

Households benefitted729

10

Objective

To facilitate active engagement of t h e D o m e s t i c W o r k e r s ' Federation in Raipur city and Urban Local Bodies, elected representat ives and other relevant stakeholders on local issues of identity, entitlements, living and working conditions in the communities

To strengthen the Domestic workers' federation to actively participate in city and state level federations advocating for the issues of resident ia l and livelihood rights of poor in urban spaces.

Member of Samagam Federation

Collective Women involved in group exercise

Women Collective get handpump installed in their area

Cohesion has been hosting Secretariat for the network of WGWLO (The Working Group for Women and Land Ownership) since 2016 where, we are one of the founder members and have been supporting this collective initiative.

The collective initiative of Enabling Women Farmers to Access Productive Resources' is supported by Azim Premji Philanthropic Initiative to reach out to most vulnerable groups of women farmers (mostly Scheduled Tribes).

A centre called Swabhoomi Kendra, for land rights of women and their rights as farmers has been established in field office of Cohesion at Navsari since January 2017.

There are two paralegal workers who are trained for running this centre. One is specializing in land rights and other is on agriculture promotion.

This Kendra have been facilitating process of claiming women's rights to inheritance and other land rights; in accessing land-based entitlements and motivate and train men and women farmers to sustainable agriculture.

It provides legal aid, knowledge around improved agricultural practices and link women farmers with government schemes.

SBK get full support from the Sangathans for enhancing awareness of existing laws and entitlements, sensitizing village men and women, leaders and state functionaries.

The role of SBK has been very vital in filling the vacuum in the government structure enabling women farmers to claim their livelihood related entitlements of land and productive resources.

The working Group for Women and Land Ownership

ACTIVITIES WITH THE NETWORK

Field days were conducted with women farmers at village level where 687 women and 91 men

farmers participated.

Campaign

Campaign on agriculture helped in reaching out to 1035 women and 608 men farmers.

These campaigns and trainings on sustainable

farming practices motivated 150 women to adopt such

practices in their farms.

I-Kisan

Field days

A block level women farmers Sammelan was organised

where 60 women participated.

Entitlements

55 land entitlements were facilitated on the name of

widow women, daughters and for women in joint families.

Participation

Women were linked with various government schemes

for availing benefits.

373

Sammelan

25i-kisan registrations were

completed.

Field Day in Anklach for demonstrating organic farming to women farmers

11

Cohesion staff with a tribal woman of Navsari demonstrating turmeric seed treatment

Women Collective get handpump installed in their area

1.3 AGRICULTURE

A farmer in Aniyali village of Surendranagar district is getting help from Cohesion team to collect soil sample for testing

Cohesion has been implementing a project in partnership with WWF on reducing the risks posed by farming systems to the biodiversity of the Nalsarovar which has been declared as a Ramsar site.* Nalsarovar wetland being in the vicinity area of cotton growing area of Lakhtar and Limbdi taluka of Surendranagar district and Viramgam taluka of Ahmedabad district, is impacted both in terms of the quality and quantity of water because of intensive agriculture surrounding the wetland. Hence the project is addressing the importance of cotton operation within the wider landscape of the wetland to bring effective and sustainable results.

The objective of the project is to promote greener and sustainable farming practices in the surrounding cotton growing area of the wetland with special focus on introducing the concept of cleaner chemicals to all the project farmers over the coming years. During this year new groups were identified to be included in the project. The strategy was to initially focus on villages where we already have groups, so that village rapport can help in achieving the target easily. The group formation is based on logistics and proximity of the clusters. In last more than one year we have mobilised and formed 250 groups of more than 7000 farmers in 43 villages.

We have been training farmers on various aspects of cotton farming including botanical methods, making organic pesticides and manure,sowing practices and many others. 27 trainings have been conducted in 15 villages.These trainings were planned to develop the leaders of the groups, build an information seeking behavior, orient them to the benefits of groups and collectivization, so that they can be role models within their groups and plan for enterprising activities within their groups. As the project has been divided into three cluster, the trainings also take place cluster wise.

On 12th January, 2019 a Farmers' Meet was organized for the farmers to interact with WWF team from Delhi and Ms Melisa Ho (Vice President, Freshwater, WWF, US). During this event more than 200 men and women farmers were mobilized to come to a farm venue near Vadla Dam which is in close proximity to NSB. The farmers exchanged their problema related to cotton farming and learnt how some of the issues are a global concern when it comes to cotton farming.Exposure visit to Field area of Development Support Centre in Vadnagar was carried out where 61 farmers and 6 staff members participated. The visit focused on producer groups and familiarized the farmers to the concept of producer groups and its functions.

A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The Convention on Wetlands, known as the Ramsar Convention, is an intergovernmental environmental treaty established in 1971 by UNESCO, which came into force in 1975. Nal Sarovar Ban, spread over 120 sq. km, is a remarkable waterfowl habitat surrounded by cultivated lands and waste lands.

MULTISTAKEHOLDER APPROACH

We coordinate with and engage agriculture department, local institutions, line department for smooth functioning of the project. The project draws its strength from the multiple stakeholders who provide technical support and guidance while Cohesion is responsible for working with the farmers at the grassroot level.

Gujarat Green Revolution Company

(GGRC): Providing support for

timely advisory related to weather through SMS to the farmers

Weather Risk Management Services

(WRMS): Providing data and

technology services to provide holistic solutions that enhance agricultural

productivity in an environmentally

sustainable manner.

Gujarat Ecological Education and

Research Foundation (GEER):

Providing technical support for soil and water testing to understand the process of residual effect of the pesticides used in

the area.

Farmers' Training in Dhalwana village

Five Leaf Extract made by a farmer in his farm for using as a pesticide in cotton

Yellow and blue sticky tapes for attracting pests

Ingredients of Pot Manure kept ready before a training

Five Leaf Extract made by a farmer in his farm for demonstration.

*

Sustainable Standards in Cotton Farming

12

NO. OF WADIS

>85% 70% to 85% 50% to 70% <50%

SURVIVAL RATE OF WADIS

505 373 122 32

Cohesion works in the tribal areas of South Gujarat and although tribal women empowerment is at the core of our interventions, we are working with tribal men and women farmers both to improve their livelihoods through the sustainable use of land and natural resources around them.

The objective is to create sustainable and replicable model for integrated development of tribal families on participatory basis, through adoption of sustainable income generating activities and to build strengthen tribal institution which enables mainstreaming the communities by improving their socioeconomic status.

Wadi, a well-known concept of developing fruit orchard alongwith vegetables in a two-tier arrangement has become very popular in the villages where we are working.

We started in 2010 and have been able to develop this model with more than 1300 farmers. With a support of seven years to the farmer, the Wadi starts giving benefit to the farmers from vegetables in the first three years. As the mango plant start growing and bearing fruits, the farmer can reap the benefits by selling the fruit.

The programme has received support from NABARD and Tribal Development Fund covering 1377 wadi farmers of 13 villages of Chikhli and Vansda taluka of Navsari District. This year our wadi is in its 5th year with only maintenance support of organic fertilizer and pesticides.

In the Wadis supported by Tribal Sub Plan, 63% are owned by women. Most of the Wadis are done on the forest land and sometimes the farmers have to do lot of hard work in developing the land and making it even for wadi.

During the first three years of Wadi implementation the farmers are given extensive training and capacity building inputs which helps them to learn and adopt sustainable and greener practices for Wadi. Gradually these practices spill over to their other farms and farmers.

Currently there are 250 farmers (other than the project farmers) who have started adopting low cost drip and the Wadi layout, thus demonstrating the knowledge transfer.

Often the Wadi owners of the Wadis that have been phased out come to us and share their story of the season and how much they could earn by selling the fruit of their hard work!

One major learning for the year was that earlier farmer used to cut the new leaves that came out of the stem while pruning but now farmer developed habit of making new graft know as (chir kalam) out of that. The farmers further sell these grafts to fellow farmers thus adding to their gain from the Wadi.

A greenhouse for growing grafts developed by a tribal tribal womanafter learning from Wadi trainings

Wadi in forest land showing Mango plantation

Year No. of Wadis Geography

2015-16

2016-17

2017-18

NABARD supported TSP supported Navsari, Valsad, Dangs

416

416 88

147

Wadi A model for integrated development of tribal families

13

A Wadi display board

1.4 HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT

Water and Sanitation: Open drainage is a big problem in villages and leads to unhygienic conditions. Support was given in two villages to construct drainage systems. 600 meters long drainage constructed in Talegaon will benefit 80 HHs whereas 3.2 Km long drainage system of Dhanore will benefit 387 HHs. Dhanore drainage systems will address the grey water issues.

Through construction of 64 Individual Toilet In rural Pune and more than 320 people are benefitted and reduction in open defecation is observed. All the beneficiaries are using the toilets in all the three locations.

Capacity Building of Farmers: Farmers are oriented towards improved agri-practices ensuring increased adoption of best and sustainable agriculture practices through Trainings, Workshops, Farmers Mela and Exposure Visits organized under the program.

Demonstrations: 95 farmers were benefitted through demonstration on Improved Farming Technologies for using agriculture inputs/tools/equipment. Three demonstrations of Hydroponics were also carried out. The demonstrations included many other practices such as seed treatment, use of certified seeds, raised bed plantation, integrated pest management, bed farm machine, improved nutrient management drip & mulching system to conserve water.

Agriculture Resource Centre has been established in Pune Rural so that through mechanization greater field coverage over a short period, cost-effectiveness, efficiency in use of resources & applied inputs and conservation of available soil moisture under stress conditions can be ensured for almost 300 farmers of the area.

Allied Activity: Income generation activities like Goatry & Poultry reported increase in supplementary income by almost 15% and also increased knowledge in rearing practices. Locally available breeds Osmananabadi variety in Pune rural is promoted so that the animal could survive and adapt the local climatic condition.

Animal Husbandry: 190 cattle artificially inseminated in Pune Rural resulted in approximately 70% success in breed improvement. 188 cattle of 78 farmers in Pune Rural have gone through General Treatment to ensure improved productivity & reduction in rearing cost. 21 animal camps were organised where 4,844 cattle have received services like vaccination, Artificial Insemination, general treatment, deworming and de-ticking etc.

Model School/Anganwadi Development: Establishment and infrastructure support to schools and Anganwadis have ensured quality education for more than 1800 Students.Establishment of

A farmer using spraying equipment in his farm

With a vision of holistic development Cohesion partnered with John Deere CSR for the Samrudhhi project in 2015 in rural areas of Pune. We started with six villages and have gradually increased to nine villages. Initially the focus was to improve socio-economic condition by providing the infrastructure support. As the communities have started to participate and contribute in the development work, a need was felt to shift focus from providing infrastructure support to rather equip and empower community for their holistic development through sustainable livelihood. Considering this shift the objectives were redesigned to achieve the desired outcomes. The objectives of the project are:

To improve the quality of life index through

access to safe drinking water and sanitation

To increase the productivity of Agriculture

by 15% per acre and income of Farmers by 15– 20% per annum

To increase the number of students from

government school (schools under the project) pursuing higher education

(at each level)

To increase Youth Vocational Skills and

Employability

Model School (Dingrajwadi, Kevtemala)

2 ISO Anganwadis

(Kasari Goathan and Kateali - Talegaon

dhamdhere)

2

Infrastructure Support for Schools

7 Anganwadis Support Classes:

384 students are benefitted through Tuition and

Support Classes and as a result more than 80% students have shown

significant improvement in studies.

5

14

Scholarship Program: 88 vulnerable & meritorious students have been provided with Scholarship to ensure smooth and continuous education.

Teachers' Training: Capacity of 52 Support Staff including, Teachers, Anganwadi Workers and Village Coordinators has been built through ten Training Sessions. Topics covered during sessions are

Child Psychology and Relationship of Children and Parents

Teaching Techniques and Teacher – students Relationship

Child Nourishment

Abortion Act & their Importance

Parenting and child & parent relationship

Practical aspect of the Smart Class program including Tablet based learning

Counselling methodologies especially in the context of parent to student relationship, teacher and parent relationship, Dealing with slow learners, Age wise behavioural changes in students & its management,

Tools preparation for parents meeting, home visits, etc.

John Deere Volunteers painting school wall

A school with newly established infrastructure

A school library after renovation

15

FINANCES

Percentage Expenditure Financial Year 2018-2019

Admin ExpensesProgram Expenses

20%

80%

16

17

18

19

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