| PROMOTING WOMEN'S NURSERIES A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF NG0s, FOREST DEPARTMENTS, AND PRIVATE INDIVIDUALS |
| INTRODUCTION The degradation of forest resources and its devastating impact on the rural poor, especially women, is well documented and widely debated. In order to mitigate this situation, afforestation on degraded lands is being attempted. This will improve the ecological stability, and also help restore the eroding base of rural livelihoods. Policy guidelines clearly enunciate the need to involve and actively seek participation of rural poor, especially women, in all afforestation activities. This would ensure not only increased income but also provide them an opportunity to manage the resources they are dependent on. The Government of India annually plants 1.5 m ha. of degraded land, and the annual requirement of seedlings is around three billion. These seedlings are grown by the Forest Department (FD) in their own nurseries through the Decentralised Nursery Scheme (DNS). This scheme aims to supplement the income of the rural poor (beneficiaries). Nurseries are established by the beneficiaries with the help of inputs from the FD. The saplings are raised and further distributed/sold by the FD. However, this programme is beset with many problems both at the stage of its planning and during implementation. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY Broadly, there are three agents involved in the activity of nursery raising: 1) FD, 2) NGOs, and 3) individuals. Each of them works for different objectives and with different premises. Nursery raising undertaken by individuals is purely market driven and profit oriented whereas NGOs may undertake it as an entry level activity to achieve wider objectives. It is assumed that nursery raising activity by women can serve the twin objective of income generation and women's self reliance. This study was aimed at assessing the appropriate-ness of these agents in achieving the above-mentioned objectives. For any successful nursery with the aforesaid objectives, it has to achieve a right mix of economic viability, institutional stability and technological inputs. Therefore, the title of this study is - Establishing Women's Nurseries - A comparative Study of NGOs/ F.Ds/ and Individuals. The study sought to generate information on nurseries that would be useful in understanding the role of these agents in promoting nurseries managed by rural resource poor women. The study assessed both the cost differentials and the mechanisms through which viable nurseries are established. The specific objectives of the study were as follows: a) To understand the mechanisms and processes adopted by each of the agents involved in nursery raising; b) To study the cost differential of raising of nurseries by F.D., NGOs and Individuals; c) To assess the effectiveness of these agents in achieving the twin objectives of adding to the income generation and economic self reliance and empowerment through women's nurseries; and d) To make recommendations for establishing nurseries. The study was conducted in four agro-climatic zones in order to understand the particular problems that affect nurseries under differing conditions. Broadly these four zones were: 1.
Western Dry Zone; The following particular aspects were studied: TECHNOLOGICAL * Current
technological package used for nursery raising in different regions
and identification of the need for upgradation, and assessment of training
needs.
FD
schemes * Problems encountered by the FD in allocating nurseries to rural women. ECONOMIC What
is the difference in the cost of inputs of the three agents and reasons
thereof?
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