4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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The Neem Project is the first-of-its-kind initiative as its unique aspect is, inspite of its strong socio-economic focus, it moves away from the beneficiary model to participatory model. It harnesses existing community structures to build a supply-chain model to generate income for women and the rural poor, leading to empowerment. It is both a viable and transformative business model for meeting the policy mandate of 100% Neem coating of Urea.
The Neem Project emerged as a significant Rural Income Generating Activity (RIGA), as it brings steady income for two months during the dormancy period, thus mitigating migration. There is zero investment involved and the time schedules during the day when women want to collect seeds is controlled by them which gives them greater autonomy. At pre-determined prices, the collection was sold at Village Level Collection Centers (VLCCs) and were paid immediately. Coming from financially weaker families, for quite a few women, this is the first time they have earned money and exerted any control over finances.
In addition, it has also turned a hitherto waste product to raw material for a viable business.
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5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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The Neem Project is currently active in 22 districts of Gujarat across 4000 villages, with an established network comprising of 2200 collection centers and an estimated collection of 22,000 MT of Neem seeds in the last two years. More than INR 25 crore income has been generated for 2.25 lakh women. An additional 75,000 has benefitted from indirect employment through its backward integration.
Information about the beneficiaries as per the UNDP Study is given below;
Age
Majority of the neem seed collectors are women above 30 years of age. Around 70 percent women engaged in this work are in the age group of 40-55 years. A small but significant one percent, - 29 beneficiaries - is made up of adolescent girls (15-19 years old).
Social Category
Data shows that 43.7 percent beneficiaries involved in this work belong to the social category of Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 18.3 percent to Scheduled Castes (SCs), 14.9 percent Scheduled Tribes (STs) and 23.1 percent others. The fact that around 35 percent women beneficiaries belong to SC/ST category shows that there is an upward change in the involvement of women to earn equivalent to the other community.
Education
Analysis of the educational status of women beneficiaries show 42.85 percent women are literate, i.e., they can sign on their own, whereas 44.43 percent are functional literate who can calculate simple arithmetic but cannot read or write. Only 7.55 percent and 5.17 percent women are primary and high school educated respectively.
Land Ownership
Data shows that 82.8 percent women are landless, 4.3 percent possess marginal land where as 8.7 percent, 3.2 percent and 1 percent are having small, medium and large land respectively. The majority of the women beneficiaries involved in the neem seed collection belong to the landless category.
Income and livelihood expenses
Data shows that annual income per family ranges from Rs. 8000/- to 85000/-. Majority of the earnings come from agricultural labour. Only 12 percent families get supplementary income from livestock, trading and other livelihood activities.
Around 70 percent of their income is spent on food, whereas anywhere between 5 to 15 percent is used towards clothing, education and health. The remaining 10-15 percent is used for miscellaneous activities such as construction, social activities, etc.
Living Arrangement
It has been seen that 93.4 percent women possess a kutcha-pucca house whereas 6.6 percent stay in a rented house. Pucca housing (or pukka) refers to dwellings that are designed to be solid and permanent. It is built of substantial material such as stone, brick, cement, concrete, or timber. The term pucca means "solid" and "permanent". Majority of these houses are passed down generation after generation.
Satisfaction
As far as satisfaction in their current livelihood is concerned, a majority (90.6 percent) said that there is no other way to make a living except by working as labourers, as they belong to poor families and do not have any land or educational background. Around 8.1 percent women shared that they would change their life style if they get an opportunity and 1.3 percent women said that they have no idea about this prospect.
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6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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Sourcing: GNFC took the decision to tap into Neem trees in the state and rolled out The Neem Project. It then began a backward integration process aimed at empowering marginalised communities, and the rural poor. It laid targeted focus on women empowerment by aiding income generation and improving their livelihood prospects. GNFC involved the rural poor, mostly women landless labourers in seed collection. These seeds are typically either swept away into garbage bins or they are left unattended. This waste material became its source of Neem seeds.
The collectors would sell the seeds at nearby VLCC, and get the payment immediately. These seeds would then be transported to Service Provider Partners (SPPs) who would store it till they finally get delivered to GNFC’s Neem oil extraction units.
To set up the sourcing process, it approached existing rural community structures run mostly by women such as Self Help Groups, Milk cooperative societies, Sakhi Mandals, Pani Samities, and Forest Department Collection Centres, explaining the process and economics of neem seed collection. The goal was to initiate community-led transformation. The women who volunteered to be part of the project would have to collect Neem seeds as per their convenience and sell them at pre-determined prices at VLCCs set up in their village.
This was part of GNFC’s plan to set up an integrational supply chain for seed collection and oil extraction. The goal was to have a functional supply-chain set up by May, which is when the tree starts shedding fruits from which the oil is extracted. Seeds are shed till Monsoons hit the state which is generally around July. Collectors are paid cash in hand upon delivering the seeds collected during the day at the VLCC, after the seeds are weighed in front of them and according to the weight-cost chart that is put up in public view within the VLCC premises.
VLCCs are responsible for generating awareness about the project, training the seed collectors on ways to avoid foreign particles during the collection process, and sets up suitable collection centres. It arranges for C Class jute bags for the collection of Neem seeds and transports it to Service Provider Partners (SPPs)
Storage and Supply chain with GNFC: The Service Provider Partner (SPP) is expected to unload and carry out screening, weighing, bagging, storage and drying of the seeds received from the VLCC. SPP properly handles and rotates the Neem seed bags during the storage for drying and arranges for the transportation of Neem seeds to Expeller/Extraction unit (Miller) or intermediate storage arranged by GNFC. SPPs can also accept Neem seeds directly from the individual collectors and follow the procedure prescribed for VLCCs. SPPs then provide the collection report to GNFC on a weekly basis for the payment made by them to VLCC and individual collectors, subsequently GNFC makes the payments to SPP.
Extraction and Ensuring Quality Control: Neem seeds are processed at local expeller/extraction units giving boost to their capacity utilisation, thereby generating additional income and employment locally. Through processing Neem seeds, Neem oil and De-oiled Neem Cakes (DOC) are produced. Proper checks and balances are ensured right from the collection to extraction process through awareness and capacity development programs conducted for those handling these processes; and through close monitoring by GNFC officials. Regular trainings are conducted for VLCCs, SPPs, Collectors, and expeller units.
The Neem Project participates actively in ‘Krishi Mahotsavs’ (agricultural extensions), 500 events including four mega events to generate awareness. It also advertises and organizes meetings extensively. GNFC is targeting one million neem tree plantation through its associates to promote social forestry and helping environmental protection.
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7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi during his speech on the 69th Independence Day celebration, delineated his vision of 100% Neem coating of Urea. The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, Government of India in the year 2015 made it mandatory for all indigenous producers of urea to produce 100% of their total production of Neem coated urea.
Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilizers & Chemicals Ltd. (GNFC) has taken a lead in implementing the policy mandate under the Neem Project. GNFC is a listed company, promoted by the Government of Gujarat (GoG). It is headed by a senior officer from the Indian Administrative Services, Dr. Rajiv Kumar Gupta and is overseen by a government appointed Board of Directors. The Neem Project has been conceived and managed by Dr. Gupta and is being implemented by GNFC officials.
To set up the sourcing process, it approached existing rural community structures run mostly by women such as Self Help Groups, Milk cooperative societies, Sakhi Mandals, Pani Samities, and Forest Department Collection Centres, explaining the process and economics of neem seed collection.
Collectors are paid cash in hand upon delivering the seeds collected during the day at the Village Level Collection Center (VLCC). The list is as follows;
SHGs – 1200
Milk Cooperative Societies – 50
Pani Samities – 50
Forest Department Collection Centres – 500
Gujarat Agro Industries Corporation Limited – 400
Total – 2200
VLCCs are responsible for generating awareness about the project, training the seed collectors on ways to avoid foreign particles during the collection process, and sets up suitable collection centres. It arranges for C Class jute bags for the collection of Neem seeds and coordinates with Service Provider Partners (SPPs). It collects cash from SPPs to remunerate the seed collectors within seven days.
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8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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The initiative improved people’s lives, especially women’s by responding to their needs and enhancing their rights. It fulfilled the financial needs of many rural women by increasing their annual income by 58%, in a short span of 45 days. The SDG 8 of ‘Decent Work and Economic Growth’ was fulfilled as the Neem Project provided sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth through productive employment which filled a gap in the seasonal employment of the landless labourers.
The project initiated economic development and broke the vicious cycle of poverty as seen in the exponential increase in asset creation. This lead to reduced income inequalities and also of gender. The reduction in domestic violence, the increase in decision making power of women and increase in expenditure for education, especially girl child’s education is heartening news, especially for SDG 5, i.e., Gender equality. Education, touted to be ultimate weapon for empowerment has been paved the way by the Neem Project.
Apart from its socio-economic footprint, Neem Project should be applauded for aligning itself with the environmental SDGs of Climate Action and Life on Land, 13 and 15 respectively. The benefits of Neem is numerous and well-known, and Neem coated Urea is a positive step towards organic and sustainable farming. It could be said that through this neem revolution that India is returning to its roots and using the wisdom of its ancestors to alleviate the modern troubles brought on by the vacuous adoption of the western industrialisation.
To sum up, the Neem Project caters to the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, and alleviates the ever-growing inequalities in accordance with SDG 10. Neem Project empowers and promotes the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, or religion. To do so, it targets the most disadvantaged as per the Indian constitution i.e., the ‘Scheduled Tribes’, ‘Scheduled Caste’ and ‘Backward Communities’, who make up 77% of the project beneficiaries.
Above all, Neem Project is innovative and sustainable as it fully integrated into the company’s supply chain which results in Shared value Creation. As the SDG 9 mandates, it promotes inclusive and sustainable formalisation of unorganised markets and significantly raises industry’s share of employment and gross domestic product, in line with national circumstances. By aligning and fulfilling itself with the UN’s SDGs, it alleviates the problems of the present and anticipates the needs of the future.
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9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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The major challenges during each phase is outlined below;
Sourcing: GNFC had to begin from scratch and set up the entire supply chain from sourcing of Neem seeds to extraction of Neem oil between the end of January 2015, and the beginning of June 2015, when the Neem seeds start shedding. Neem seed collection lasts between 45 days to 60 days, from May till Monsoons. This is the only time when the Neem seeds can be collected, since the seeds from which oil is extracted need to be shed naturally. This implies that the entire sourcing and collection machinery has to be finely timed and managed to ensure that the right quantity and quality are sourced. Another challenge was to ensure transparency and fair pricing for the neem seeds bought to maintain inclusive growth and ethical sourcing practices.
Storage: The small window of seed collection period necessitates efficient linkages, processes and systems in place in terms of seed storage. The collected Neem Seeds would have to be stored in the VLCCs and transported further to SPPs. Neem seeds are volatile and can combust if not kept in open and airy spaces. The right storage facilities had to be set up across the state along with efficient linkages between all the levels of the supply chain. In the first year of operations, the storage facility and linkages had to be set up right from the beginning while minimising leakages and wastage.
Extraction and Ensuring Quality Control: Neem seeds are processed in local expeller/extraction units. A challenge here was to ensure that these units would have optimal capacity to operate. Secondly, since most of the stakeholders within this supply chain were operating within this business model for the first time, there were capacity deficit concerns in quality seed collection, storage and extraction.
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