a strategy on resilience building of the island community of majuli

1. MAJOR SEMINAR
USE OF ICT FOR RESILIENT COMMUNITY
AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(Special Reference to Majuli)
Presented By:
BHARGAB BARUAH
Ph.d. (2nd yr.)
2015-ADJ-37
Dept. of Extension Education

2. LEARNING OUTCOMES
What is role of shocks in
in rural livelihood and
community?
The concept and
principle of resilience.
The use of ICT in
building a resilient
community

3. CONTEXT
• Even after rapid advancements in the industrial growths of nations,
agriculture remains largest single contributor to the livelihoods in agriculture-
based economies (IFAD, 2001; FAO, IFAD & WFP, 2002) and source of
employment creation and income generation (UN Commission On
Sustainable Development, 2008).
• Three out of four people live in rural areas in developing countries (UNDP
2007).
• Demand of food is expected to double of present requirement as the World’s
population is estimated to reach 9.2 billion by 2050.
• This has to be attained by withstanding “shocks” in the farming sector, viz.,
flood, drought, climate variability, aberrations of weather, price volatility,
political scenario, land degradation, shrinking land mass, etc.

4. SHOCKS / DISASTERS

6. Agriculture and SDGs
• A new set of global Sustainable Development Goals, or “SDGs”, will shape the
next 15 years of policies, programmes and funding.
• More than any other sector, agriculture is the common thread which holds the
17 SDGs together.
• Reaching the SDG targets simply will not be possible without a strong and
sustainable agricultural sector.
• Sustainable Development Goal #2 :
“end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote
sustainable agriculture.”
Sustainable development cannot be achieved without resilient livelihoods.

7. GOAL 1
GOAL 8
GOAL 12
GOAL 4
GOAL 15

8. • Metamorphosis.
• Resilience: the ability to recover after a negative experience.
• Wikipedia states: "Resilience is generally thought of as a "positive
adaptation" after a stressful or adverse situation".
• Background to the "positive adaptation" - the measures, inputs,
decisions, preparations, etc. that create the ability to have the "positive
adaptation”.
“For every US$ 1 spent on disaster
preparedness, about US$ 7 are saved on
possible disaster relief expenses.”

9. WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM defines resilience of a country as having
3 components –
I. Robustness: the ability to absorb and withstand disturbances and crises.
II. Redundancy: having excess capacity and back-up systems that enable the
maintenance of core functionality in the event of disturbances
III. Resourcefulness: the ability to adapt to crises, respond flexibly and, when
possible, transform a negative impact into a positive one.
“Resilience has been the focus of a large and growing body of research since 1960s, seeking to
understand which characteristics make a country, community or household resilient, and to
establish the principles and processes that strengthen resilience and thus help populations
withstand and recover from disasters.”
CONCEPT OF RESILIENCE
DRR
CCA
SP
For the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction,
resilience is “The ability of a system, community or society exposed to hazards
to resist, absorb, accommodate to, and recover from the effects of a hazard in a
timely and efficient manner, including through the preservation and restoration
of its essential basic structures and functions.”

10. FOUR ELEMENTS OF RESILIENCE
Source: DFID, available at: Headey D. and Kennedy A. 2011. Enhancing Resilience in the Horn of Africa

11. Resilient Communities
[Source: IFRC. 2012. Characteristics of a Safe and Resilient
Community.]
Fig. The six characteristics of a resilient community
 A resilient community is a theoretical concept that can
never be fully achieved in practice.
 Combining cash transfers with livelihood support.
 A resilient community recognises the importance of
human health, well-being and individual knowledge,
and acknowledges the necessity of assets and access
to wider resources beyond the immediate control of
the community.
 Measures that have already been shown to be effective
can be used to build resilience against agricultural
shocks.

12. ICT & e -Agriculture
• Information is the most valuable input in this new millennium (21st century) for
every sector.
• ICT has out-lived all the technological innovations till date in a short span of
time.
• Mobile phones have been the most powerful revolution.
• Outreach of various resilient projects and programs can be enhanced by ICT.
• E-Agriculture is an emerging field focusing on the enhancement of agricultural
and rural development through improved information and communication
processes.
• E-Agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation
and application of innovative ways to use ICTs in the rural domain, with a
primary focus on agriculture.

13. Role of ICTs in Agriculture
Through ICTs data can
be transferred in a
very fast and effective
way which proves to
be essential in
situations where a
delay in information
can be fatal for
farmers and their
crops.

14. • FAO assists countries to increase the resilience of households,
communities and institutions to more effectively prevent and cope
with threats and disasters that impact agriculture, food security and
nutrition.
• FAO promotes the use of ICTs to reinforce the resilience capacity of
states, communities and individuals.
• Many successful experiences on the use of ICTs for Resilience at
FAO have already been documented such as eLocust, SWALIM,
OpenForis, EMA-i, EMPRES-i, etc.
FAO and ICTs for Resilience
FAO Resilience website:
http://www.fao.org/resilience/home/en/
ICTs have the advantage that they can be controlled from
a different geographic area where data can be centralized
in a safer zone.

15. Some ICT Initiatives in India
Nano Ganesh
Lifelines
A mobile based advisory service
for farmers in Mewat, Haryana
succeed in bringing
improvements in agricultural
practices with timelier
information and new
information.
IFFCO Kisan Sanchar
(IKSL)
A joint venture of Indian
Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative
Limited (IFFCO) and Bharti
Airtel, providing content and
services to famers in India.
Government Interventions
CoopNet
Agricultural Primary
Credit Societies (PACS)
and Agricultural
Cooperative Marketing
Societies to usher in
ICT
enabled services and
rural
transformation
VISTARNET
Agricultural
Extension
Information
System
Network
PPIN
Plant
Protection
Informatics
Network
APHNET
Animal
Production
and
Health
Informatics
Network
LISNET
Land
Information
System
Network
NDMNET
Natural Disaster
Management
Knowledge
Network
Weather
NET
Weather
Resource
System

17.  Majuli is a large island on the Brahmaputra in Assam. Once ranked as
the largest river island in the world, Majuli today has lost this position
owing to severe erosion by the river. Originally 1265 sq. km, today the
island has lost about a third of its landmass and only about 525 sq. km of
land remains stable.
 While the government has been trying to control erosion through
different structural measures and crores of money, much of it is
temporary and the people continue living in limbo as huge chunks of
earth continue to fall into the river.

18. Vulnerability Context
Main livelihoods:
Agriculture (rice;
mustard; vegetables)
Fishing
Livestock
Handloom
Flooding
Erosion
Sediment Deposition
Breaking down
traditional livelihood
practices
Structural & Non-
Structural Measures
Alternate Livelihood + ICT
Resilient Community
Sustainable
Livelihood
Crop Loss
Homes washed away
Death of livestock
Loss of biodiversity
Community Resilience
Impoverished Households
Population Displacement
Lack of alternate
livelihood practices +

19. Measures Taken
Geo Bags
155 km
Embankments
Raised Platforms
Forestry
Stone spur Road as
Embankments

20. Relief Cash transfer
Insurance
MASTER DATABASE
Govt. Services Bank
MASTER DATABASE
Population, Animal Count,
SOP, cropping system, land
records, weather data, local
knowledge, adaptive
capacity, hazard map,
emergency contact
directory, previous year
data, guidelines,
legislations, relief manual,
etc.
ResearchWRD
NGOFOs
Brahmaputra
Board
Trusts NRENASDMA
Common Platform
ADO
NRLM
Rehabilitation
SOP, Agro Advisory, Agro-
Bulletins, Farmer Helpline,
R&D Services, Video
download, Video Audio
Scripts, Knowledge Sharing,
Early warnings.
Police, Education,
Health dept., NGO,
PWD, Inspector of
civil & food
supplies, etc.
Community Resilience
• Chang Ghar(3m from ground)
• Cultivating Boro Rice
• Mixed Cultivation of Ahu and
Bao varieties of rice
• Raised Tube wells & Toilets
Policies and Legislations

21. FROM TOICT INTERVENTION
Hydrological Model
One Dimensional
Unsteady Flow
Inundation Model
GIS-Based
Flood Depth
Flood Duration
Early Warning
Radio
Circulars
Megaphone/mike sirens
Early Warning
TV/Radio
SMS/E-mail
Disaster app
Inventory
Emergency Contact
Directory
Hazard map
Inventory
Central Database
Duties
Clear Direction
100% transparency
Synergy
Information
Algoritms
Real-time
Duties
Waiting for direction
Less Transparent Syatem
Less cooperation
Information
Inaccurate
Takes Time

22. Pros Cons
• Declared a district recently
• High literacy percentage
• Fertile croplands
• High usage rate of mobile
phones
• Inhabitants has developed
expertise to live amongst the
floods
• Assemblage of NGOs and
private players
• High seismic activity zone
• High sediment load carried by
Brahmaputra
• Carrying capacity of swamps and
lakes are lower than the volume
of water the river carries into
them
• Island among islands
• Man has modified the landscape
of Majuli for years in many ways
• Poor internet connectivity
• Irregular Electricity
• Telecom infrastructure challenges
The Government of India set up an autonomous body called
Brahmaputra Board under The Brahmaputra Board Act, 1980
(Ministry of Water Resources).

23. • Construction of retention dikes through digging of
existing swamps and lakes and by constructing new ones
to protect agricultural lands. These dikes can be used as
inland fishery-pits.
• Widening and deepening of tributaries and natural drains;
construction of diversion channels.
• Vetiver grass (Chrysopogon zizanioides) can be used for
reducing soil loss in the embanked areas or sloped banks.
• To compensate recurrent losses farmer’s need to be
encouraged to extend their production basis to irrigated
crops during the dry season.

24. • Construction of multipurpose flood shelter with inmate
capacity of 500 people / Unit by identifying highlands
that are not likely to be submerged during heavy floods.
• Livelihood diversification by targeting especially
women, while also preserving the traditional livelihood
practices. Provision of marketing opportunities and raw
material supply.
• Floodplain zoning which will restrict construction on
and habitation of areas closest and most vulnerable to
flooding; instead using these areas for agriculture,
recreation, or other uses that won’t endanger lives and
property.
• River morphological studies through satellite imagery
for the study of bank migration in order to gauge in
advance the areas likely to come under threat of erosion.

25. Conclusion
• There are two aspects to understanding resilience that is needed to be resolved
before ICT-based intervention.
First, is how we define resilience? Which resilience do we want for farmers? Is it
the stability of continuity and recovery in the face of short-term shocks? Or is it the
change of adaptation and even transformation in the face of longer-term trends? If
we don’t include the latter, there’s a danger that resilience means business-as-usual
e.g. poor agricultural communities staying in a resiliently poor state – of using ICTs
to making farmer lives just stay the same.
Second, is how we conceive resilience? This has been a big gap in putting resilience
into practice. Unless we have some framework or model of resilience, then we can’t
understand how to target, design or evaluate ICT interventions in agriculture.
• The benefits of the flood protection works need to be further evaluated in terms of
increased crop production and in reducing the areas subject to regular flooding, and
also the negative environmental effects in relation to the ecological value of
wetlands and the increased risks of flood hazards in adjacent areas.