Jharkhand : 25,000 trained to fish ‘Inland’: how one Jharkhand man created a food revolution
May 22,2020
| Source:
The Better India
According to the Economic Survey of India, about 70 per cent of rural households depend on agriculture for their livelihood. Moreover, about 82 per cent of these farmers are small and marginal. In addition to the glaring inequities, small and marginal farmers are worst hit by weather conditions like droughts, floods, pest attacks, all resulting in low productivity. Neelkanth Mishra identified the strenuous conditions of marginal farmers. A social entrepreneur from Jharkhand, he began interacting with fishing communities while working as a Program Officer with Oxfam from 2006 to 2009. He saw that inland fisheries were an excellent way for farmers to earn a steady source of livelihood. It was a primitive sector, and he saw the opportunity in developing it.
For this, he founded the Centre for Aquatic Livelihood- Jaljeevika – a fishery-based non-profit organisation, in 2013. The organisation introduces rural folk to inland fisheries and trains fish farmers in developing cost-effective technology. They also teach them how to manage fisheries to improve production and profitability.
“Through Jaljeevika, we have taught fish farmers how to make fishing tools and equipment with minimum investments, promoted women to take up fish farming, taught them how to produce fish seed, while also helping fisherfolk to become micro-entrepreneurs through value addition and processing of fish. For example, a lot of them have learnt how to process dry fish which they could also be selling,” shares the 45-year-old. Jaljeevika has engaged with fish farmers in Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, and Andhra Pradesh, transforming over 1,000+ fisherfolk into microentrepreneurs. Overall, their projects have improved the lives of over 25,000 people in the country, which include over 5,000+ women organised in Self Help Groups (SHGs).
Journey from a social worker to a changemaker
Neelkanth was born in Jamshedpur, the city famous for its steel industries. Fascinated by the world of numbers, Neelkanth decided to pursue his bachelor’s in Mathematics from Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and graduated in 1998. “During this time, I started reading up and got inclined towards addressing social issues. So, I thought of either pursuing journalism or working in the development sector,” recalls Neelkanth. He decided to bring his plan into action by pursuing a Master’s degree in Rural Development from Ranchi’s Xavier Institute of Social Service. After completing his course in 2000, he joined The Free Legal Aid Committee in Jamshedpur and addressed the problem of ‘witch-hunting’ in Jharkhand and Bihar.
He prepared case studies of 150 victims, raised widespread awareness on the issue, and worked with lawyers and individuals to facilitate legal action. In 2001, these efforts bore fruit when the Jharkhand government enforced the Witchcraft Prevention Act. For the next few years, he worked with a few NGOs on issues of tribal rights, human rights, Dalit rights, child rights, helping raise funds, creating awareness and promoting improvement in the lives of minority groups. However, the most crucial turning point came when he joined Oxfam’s office in Lucknow as a Program Officer. This was the first time he was working on a livelihood development programme involving fishing communities based out of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh.
“There were three main takeaways from this experience. For inland fishers to be successful, you need to teach farmers how to reduce their production costs. This could be achieved by teaching them how to make fishing equipment and fish feed by themselves. Also, market linkages needed to be established along with promoting the benefits of integrated farming,” he says.
He immediately realised that this model could be replicated across different parts of the country. To spread the information, he joined Revitalising Rainfed Agriculture (RRA), a network of NGOs from Odisha, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Bihar. “By tapping into this network, we conducted several training workshops with NGO leaders and with people on the ground. I also began guiding pilot projects that began in these states,” he says. After three years of fisheries training and development, Neelkanth saw the need to found a formal organisation that focused on the subject. Thus, in 2013, Jaljeevika was founded and registered as an NGO.
Empowering fisherfolk with knowledge and skill
“In the initial days, swing, there was resistance from people because many of them had never engaged in fisheries management. The novelty of the concept brought in a lot of scepticism,” shares Neelkanth. However, they were certain that the financial benefits from the trade would dissipate all doubts. “To improve the catch, a proper fishing cage is needed. However, this increases the cost for the fisherman as the equipment costs over Rs 2 lakh! We decided that this cage could be made by the fisherfolk using locally-sourced materials like bamboo, nets, wood,” he explains.
They also gave essential pointers regarding cultivating fish seed or baby fish. “Fish seed bought from hatcheries was expensive, and in several cases, we noticed that farmers were getting it from West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. Despite all the money and efforts, the farmers did not know the quality of the seed, and often they would get dead ones. They also did not know when these should be released in the ponds, the appropriate temperature of the water, or how to ensure a low mortality rate for more production,” he states.
