CEDA TRUST carried out Land Reclamation and Mangrove Regeneration as part of its Tsunami Rehabilitation Programmes in Karaikal and Tuticorin supported by CORDAID. Ask India facilitated the Participatory Evaluation of CORDAID supported Projects. The following are the Best Practices and Major Learnings identified from the CEDA TRUST implemented projects by the Evaluation Team: Best Practices 1. Promotion of organic farming for Land reclamation and agricultural development - 700 hectares of agricultural land was damaged in Karaikal region due to Tsunami. Farmers were hopeless and did not know what to do. There were various opinions regarding the methods of land reclamation and farmers were not in a position to decide what to do in that situation. It was also being told to them that they will not be able to cultivate their tsunami affected lands for a long period CEDA TRUST decided to go for natural / organic farming in 100 hectares of damaged land, out of the total 700 hectares damaged land. Villagers were not convinced initially and did not have faith on organic farming as they were used to chemical farming for more than three decades. Series of meetings were held with villagers to motivate them. Experts were invited and the villagers were also taken for an exposure visit . 2. The implementation process was very systematic - A very systematic process was followed by CEDA TRUST in implementing the program of land reclamation for agricultural development and livelihood restoration. Organization convinced the community participants for critically observing the process and seeing the change for themselves. The implementation included the following steps and processes — Study of the Tsunami affected lands by expert agency CLEAN ENVIOTECH Selection of Staff who is experienced in Organic Farming Formation of Expert Committee under the leadership of Agricultural Expert, Formation of Village committee with land owners, landless laborers, Dalits and women Involving agricultural department in the implementation process Involving other NGOs (RESTAC network—VRDP, Pope Trust) and PAJANCOA in the process for further inputs, collaboration and cooperation Deep ploughing of the lands with Disc Ploughing Flooding the lands with watering the land and draining of the salt content Raising the Dianchia plants for fixing nitrogen in the soil and absorbing the salt content in the soil Ploughing of the lands for preparing for cultivation Nursery raising for paddy using community nursery method Transplanting the paddy and using one paddy seedling cultivation Watering and Weeding Harvest For Groundnut no nursery and straight sowing, weeding and harvesting For some paddy-cultivated lands, instead of transplanting the seedlings, direct sowing was done by CEDA TRUST due to water scarcity. Trainings were conducted to the farmers on the importance of sustainable agricultural practices. Promoting bio-intensive gardening was also part of the overall strategy of CEDA TRUST to promote sustainable agriculture and organic farming. There were changes and modifications in the process as per need. The above process followed by CEDA TRUST could produce very good results in the area. For example, CEDA TRUST was able to successfully reclaim 100 acres of agricultural land and convince farmers to adopt organic farming for increased land fertility, decrease salinity and get better quality crops. It also created a model for other NGOs who are involved in land reclamation and agricultural development 3. Promotion of Equal Wages for Both Genders - This can be termed as a best practice of CEDA TRUST for establishing gender equality and altering the prevailing gender relationship that promotes unequal wage payment to the laborers on the basis of gender and deprives women from getting their due rights. Villagers were not ready initially to pay equal wages to men & women as it was a new concept and neither land owners nor the laborers were used to it. Even women were against it initially. Series of motivational meetings were organized with the villagers to explain the concept, need and benefits. CEDA TRUST started the practice by paying Rs. 80 to both men and women in Land Reclamation labor work. This payment was directly made by the CEDA TRUST in the first year of intervention. CEDA TRUST involved landless dalit people and women in the work and convinced village committee for adopting the practice. The above practice gave good result in the community. Women became aware about their right to equality and started demanding equal wage. Wage of women increased from Rs. 40 (pre Tsunami) to Rs. 70 (post Tsunami), thereby incresaing the family income and family welfare. It also increased awareness and sensitization among the villagers on gender equality. In the second year, the women received the increased wage (Rs. 70) and now they are confident to earn the increased wage. They shared that they will not accept lesser wage than their male counterpart for similar type of work. 4. Mangrove afforestation for protection from disaster in future - The concept of plantation and regeneration of Mangrove Plants as a disaster mitigation measure (mangrove cannot prevent Tsunami but it makes a safeguard and prevents water coming into residential area and thereby can check losses) itself is a best practice. CEDA TRUST went for a different type of intervention to prevent loss of lives and assets from disasters like Tsunami. They followed a systematic process and appropriate strategy for implementation of this project. They first selected the land in consultation with the government forest department and studied the water quality of the estuary. Then the following process was adopted by CEDA TRUST for effective implementation of the project— Collected seeds and raised seedlings in the Nursery Planted seedlings in the estuary Appointed experienced staff and caretakers Formed expert committee under the leadership of Prof. Santhanakumar, the agricultural scientist, who had previous experience of successful mangrove plantation Formed Village Protection Committees for protection of the plants and ensured maintenance Involved forest department, NGOs, Panchayat and students from schools and colleges, apart from the villagers in the implementation process The above process could bring very good result for CEDA TRUST and the target community. Results includes Mangrove plantation in 17 hectares of land with 80% survival rate, High level of awareness among the villagers and other stakeholders regarding importance of mangrove plantation, Creating livelihood opportunity for laborers, women, Dalits and Recognition and appreciation from all corners, including forest department. 5. Mobilizing and Involving various stakeholders like academic & research institutions, experts & scientists, NGOs for cooperation, collaboration and value addition - It was seen at both places, Karaikal and Tuticorin, that CEDA TRUST involved various stakeholders in the process of planning, implementation and monitoring of the projects. The evaluation team strongly feels that the involvement of the academic & research institutions, experts and scientists, and like minded NGOs is a very good practice and should be adopted by any NGO to add values to the program qualities. In Karaikal, CEDA TRUST was able to actively involve CLEAN ENVIOTECH, an expert agency in the area of environment, in conducting a study on the land condition before starting of the project. Coimbatore Agriculture University was involved in developing special rice seed suitable for salty lands. Pandit Jawahar Lal College of Agriculture, popularly known as PAJANCOA, was involved directly and indirectly at different stages of project implementation. The RESTACK NETWORK with organizations like VRDP and Pope Trust were also involved at different stages. It was seen that common strategy was developed for RESTACK partners (in which CEDA TRUST is also a member) to promote organic farming in their respective areas. Collective efforts made by the RESTACK partners to promote people’s agricultural technology. Rallies & Campaigns were also organized through TNEC (Tamil Nadu Environment Council). Multicultural dialogue was also organized in collaboration with PAJANCOA, Compass Netherlands, LEISA, ITC Foundation, Gandhigram Rural University and DHAN for Organic Rice Production through indigenous methods. Similarly in Tuticorin, various NGOs, academic institutions and scientists were directly or directly involved at different stages of program planning, implementation and monitoring. Representatives of Various NGOs like SEDCO, AWARD, CSR, BHUMII, Action Trust, VAIGAI, ARROW, Trust Help and SED visited and took part in the project implementation. The role of CAT (Center for Appropriate Technology) and Prof. Santhanakumar in the entire process is also very important and highly appreciable. Several local schools and colleges were also involved in mangrove plantation, protection and education process on importance of mangroves. Other Best Practices of CEDA TRUST— Promotion of Collective Nursery among farmers for rice cultivation Promotion of bio intensive gardening among villagers Provision of ID cards for Village Mangrove Protection Committee Members leading to increased ownership towards the programme Learnings from CEDA Trust If we are clear in our objectives with proper planning and effective methodology, it becomes easier to achieve the goal The need for land reclamation in Tsunami affected areas and its impact among people—people felt that they regained their livelihood—even without the support of the organization, people can continue Community involvement is the best way for ensuring sustainability of any program By providing opportunity to women, its easy task to achieve gender equality and women empowerment With proper interventions, we can achieve the community participation and cooperation. Community participation will slowly reduce their dependency on Government and NGOs. The best solution to prevent any natural disaster is improving and protecting the natural resources There is a need for involving students / future generation and also other people apart from the direct target group in any NGOs intervention By providing equal wages, we can achieve gender equality and also unity among people. Implementation of equal wages shows the unity among people. Community Nursery / Collective farming (growing of the seedlers) increases and promotes unity among people. Learnt importance of organic / natural farming Cooperation between NGO Management, Staff and Community positively contributes in success of the projects One member of the Task Force developed interest for plantation of Mangrove Plants in his own area also. Mangrove plantation provides opportunities for livelihood plus prevents disasters at the same time. Organic Farming is best for Land Reclamation, when land fertility is affected because of Tsunami or similar disasters Plantation of Mangroves helps in Preventing Tsunami, apart from providing livelihood to the people (a model for prevention of Tsunami) There are such practices in our society, we need to find out the indigenous practices to prevent disasters It is very important to work for prevention of disasters also CURRENT ISSUES >>  Global Warming