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Sungi Development Foundation
Our Vision: Equal, just and sensible distribution of resources based on an unbiased approach towards religion, sex, caste and need of the environment so that a prosperous society develops on the principle of justice and prosperity.
Core Programmes
Good Governance & Democratization
Sustainable Livelihoods
Social Sector Development
Human & Institutional Development
Program Coordination & Development
Disaster Management
Sustainable Livelihood (SL)
Introduction


SUNGI’s Sustainable Livelihood (SL) programme efforts have been contributing to the local communities living system first by enabling them to recover from the possible stresses and shocks of the vulnerability and prepare them to anticipate the present and future challenges of the livelihood systems. Second, the programme has been empowering the communities to maintain and enhance their capabilities and assets base both in the prevailing and future conditions and the activities required for the means of living. There has been a strong precondition for both of these facilitation that the programme interventions and communities living system must not undermine the natural resource base of the village.

SUNGI’s SL programme intervention starts as soon as the SM&D programme outputs have been engrossed in the form of mobilised, organised and socially capacitated communities. Onwards this point the programme has been taking further steps of mobilising the communities on the offshoots of the livelihood systems. The process of analysis and mobilisation of the communities starts from the Village Development Planning (VDP). The VDP process gives an opportunity to the communities to analyse the factors contributing to their vulnerability of livelihood. The futuristic and prevalence level threats have been assessed and analysed how to minimise the vulnerability threats specifically related to the poor and deprived segments of the society. The VDP process gives an opportunity to the communities to assess their capacities and assets base (natural, physical, social and financial). On the basis of these analysis the communities plan on how the assets base can be increased to sustain the livelihood system. The SL programme facilitation has been initiated in various areas of community identified priority needs. The programme strategies focus on motivation of the rural people through its research and demonstration of the development activities in the specific areas of local living systems. The SL strategies focus on the transformation of rural lives through equitable and sustainable use of resources.

Side by side research and demonstrating of the development activities the programme institutes its rights and advocacy based programmes in the rural communities. Necessities The programme has developed its advocacy strategies to address the communities’ pro-active needs on the issues of food security, conservation of bio-diversity and environment. The programme has been sensitising, raising the awareness, and mobilising the communities for ensuring their rights of the livelihood. These campaigns have been largely contributing in ensuring the government’s accountability on its adverse policies towards the rural communities and resist the influence of the multinationals on the local livelihood systems.
Natural Resource Management

The analyses of the rural living system shows - the main stay of the locals have been on the natural resources. As soon as there has been a threat to the natural resources the chances of the vulnerability and poverty of the rural lives has been increasing. The factors risking the natural resources and hence the living systems and vice a versa have been varying dependent both on the external and man made elements. The SL’s Natural Resource Management (NRM) programme has been facilitating the rural people in resolving the issues of some of the main offshoots of the natural resources ecosystem. The three main areas where the programme facilitation has been extended are the agriculture, livestock and forestry along with the cross cutting themes of food security, environment and bio-diversity. The NRM field operational strategies have been facilitating the communities in three dimensions. First the programme has been supporting the rural people to recover form the stress and shocks presently the living system and hence the natural resources have been facing. The programme endures to take step in mobilising the communities to secure and increase the productivity of available natural resources using cultural practices and indigenous method of conservation. Second the programme has been enduring to capacitate, renew and enhance the human and natural assets base of the poor in order to sustain the local living system. Third the programme has been enabling the people to prepare themselves to face the man-made external threats from the exploitative polices of the state and WTO.

The communities’ dependence on the natural resources has diversification and covers various dimensions rural farming society. The NRM programme facilitation in agriculture has been extended to number of pre-harvest, harvest and post harvest activities. The facilitation has been initiated form the cultural practices of the land use planning to storage and marketing of the produce through various capacity building and research and demonstration initiatives.

Community seed-bank and breeding initiatives:

For the revival and protection local genetic resources SUNGI has been promoting the community’s seed bank and breading concepts. This concept has been promoted first by the involvement of the communities in the on-farm search and demonstration of how to get higher yield of indigenous crops using the cultural and local methods of cultivation. And second by motivating the communities for the establishment of the seed wealth centres. The NRM programme has demonstrated 105 plots of vegetables, field crops and medicinal herbs in year 2001. The local seeds obtained from these plots would have to be delivered to the partner communities for propagation and dissemination. The seeds of the local crops of different varieties have been collected and have been displayed in eight seed wealth centres, four each in zonal offices and community.

Renewal of forest resources:

One of the core demonstration activities of the NRM programme has been renewal and enhancement of the of natural forest assets. The prolonged drought season has badly affected the forestry activities. However, the programme has carried out two plantation campaigns. During these demonstration campaigns a total of 240,599 forest and fruit saplings were distributed among the community partners. In order to sustain the forest renewal and assets building campaign the programme has been focussing on promoting the community nurseries. Four community nurseries have been established in collaboration with the community partners. The community has also been facilitated in grafting over more then 6,500 olive plants in collaboration with the NWFP Agriculture Department. Community partners of the Balakot working area identified the issue of walnut weevil attack. Walnut has been one of the major sources of earning of the local inhabitants of the area. The NRM programme explored cause of the problem in collaboration with the Centre for Agriculture and Bio-science International (CABI). Based on the research recommendations, environment friendly local mechanisms have been evolved to control the disease.

Investment in communities capacities building:

NRM has facilitated the communities in building their capacities in the various areas of the agriculture, livestock and forestry. A total of 62 plantation, agriculture and livestock extension workers, poultry farming, vegetables growing and nursery raising trainings events have been arranged for the 1,279 community members. The community has been supported with the provision of literature on sustainable agricultural practices. The NRM section has arranged 13 field days and three exposure visits of community partners. A total of 3,180 poultry birds have been distributed among the women community partners.

Physical assets building:

The NRM Productive Village Infrastructure (PVIs) schemes serve multi-purpose objectives in the areas of physical assets building and increasing the farm productivity. A total of 22 NRM schemes have been completed benefiting a total of 12,403 community partners. The community share in these schemes has remained over 34 percent of the total cost. With the completion of three irrigation channels 7,701 kanal of rain fed area has been converted to irrigated land. Work on 15 schemes has been in progress.

Social capital formation:

The NRM programme has taken viable steps for the integration of new local bodies’ institutions, Kissan Awam Council (KAC) and Area Co-ordination Council (ACC). An umbrella organisation has been evolved both for the smooth implementation of NRM activities and for checking the government’s policies affecting the natural resources base of the area. For the pro-active involvement of the farmers in the programme’s research and demonstration activities and in the conservation of natural resources 40 NRM committees at the village level have been organised.

Securing the rights of small farmers:

NRM section has been actively involved in mobilising the communities and the research institutions to resist the agenda of globalisation and WTO. The programme has arranged a series of seminars for general public, civil society activists and for the researchers and policy makers. NRM programme has facilitated the University of Agriculture Faisalabad, Faculty of Agri. Economics and Rural Sociology in the establishment of WTO cell broadly for searching the issues associated WTO.
Small Enterprise Development

In the rural livelihood system those -who at the time of- stress could not support his/her financial needs required for the social and economic purposes are the most vulnerable. The vulnerability slides the household to the deeper level of poverty. It has been the liquid assets in the form of livestock etc that has been utilised by the poor to overcome the stress of the financial needs. SL’s Small Enterprise Development (SED) programme has been supporting a micro-credit facility to the rural communities. The purpose has been to secure the poor’s liquid assets and then building their financial assets base to recover from the shocks of the vulnerability. The program has linked its credit facility to the obligatory savings, primarily to promote increased investment in the production sector. It has been assessed that the increasing saving capacities reduces the financial vulnerability, mobilises local financial resources and increases financial management capacity of the poor’s. The SED programme has further extended its facilitation by capacitating the poor in their social, managerial and vocational skills to secure the future financial needs on sustainable bases.

Financial capital formation and enhancement of capabilities:

The SED programme major portfolios of credit has been showing that 63 percent partners communities have utilised credit for livestock development activities followed by 17, 18 and 2 percent for off-farm enterprise development, social development and agricultural inputs respectively. The volume of credit, managed by credit management committees has increased by over one percent with the disbursement of 2,396 loans. (50 percent women loan). Among the SUNGI’s partner communities’ the women, saving trends have always been higher than men have. Nearly 55.6 percent of total Rs. 6.48 million community savings are from women. The programme has extended its saving coverage to the 35 new partner VCs. Presently 60.5 percent of total partner VCs have been engaged in the saving and credit program. The programme has facilitated the partners women and men in building their capacities through 61 managerial and vocational skills trainings. Additionally, with technical support of SED section two tailoring trainings for 19 women participants have been organised by the women communities on their self-initiative.

SED programme sustainability.

The SED program has improved its operating and financial self-sufficiency by expansion of its activities and out-reaches to the marginalised groups. The program has reduced its operating cost (currently is less than 12.9 percent) and improved its operating self-sufficiency ratio from 55.4 percent to 61.5 where as financial self-sufficiency ratio has also been improved to 49.5 in 2001 from 42.3 percent in 2000. The Afghan war and political conditions of the area has adversely affected the loan disbursement activities. This has increased the cost per rupee lent from Rs 0.30 to Rs 0.39 in reporting period. Where as the cost per borrower has decreased from Rs. 1,112 to Rs. 1,031. The number of active loans per credit officer has been decreased from 316 to 254 due to induction of new staff. The average amount of loan per borrower has decreased from Rs. 10,854 to Rs. 9,863 where as the recovery rate of 96 percent has been achieved and overdue has been reduced significantly.

Craft Promotion Programme
Local artisans and craft have been one of the major and an integral part of the rural living system in Pakistan. In the recent past the mechanised ways of production, market forces and other external factors have adversely affected the local craft’s person role in the livelihood of the rural areas. SUNGI’s Craft Promotion Programme (CPP) has been providing an enabling environment for the local craft person’s work revival and building their dignity in the society as an honourable means of living. The programme field operational strategies have been ultimately adding up to the communities’ social, financial and economic assets building.

Enhancement of the capabilities for self-employment of women:

Craft’s programme has been contributing in providing self-employment opportunities to the women rural women. The programme trainings are playing a vital role in sharpening the potential skills and abilities of the community partners. The trainings focus has been on the changing taste, choice of the consumers, colour schemes and combinations, recent style and ongoing trends. In aggregate 30 trainings have been delivered to 391 craft’s members during the year 2001 taking the total number of training to 54. The CPP trainings programme has been supported with the community partners five exposure visits. The programme initiated work in the nine new villages and nine crafts groups have been organised in the year 2001 taking the aggregate number of groups to 52. The craft women membership has been reached to 1,327. These women have been getting self-employment and in total they have earned Rs. 1.72 million.

Craft’s programme has been promoting and introducing local crafts through Melas and exhibitions. During the reporting period CPP has managed to conduct four exhibitions. Community partners were supported to organise stalls of their local handicrafts and food products. The NGOs and other civil society organisation form Lahore, Karachi, Okara and Islamabad have also participated in these events. These exhibitions have attracted the people from different walk of life.

SUNGI's craft shop in Islamabad has been the main selling point of the products made by its community partners. A target of Rs. 60,000/month has been set for the craft shop sale. A remarkable total sale of Rs. 811,238/- in the year 2001 has been achieved taking the average up to 67,603/month. The demand for the craft items has been extensively increased within the country and even in the overseas.


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