PRADAN - Professional Assistance for Development Action

PRADAN's initiative, the Kandhamal Women's Leaf-plate Cooperative Limited, is a transformative program aimed at empowering rural women by enhancing their livelihoods. The organization played a crucial role in forming a self-help group, providing skill training, and introducing advanced technology to improve the quality of leaf plates made from Siali plant leaves. Additionally, PRADAN facilitated market linkages, enabling the cooperative to expand its reach and double its turnover. This initiative has significantly improved the economic prospects of marginalized women, fostering self-reliance and sustainable income generation.

A newly developed handbook serves as a crucial guide for small poultry farmers, focusing on essential aspects of the business. It covers key processes such as producer training, intensive production support, and market access strategies. By equipping farmers with industry-standard knowledge and best practices, the handbook aims to enhance production efficiencies and sustainability. This resource is designed to bridge the gap between traditional farming methods and modern industry benchmarks, empowering small-scale poultry producers to improve their operations and compete effectively in the market.

PRADAN works to organise underprivileged women into self-help groups so that these groups can be formally linked to banks to access financial assistance. The groups also empower these marginalized women to raise their voices collectively against exploitation and violence.

The organisation helps rural families to enhance their access to markets and crop selections. It promotes the cultivation of cash crops like tomatoes, chillies, cabbages, cauliflowers and broccolis ensuring a sustainable income throughout the year in addition to food security.

It works with rural communities and families to encourage water conservation models leading to better irrigation outcomes and increasing incomes to an extent of 75% to 100%. It also promotes the cultivation of crops that use less water, installs water control measures and encourages eco-friendly technologies resulting in enhanced weather prediction to diversify risks through growing different crops.

PRADAN promotes the participation of underserved people in income-generation activities like agriculture fruit orchards, Tasar silk and poultry. It has helped develop and set up many trusts and foundations which enable and empower the poor through sharing of relevant knowledge and provide specialised assistance in these professions.

It helps excluded and neglected women upgrade their skills, access their rights and participate in village and district forums through mobilising, training and motivating them. This has led to many communities asking for their entitlements and claiming their rightful places in society also leading to increase in accountability of village-level institutions.

District

Dumka

Jamtara

Strengthening capacity of SHG federated structure for Livelihoods and Health” is a BMGF funded three-year project initiated from November’2019. The project aims to demonstrate a prototype for creating Model Cluster Level Federations across 3 states namely Bihar, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand in 31 Cluster Level Federations. The project also aims to influence the larger NRLM structure, by feeding in the knowledge, learnings, process and protocol emerging from the interventions in these CLFs to NRLM, for large scale roll-out in the “1000 Model CLF Strengthening Program” being implemented by NRLM in 600 NRETP CLFs and 400 NRLM CLFs.

District

Dhamtari

Kanker

Dindori

Mandla

Singrauli

This was second phase of the project with the focus of intensification of intervention in selected project blocks. The project aims to (1) Increasing household income through large scale social mobilization focusing on block level impact using a saturation model to augment income level (2) Women led Economic Growth- Multi- dimensional change by strengthening women collectives to facilitate individual woman’s access to government programme and schemes.

The Augmentation in Small Holders prosperity through Agriculture Production Cluster (ASHA) program (2020-2024) is being implemented by Professional Assistance for Development Action (PRADAN) and its partners in 40 blocks across 12 districts. The program is supporting the existing Agriculture Production Cluster (APC) program launched by the Government of Odisha’s (GoO) Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment (DA&FE) in November 2018. The program is developing production clusters in which female self-help group members form farmer producer groups (PGs) that synchronize production of horticulture crops with high market demand. These PGs are aggregated into FPCs. The program is also supporting the development of livestock production. It is coordinating closely with the GoO to deliver complementary infrastructure, including irrigation, farm mechanization, livestock sheds, and post-harvest infrastructure.

District

Dhamtari

Kanker

Hoshangabad

Dindori

Mandla

Sidhi

Betul

Singrauli

The project aims to support 100,000 Rural women from small and marginal households to attain 125% increase in gross annual income on a sustainable basis

District

Sirohi

States

Rajasthan

1200 women SHG’s will be supported to cover 16000 women. And engage with 50% (7500) of them under intensive livelihoods intervention to ensure year round food security and enhanced incomes Rs 25,000 – 50,000 leading by the women of the community through their community institutions.

The program aims to evaluate the impact of PRADAN alumni on organizations and the social sector across India. By conducting a comprehensive study, it seeks to identify the extent of their contributions and the sectors that have benefited the most from the PRADAN approach. This initiative provides valuable insights into how PRADAN's methodology has influenced various fields, shaping development efforts and driving meaningful change. Through this assessment, the program highlights the broader reach of PRADAN’s vision and its role in strengthening the social sector.

A dedicated handbook has been compiled to support poor farmers engaged in Tasar silk agriculture. This resource provides in-depth guidance on various aspects of Tasar sericulture, emphasizing its potential as a sustainable livelihood. It offers detailed insights into initiating and managing the activity efficiently while ensuring long-term viability. By equipping farmers with essential knowledge, the handbook aims to enhance their skills, improve productivity, and promote sustainable practices, ultimately contributing to their economic stability and the growth of the Tasar silk industry.

The awareness program on the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) aimed to educate participants on its provisions, legal framework, and execution. The session highlighted the roles and responsibilities of State Governments and Panchayat institutions in ensuring effective implementation. It also covered key aspects such as employment guarantee, wage payments, and transparency measures. By shedding light on the act’s legalities and administrative mechanisms, the program sought to empower communities with knowledge, enabling better access to employment opportunities and strengthening rural development efforts.