POVERTY REDUCTION THROUGH SKILLS ENHANCEMENT FOR USING NATURAL RESOURCES TO SEE ECONOMICALLY EMPOWERED COMMUNITIES.

Pakistan is basically agriculture based country. Seventy percent population is employed in agriculture especially in rural Sindh. The farmers get poor yield of crops due to lack of technical knowledge and non-availability of required inputs. They also lack the capacity to manage natural resources at their disposal and waste the potential.

SRSO understands the importance of this sector. It has established an independent Section of Natural Resource Management focusing on capacity building of the farmers. NRM has well defined role to play for the following activities:

Assist communities in water resources management by training and demonstrations;
Help them in obtaining better varieties of seeds, fruits and forest plants;
Promote and build up the capacity of communities in better methods of vaccinating animals, livestock management practices, agricultural farm management practices, sowing, seed and plantation;
Provide preventive and curative services in the Livestock sector through the Prime Minister’s Special Initiative for Livestock Project.

NRM in collaboration with COs, has identified following activities that could lead to improve the living standard of people thereby reduce the severity of poverty.

Back Yard Poultry:

Poultry is an integrate part of rural households. These are reared for egg & meat purpose. However these birds are low production in terms of meat & egg rearing size and number. NRM envisages turning conventional rearing poultry into a cottage industry and later on commercial farming by training CO in poultry farming on modern lines and introducing highly productive poultry breeds (Fayoomi). These breeds are disease resistant, require less management practices and are good converter of feed into egg and produces eggs daily almost around year.

This activity has been designed with women community who are mainly involved in conventional poultry rearing practices. SRSO has built the capacity of target women communities to construction of poultry houses feed & diseases management.

Back Yard Kitchen Gardening:
Kitchen gardening is simple activity to undertake. The selection of a range of vegetables is carried out based on liking and profitability. Mostly tomato, chilies, carrot, radish are cultivated in the area. But due to lack of know-how to the farmers, they have not explored the high income generating activities like vegetables production and fruit rearing. To generate interest of the target group, NRM has introduced kitchen gardening at household level. NRM has provided seed and trainings and has supplied vegetables seed packet for both Rabi and Kharif seasons.
Kitchen gardening is purely women led activity SRSO ensures women participation through mobilization. Skill enhancement has been carried out through training and on site technical support.
Fruit Plants:
To diversify and encourage complementing existing income generation source communities have been mobilized to grow fruit trees at household level. NRM has provided varieties of fruit plants to CO member i.e. Lemon, Ber, Falsa in all districts. Women are engaged in fruit planting specially at household level.
Land Reclamation:
35% land of upper Sindh Districts, Shahdad Kot, Larkana, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, and Kandhkot is saline and nothing is cultivated in these lands. This big chunk of land is barren. Due to non cultivation this ratio is being increased day by day. These lands require proper attention.

SRSO has designed the programme of reclamation of these lands with gypsum and has supplied gypsum to the farmers that has helped reclaim 300 acres of land.
Crop Production :
Successful crop production plays an important role in solving problems of food security as well as bringing economic development and poverty alleviation in the area. The success of producing good crops almost entirely depends upon availability better inputs better knowledge and choice of crops according to the area environments. Since majority of our population live in rural area their livelihood is fundamentality linked with agriculture and production good crops. Going through the results of the crop production in the target area, was concluded that increased crop yields with limited soils can also be achieved by the following two principles.