Caritas India and Welthungerhilfe are initiating an exchange platform for agriculture and health & Nutrition with the aim to learn and capacity building of both the organisations. This platform can also be used for Functionalizing State/National Multi-Stakeholder Forums and involving in Policy Level Campaigns and Advocacy.

Both the organisations had a joint virtual meeting on 6th November 2020 to give a formal shape to the knowledge exchange platform and to develop clarity on the role of the thematic leads & steering committee for ensuring the sustainability of the platform for fruitful exchange and learning.

This was the second meeting where the representatives of both the organisations will develop common understanding to strengthen and operationalise this platform to make it more knowledge-driven and learning-oriented through mutual exchange, sharing and extended support.

“Agriculture and Health and Nutrition will be the key focus areas of this platform where we need to develop clarity on the roles and responsibilities of the steering committee members who will support in organizing timely meetings and exchanges to the best of the interest of the partners,” shared Robin George, Programme Manager of Caritas India Sabal Programme while setting the context of the meeting. He also expressed that the KEP should be strengthened in such a way that the ownership is not just confined to Caritas India and Welthungerhilfe but to the partners.

Dr. Saju MK, Caritas India Zone Manager for West shared in detail about the various phases of KEP strengthening where the KEP team will initiate the exchanges with Partners’ Peer Learning & Capacity Building – Learning by listening. “During the pandemic times it is difficult to have joint meeting physically and the only mode of exchanges and learning is confined to the virtual platform so we will take the opportunity to make the best use of the platform and develop our skills and learnings through listening,” added Dr. Saju. Once the pandemic situation is normal, the next phase will involve Staff/Community Exposure Visits – Learning by Seeing which will give an opportunity for better learning and understanding.

Mr. Pratibha Srivastav, State Coordinator, Welthungerhilfe shared their perspectives on effective functionalization of the KEP. She proposed to open the platform for the community to express and exchange their experience and learnings and other stakeholders for sharing their expectations from our initiatives. She emphasized on strengthening the visibility of the platform by having social media presence. The E-Newsletter of the KEP initiatives on a quarterly basis and organizing joint large programmes will create a platform for demonstrating our initiatives at the grassroots, she added.

Partners from both the organisations presented one innovative model initiative in the Agriculture and Health and Nutrition themes to exchange their innovations and learnings.

“Simple Mechanization Practices Changing Marginal Farmer’s Life,” an innovative model from Caritas India Sabal programme was presented by Mr. Sumit Chauhan, Coordinator Dayasagar Social Centre (DSC) to showcase the benefits of millet sower machine that has supported the Korku farmers in reducing the amount on seeds for sowing through organized farming over traditional broadcasting method. He also presented about maize de-sheller a simple tool that has supported the households to stop the exploitation of the middleman who used to charge them heavily on the threshing process of their produce.

Mr. Niranjan, Coordinator – Darshana (DMKS) from Welthungerhilfe shared about the health and nutrition initiative of Nutri-mix solution that has helped to address the malnutrition problem of the community through localized solutions prepared at the household level. He also informed that the malnutrition rate among the children has been reduced to 20% after introducing and training the community on preparing ‘Nutri-Mix’ (a blend of cereals and grains) and regular feeding to the children.

Mr. Rakesh Karole, Coordinator – Khandwa Diocesan Social Services (KDSS) presented the innovative step to address the malnutrition of the Korku tribe and also increasing the effectiveness of the grassroots institutional system through a collaborative visit with the workers to the community. He was happy to express that throughout the programme duration the team has been successful to achieve 90% of immunization of mother and children and 100% entitlements to the target beneficiaries.

Mr. Prashant, Coordinator of Mahatma Gandhi Seva Ashram (MGSA) supported by Welthungerhilfe regional nutrition programme shared the agri-based innovation of floriculture which helped in raising their income. Through a comparative study, Mr. Prashant shared that the farmers who have opted for floriculture have raised their income by 30% over the usual crop cultivation. He also shared that earlier the farmers used to directly sell the produce but now they are processing essence and other medicinal solutions at the community to raise more income.

The meeting concluded with a vote of thanks by Mr. Mukund Deshmukh to the both Welthungerhilfe and Cartas India state leader for their support and guidance, to the organizer’s Robin George, Mukund Deshmukh and Mohsin Khan for the facilitation and coordination and the partners for their active participation and contribution throughout the programme.