	What We Did
	Stock Taking
	Supply and Demand
	Community Led Workshops
	Pilot Testing the Methodology
	Study Locations
	Land Use Pattern
	Household Food Security and Livelihood
	Main Source of Income
	Women Livelihood Profile
	Aspirations
	Feasibility Study of Women's Aspirations
	Sharing Results
	Acknowledgements

Household Food Security and Livelihood

Majority of the households face food shortages. While occasional food shortages are high among households in Mawphlang (61%) and Minjur (46%), Gumma has a relatively high incidence of chronic food shortage. Therefore, the majority of the households in these locations are poor and food insecure

Table 2. Food Security Status Of the sample blocks

Households with…	Minjur-TN (percent to total)	Gumma-Orissa (percent to total)	Mawphlang -Meghlaya (percent to total)
surplus of food	1.50	8.95	6.77
food just enough	47.20	54.97	30.17
food shortage occasionally	46.00	22.27	61.32
chronic food shortage	5.30	11.80	1.24

Table 3. Main features of the village livelihood in study locations

Livelihood Pattern	Part of Minjur Block Tamil Nadu	Gumma Block Orissa	Mawphlang Block Meghalaya
Agricul-ture	Mainly rain fed agriculture in few villages –paddy is the main crop Limited irrigation through water from local water bodies (ponds, tanks) – saline soil and low ground water table	Shifting cultivation-rain fed Millets, cereals, pulses, turmeric Small patches of plain land used for paddy cultivation	Subsistence farming on small landholdings Mostly lease land cultivation Rain fed agriculture Potato and vegetable cultivation in summer
Livestock	Few households maintain milch animals to supplement their income. Only local sale of milk and no organized milk society Limited availability of green fodder Goats and poultry insignificant	Poultry(1-2 birds in most of the households) Goats and cattle rearing limited	Small scale poultry and piggery
Use of forests	Dependence mainly for fuel-wood Livestock grazing	Fuel-wood Growing cashew, banana, pineapple, mango Collection of tamarind and broomsticks	Fuel-wood extraction
Fisheries	High dependence on fisheries in coastal villages-32 villages mainly depend on the lake for their livelihood Over fishing has led to reduced fish catch	Negligible	Negligible
Labour	Heavy dependence on labour (mostly unskilled), rice mills, brick kilns, construction work Year round employment is an issue and only seasonal employment	High dependence in destitute and poor households	High dependence on unskilled work-limestone quarries, charcoal units Opportunities limited during winter months
Migration	Not significant Young and adolescent girls go to nearby garment manufacturing companies and computer companies	Chain migration to Arunachal Pradesh High Migration to big cities in South India	People generally unwilling to migrate for labour work

Table 3 reveals the following:

Too many people depend on a limited and declining natural resource base (agricultural land, forests, fishing grounds) in all the locations. Over-fishing has already led to reduced fish catch in Minjur and fishing is now undertaken in rotation by the villages.
Within the livestock sector, there is wide variation across all the locations. In Minjur, livestock are mostly milch animals. In Gumma, it is mainly poultry and goats. In Mawphlang, it is poultry and pigs
Dependence on unskilled labour is high in most of the locations
Migration is an important coping strategy for households in Mawphlang and Gumma
Though horticulture in forests and collection of NTFPs do provide diverse livelihood options in Gumma, people sell most of these produce in distress and without any value addition. Poultry is an important activity in Gumma and Mawphlang.

Rationale Background and History Current Debates

Stock Taking Supply and Demand Community Led Workshops Pilot Testing the Methodology

Feasibility Study of Women's Aspirations Sharing Results Acknowledgements

Study Locations Major Findings

Landuse Pattern Household Food Security and Livelihood Main Source of Income Women Livelihood Profile Aspirations

Stages Guidelines Data Collection Methodology and Schedules

Location Profile Household Profile Support and Service Network

Tamilnadu

Orissa

Meghalaya

Stage 1 - Diagnosis Stage 2 - Identification and Selection of Interventions Stage 3 - Programme Design

Stock Taking

Supply and Demand

Introduction Prakasam District Puddukottai, TN

Introduction Results Enterprise Groups

What We Did

Household Food Security and Livelihood