Programmes

• Combating Drought and desertification in drylands
• Protection of natural resources and bio-diversity
• Environmental Health clean drinking water and sanitation
• Promotion of environment law

DRYNET

Drynet is a network of national and international NGOs, which are willing to share knowledge and competence on dryland management issues. By sharing knowledge these NGOs have to play a crucial role in putting dry land ecosystem degradation and poverty high onto the national development agenda. The Drynet members will collectively address this issue with a number of targeted activities building the needed capacity and skills to participate in the process and to lobby for stronger participation.

Taking into account the diverse status of civil society involvement in the countries, the activities shall strengthen CSOs and their networks to provide better input into the development of national action plans related to sustainable resource management in dry lands in those countries that didn't finalize their NAPs yet.

Additionally, this shall also develop the capacities of civil society organizations to generate project ideas or adapt best practices and develop these into feasible projects. This will contribute to a more sustainable and more efficient implementation of action plans and programs in countries affected by desertification as the role of NGOs in project implementation is stressed by all major international aid agreements.

This network is highly relevant to global environment concerns and is designed to capture benefits in other focal areas, especially conservation of dry land biodiversity and carbon sequestration. It focuses on mitigating the causes and effects of land degradation on the structure and functional integrity of ecosystems through institutional strengthening and sustainable land management while contributing to poverty alleviation and improving local livelihoods and economic well-being. It promotes cross-sectoral approaches for tackling desertification and creation of an enabling environment for improved policy and action at the national, provincial and district government levels as well as ensuring effective of stakeholders.

MANJITHI MULTI-PURPOSE SOCIAL COOPERATIVE SOCIETY THARPARKAR 

The livelihood of 1 million people of Thar almost totally depends on the livestock, and the entire livestock depends on grazing in the natural system of rangelands. However, these grazing lands are already under great stress due to increased grazing pressure, tree cutting for fuel wood, increased cultivation etc. There is no organized effort on the part of government and local communities to sustain and manage the livestock and rangelands under sustainable balance. Insufficient awareness of the ecological implications of the current unsustainable resource-use practice is another factor causing loss of rangelands.

During the time of droughts, conditions worsen and large numbers of pastoral people have to migrate with their livestock. In this process, they suffer huge losses. During the normal times too, diseases, unsustainable grazing and lack of market access, do not allow them to earn good profits from their livestock. Thus, this situation led SCOPE -Pakistan (NGO) to think about to develop a comprehensive support program for the pastoral communities in Thar, and social mobilization efforts, by introducing multi purpose social cooperativ

Back ground of Manjithi multi purpose social cooperative society Tharparkar:

Manjithi is one union council of Taluka Mithi, District Tharparkar, having 60,000 population in 100 villages, economically is a poor arid region with meager resources and poor infrastructure. There are a number of barriers in the way of attaining sustainable livelihoods. Occasional droughts force people to migrate due to scarcity of water, food and fodder. Overgrazing and deforestation, particularly during droughts, add to depletion of soil and water resources. Majority of the population is very poor and marginal, and has no access to safe water, roads, market, health, education and credit facilities.

SCOPE and Manjithi Multi-purpose Social Cooperative Society Tharparkar believe poverty can be reduced through collective natural resources management, livestock management and handicrafts marketing and business.

That is all possible by organizing Multi purpose social cooperative of hundred villages as the model for other 43 union councils.

Analyzing the ground realities and getting learning's' from the cooperative movement in world, SCOPE-Pakistan (NGO) with the financial support of MISEREOR-Germany organized a workshop at Mithi, head quarter of District, on dated August 29, 2005 to share the idea of cooperative for general benefit of the community and the social integration.

Participants belong to 100 villages including village leaders, activists, teachers, and farmers, women councilors participated in workshop. After detail discussion, and analysis, they recommended for a multi purpose social cooperative with vision to overcome the poverty through collective actions.

There are a number of projects, which are under implementation at various locations of Sindh. A brief summary of these projects are given as under;

Dryland development/ combating drought and desertification programme, Tharparkar :

Tharparkar is a drought affected arid/ semi-arid area, which has been neglected by government and development agencies for a long time. This region is characterized by harsh terrain, lack of development infrastructure and civic facilities. In spite of prevailing difficult physical conditions we were able to successfully initiate a dryland development programme following the philosophy and objectives of UNCCD. This is an integrated program being implemented through our "Anti-Drought and Desertification Centre" based at Mithi. The main aim of this center is to provide information and services to the local communities and make efforts for betterment of their livelihoods and sustainable management of natural resources.

Creating Assets for Rural Women:

Woman of Tharparkar is helpless to do anything for her family, in spite of having many skills they are handicapped due to non-availability of basic amenities. In this project, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been providing assistance in the form of food stamps for about 6 years.

This project is largely community based and caters to the need of local women by creating physical, economical and social assets to improve their social condition. For their economical progress and well-being, the families are motivated to participate in work , eventually which can bring food in return of their labour utilized to build infrastructure (such as kitchen, latrine, bio sand filters and agro-pastoral farms)

This project is designed to address the food needs at household level by extending employment opportunities to the community at a small- scale. It contributes daily wages in the shape of food stamps, which beneficiary uses to buy basic food items from the designated grocery shops.

Food for work facilitates community in creating physical assets at household and at a community levels. The household assets include; water tanks, lavatories, kitchens. Where as community assets are new wells, repairs of old wells and community water ponds.

SCOPE is implementing an extensive project in Union Council Manjithi of Tharparkar, which is aimed at developing physical assets for women folks to enable them to struggle against abject poverty and economic dependency. This program covers over 100 villages of Tharparkar.

Pastoral livelihood Support:

This project was initiated to improve the livelihood of the pastoral peoples in the region of Tharparkar by the help of capacity building and empowering pastoral community through training and orientation on livestock and rangelands and subsistent agriculture.

Main purpose of this program is to develop an umbrella organization of the pastoral people to resist against drought and desertification. SCOPE aims at developing a local resource facility to support community action during the natural calamities like drought.

Agriculture in this area mainly depends on rains, but some farmers practice subsistent agriculture by utilizing underground water.

SCOPE has introduced a simple and economical drip irrigation technique, which conserve a lot of water and hence increases cultivated area for food and fodder production. The project also maintains a nursery of arid trees to supplement agro-forestry component. The project is providing support in subsistent agriculture trainings in better livestock management and promotion of fodder based agro-forestry. Under this program a campaign has been launched to vaccinate the cattle for the protection against "Anthrax" and other widespread diseases in the ecosystem.

Health has always been a prime priority for SCOPE, that's why anti-malaria measures are a part of this program. A lady doctor regularly visits to treat women folks who are suffering from many ailments due to malnutrition and hardships of life.

The ultimate aim of this project is to form a Cooperative Organization of pastoral people to protect their social, environmental and economic rights.

SCOPE has established a field center at Village Mithrio Soomra to execute the project more effectively. SCOPE's partner in this project is Misereor ( Germany ) who is working for the welfare of poor people of the world.

Developing Animal Health Centers

Tharparkar's economy is predominantly pastoral in nature and people survive on cattle. However livestock diseases cause heavy losses to the pastoral economy. SCOPE has introduced a pastoral livelihood programme in 2000 with the support of Misereor. Under this programme members of local community were trained in veterinary medicine practices to respond local needs. SCOPE established seven Animal Health Centers with the cooperation of Animal Husbandry Department and Veterinary Diagnosis Department of Tharparkar. SCOPE has also provided veterinary doctors and trained personnel for periodic inoculation at seven different centers. These activities are monitored by Vet Dr. Jhaman Jan, who makes routine checks and if deemed possible give appropriate advices to cope up with the veterinary heath problems in their incubation period.

Natural Resource Management (NRM);

There was no concept to plant or protect trees in Tharparkar. Trees were cut indiscriminately for fuel and meeting other hut making and domestic needs and it was thought that the nature would replace those trees which were mowed down. Livestock grazes in the commons (community grazing lands) and agricultural lands without restriction which results in overgrazing of pastures and agricultural land leading to land degradation and desertification. The frequently occurring droughts made the situation worse in which many trees and bushes dried up and vanished. This situation created problems of loss of land fertility, reduction in agricultural and livestock products and food shortages. Due to the severity of the problem of land degradation and food insecurity, SCOPE lunched campaign of tree plantation and fencing of the herbs and shrubs to save the land and natural vegetation.

During the year, 20 houses were involved in planting fodder trees to provide much needed fodder for the cattle and livestock of the beneficiary households. These newly planted fodder trees will become mature in about five to six years with a proper care. It is expected that each beneficiary would be able to have sufficient fodder for their small herds of animals thereby saving on fodder expenses especially in the times of droughts. This activity directly helped about 250 persons of 20 households.

Community exchange and training program (CETP)

Under the auspicious of International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD), which is a Global Mechanism of UNCCD, SCOPE is implementing a project which aims at developing capacity of local organizations against drought and desertification in the dry lands. SCOPE is one of the implementing partners in this project. This project includes community exchange visits, training, exposures, field demonstrations etc.

  SCOPE is also a partner with two NGOs, South Asia Partnership ( Nepal ), and Youth for Action ( India ) in a regional CETP project. The prime objective of this project is to establish a national federation of women farmers in Pakistan and develop their capacity to negotiate with drought and desertification.

Women are integral part of our rural agrarian economy. However despite of productive at economical level, women farmers are not given social and political opportunities under this project SCOPE has been working with women farmers in Pakistan to form women farmers organizations and a national level federation in the country. In this regard 3 major workshops were organized at Lahore (Punjab), Hyderabad and Tharpakar (Sindh) to discus problems faced by women farmers and organize them into a national umbrella organization.

This project has supported some 30 women farmers in Tharparkar on land development initiatives, which includes initiating kitchen gardening and developing agro-pastoral farms to increase the food and fodder base for humans and livestock .

Cool the Earth project

Rainwater harvesting programme in drought affected areas of Sindh Kohistan

SCOPE has been working at Sindh Kohistan area since 1990 on number of programmes aims at combating drought and desertification. SCOPE had developed mini check dams, water reservoirs, community farms and plantation of arid trees.

SCOPE has expanded its programme in the Sindh Kohistan region of the Districts of Malir, Dadu and Jamshoro since 2004 where people were living in abject poverty and suffering from the shortage of pure drinking water.

Community Physical infrastructure Programme

SCOPE is implementing Community Physical Infrastructure Programme (CPI) in this area with the support of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), which aims at creating physical assets for the local population to reduce absolute poverty.

The community Physical Infrastructure (CPI) program is aimed to provide finical assistance to the poor communities for small-scale infrastructure projects, which can enhance their productive capacity, increase income and reduce work load for women. Benefits are catered to the public through income generation for their own, improved physical and social infrastructure, and training and skill development support.

Under this project SCOPE is creating infrastructure like water resources and kacha tracks in the hilly region to make water available and transportation easy. In this programme SCOPE works with local organizations to identify depressions where storm / run off rainwater can be stored and for this purpose check dams and water ponds are excavated and remodeled. The collected fresh water is used for drinking and other livelihood uses. These water reservoirs help in increasing ground water level. These schemes are provided with training of making bio sand filters so that the people can purify collected water through these filters for the drinking purpose. So far 15 large reservoirs and 3 water supply schemes have been constructed in the project. Human resources development is an integral part of the programme and SCOPE arranges community organization training in which they are trained in community organization management, decision making and implementation and management of CPI projects.

CPI project in Kharo Chan (Thatta)

Kharo Chan is one of the most backward Tehsil of District Thatta, located at Delta of Indus River. It is a sea erosion affected area approximately 150 thousand acres have been affected by sea erosion, having no utter sufficient infrastructures developed even planned so far. Even basic utilities such as water, electricity, roads, hospital and so on are yet to reach in this remote area. No electricity is available in whole Tehsil. Government and NGOs have ignored this area. Since 2006 SCOPE entered in this area with its mission as "sustainable development on integrated basis". In this regard SCOPE in partnership of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) commenced the project of building community physical infrastructure (CPI). These CPI schemes are drinking water purification system, safe sanitations including provision of lavatories.