Bihar Initiative
Livelihood Scenario in Bihar
The state of Bihar comes under the mid Gangetic plains which is characterized by extreme level of poverty that co-exist with a natural resource base that is rich in terms of both soil fertility as well as irrigation potential. North Bihar is undoubtedly the most backward region, as reflected through its lowest urbanization level (6.7 percent), the lowest literacy rate (42.1 percent) and the highest decadal growth rate of population (29.3 percent). The plains of North Bihar suffer most from technological weaknesses as well as structural limitations and consequently, the rural poverty ratio is highest at 58.7 percent.
The most striking feature of Bihar is the acute population pressure on its land. In contrast to a national density of population at only 324 persons per sq. 
km., it is as high as 803 persons per sq. km in Bihar. This is more so, in North Bihar plains, where the density of population is the highest (926 persons per sq. km.) and, quite expectedly, the poverty ratio is also the highest.
In terms of rural population while a hectare of land is required to support only one rural family for the whole of the country, in Bihar, it has to support two rural families and in some parts, it is even three rural families. With its urbanization level at barely 11.0 percent, the region does not enjoy the support of even a modest secondary/tertiary sector, which could lessen the demographic pressure on its land resources even marginally.
A large part of the agricultural land here is cultivated not by its owners, but by sharecroppers. Further, a very large number of agricultural holdings here is so small that their owners are unable to cultivate it using modern agricultural inputs. Nearly 70 percent of the rural households are either landless or own less than one acre of land.
In addition to demographic pressure and iniquitous land distribution, the rural economy of Bihar also suffers from another disadvantage, because of the high flood proneness of the area. Nearly two-thirds of the area is flood prone, causing frequent damages to property and, more importantly, deterring agricultural investments. The technological base of agriculture is therefore, much weaker than its potential in terms of both irrigation facilities and the use of such modern inputs like HYV seeds or fertilizers.
In 1993-94, the national rural poverty ratio had stood at 36.7 percent, with the ratio standing at 56.5 percent in Bihar. In 2000-01, this difference has actually widened; the national rural poverty ratio stands at only 20.6 percent, but Bihar they are at 44.3 percent. The policy of economic liberalization that now guides the Indian economy can actually make this difference even wider, unless specific strategies are adopted to meet the challenge.
In reality the situation in rural Bihar is characterized by poor service delivery, caste ridden political and social fabric, elite capture of institutions, limited economic opportunities, and poor development infrastructure. These factors along with the lowest per capita development expenditure in Bihar have prevented improvement in its 32nd rank amongst all India states, and the HDI (0.367) and the GEI scores.
Poverty is heavily concentrated amongst the landless or near landless agricultural households, with these two vulnerable groups constituting 70 percent of the households in Bihar. It is estimated that nearly 2.3 million poor are exposed to huge amount of high cost debt for food, health and education, accounting for 25-30 percent of consumption expenses, further impoverishing them. Disparities are also evident along gender and caste lines. Absence of sensitive support and facilitation structure has led to low levels of social capital among the poor and consequently hindered formation of good quality organizations of the poor and hence delivery of services to the real beneficiaries.
The Livelihood School in Bihar
The realization for effective support and facilitation to strengthen people’s institutions at the village level for impacting large number of rural livelihoods paved the path for The School to initiate action in Bihar. The two important functions of the School, namely-knowledge building on issues of livelihood and livelihoods promotion, and dissemination of knowledge to enhance the capacities of individuals and organizations working for promoting livelihoods of poor acted as two major vehicles to enhance livelihoods in Bihar.
The Livelihood School collaborates with Women Development Corporation to enhance the capacities of its NGO partners and Women Federation leaders on livelihood promotion and endeavors to create a cadre of livelihood practitioners at community level to deal with the area specific livelihood issues in a planned and systematic manner.
The School is partnering with APMAS, NABARD and CARE to strengthen the village level institutions and enhance their capacities to identify the livelihood opportunities after critically analyzing the internal and external factors influencing the livelihoods of the poor.
The School with Indian Grameen Services is conducting a study to design an alternate implementing model for effective public service delivery system, an initiative of Rural Development Department, Bihar supported by The World Bank.
The School since its initiation in Bihar from Feb 2009 has till date been able to capacitate 60 village level livelihood practitioners representing Women’s Federation and NGOs on livelihood promotion who in turn have developed livelihood intervention projects and successfully applied the tools and techniques learnt in their field of operations. The School has also organized orientation programs for the 23 District Deputy Managers of NABARD on Livelihood Promotion. The School strives to work with the Livelihood promoting agencies and livelihood practitioners to bring about a meaningful change in the livelihoods of large number of rural population in Bihar.
Important Links.