Rural Development Plan - HOW

[Guest guest]

"""The work below is what I consider to be a draft of

a presentable document (if not in email form) -

meaning the wording of the RDP. I am trying very hard

to follow a logical framework. Really this therefore

starts the debate over HOW. In terms of wording, any

document needs to be as succinct as possible, but also

as long as necessary to explain itself"""

 

Comments please?

 

 

To reinvigorate ISKCON farm communities in accordance

with the wishes of His

Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, The

ISKCON Ministry of Cow

Protection and Agriculture presents a Rural

Development Plan to establish sustainable

principles and practices of land use which encourage

participation in

lifetime-protected cow-based agriculture giving

lifestyle security to the participants.

 

The ISKCON Rural Development Plan is to follow along

the lines of a mainstream

Sustainability Development Plan. Sustainability

development plans are used across the range

of civil society - in Governments, Non-governmental

Organisations (NGOs) and in Business.

They have a logical structure that is easy to follow

and that many devotees will be familiar

with from working life. They are easy to translate

from a solely ISKCON concern into a more

secular dimension should people choose to.

The structure of the ISKCON Rural Development Plan as

a Sustainable Development Plan is

to be seen as follows:

It is to be Sustainable, therefore it must balance

environmental, social and economic land-use

issues as part of the spiritual instructions outlined

by Srila Prabhupada;

It is to follow a Development process delineating the

starting position we are in - A, the end

result we want to see - Z, and the means to get from A

to Z;

It is a Plan to outline a coherent and concise Vision

backed up with timely and practicable

Mission Statements with their subsequent detailed

Action Plans.

 

Project Vision:

The Vision is to see ISKCON farms managed according to

established sustainable

principles and practices of land use which encourage

participation in

lifetime-protected cow-based agriculture giving

lifestyle security to the participants.

 

The Vision of the ISKCON Rural Development Plan

clearly states the goal that the plan seeks

to achieve. To outline specific Mission Statements to

attain to this Vision it is necessary to

delineate what are the desired characteristics of the

type of land use, participation and security

that the vision outlines. By observing the present

state of development in ISKCON farms plus

observing Indian rural life with the eyes of the

teachings of Srila Prabhupada it is possible to

obtain an A and a Z. A simple general audit of said

farms according to environmental, social

and economic criteria in conjunction with the type of

land use, participation and security that

the vision outlines will then clearly show the

differences. It will then be possible to develop a

sliding scale, an A to Z, that ISKCON farms can then

compare themselves to and between,

using the scale as a benchmark to attain to, plus

identifying some as best-practice farms from

which practices can be adopted.

 

 

"""Here the above breaks from what I have below, which

was a latter version. From the above we really need to

work out the criteria to use as a generality, then

move on to specific farm"""

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Mission Statement 1

To have in place by the end of year 2001 a Sustainable

Development Audit

Framework (SDAF) to be sent to every existing Krsna

Conscious farm throughout the

world. To have by the end of year 2002 a database of

all said farms with a first and

developing audit.

Project Mission Statement 2

To have in place by the early beginnings of year 2002

a Sustainable Development

Action Plan (SDAP) using the information from the SDAF

for every existing Krsna

Consciousl farm throughout the world. To have by the

end of year 2002 a database of

all said farms with a first and developing report on

the SDAP.

 

Project Action Plan 1

To realise the Project Vision and Mission Statement 1

via an environmental,

sociological and economic audit of all Krsna Conscious

farms throughout the world.

To develop a Sustainable Development Audit Framework

(SDAF) to be circulated to

all interested farms for general discussion. At the

end of the discussion period for the

agreed upon SDAF to be re-circulated for data entry

completion.

A SDAF would need basic information in relation to

three categories - environmental,

social and economic.

Environmental information would need to address

area-specific environmental

factors - latitude, longitude, yearly and seasonal

rainfall, biome type, soil type, the

areas ecology, agro-ecological conditions and

constraints, local farming practices,

etc.; plus location-specific farm community

information - farm size, types and

quantity of livestock, present cropping regimes, types

of woodland and

agroforestry techniques, fences and hedges, and

buildings.

Sociological information would need to address

area-specific sociological factors

- population density and distribution, percentage

rural/urban, general and specific

land use skills, ethnicity and religiosity, percentage

of vegetarians, etc.; plus

location-specific factors - quantity of people in farm

community, livelihood

employment and financial means-test, familiar and

spatial arrangements, skills of

community members, organisational structure, etc.

Economical information would need to address

area-specific economical factors -

stage of development (MEDC, NIDC, LEDC), average

income in PPP and income

disparities, state of infrastructure, technological

adoption, etc.; plus

location-specific factors - value of farm, livestock,

crops, woodland and buildings,

inputs, flows and transfers, and outputs into, within

and out of farm community;

plus overall assets, liablilities, cashflows and

yearly profits or losses.

 

 

Project Action Plan 2

To realise the Project Vision and Mission Statement 2

via location-specific project

initiatives. Utilising the area and location-specific

SDAF as primary information,

resource development professionals and participating

farms would need to agree upon

a Sustainable Development Action Plan (SDAP).

A SDAP should have short, medium and long-term

objectives, it should be

categorised into environmental, social and economic

parameters, and it should have

some form of directional framework and organisational

structure to allow for a

controlled and constant dynamism. There would be a

need for partnerships between

diverse groups to access funding, skills and knowledge

for initial project feasibility

studies, pilot projects and for longterm

sustainability of the diverse farming systems

such as:

 

A self-sufficient village.

A form of Community Supported Agriculture (CSA).

A stand-alone concern within the capitalist market

place.

 

 

 

 

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