Utsuvari

Utsuvari aims at restoring peace peace between humans and animals in protected areas. By helping farmers transitioning to agroforestry, Utsuvari transforms threatened habitats to resilient ecosystems.

Currently, human-wildlife conflicts kills around 500people and 100 elephants annually in India, in addition to damaged crops, loss of properties and increased antipathy towards wildlife. Plantation of native trees will act as natural barriers.

Our solutions first mitigate these conflicts, preserving biodiversity and saving human lives. But it also provides vulnerable farmers additional income, improves nutritional security and boost economic opportunities of rural communities. 

1. First, Utsuvari saves lives. Proximity between human and animals near reserves results in human-wildlife conflict (HWC), killing 500 people and 100 elephants per year in India. Approximately 80,000 incidents are reported annually. 80% of these represent crop loss and property damage, 6% human injury and death and 20% livestock predation (usually retaliatory killlings) . Such conflict situations generally lead to growing antipathy among the people towards wildlife conservation.

2. From an ecological point of view, Utsuvari boosts biodiversity on mono-copped farms. Thus, it restores land productivity and resiliency on the long term. Agroforestry also combats deforestation.

3. Utsuvari tackles income poverty among rural farmers who are currently too dependent on the market prices of one crop, and at risk of damaged crops or property loss by animals crossing their land. 

3. Utsuvari decreases health issues: 

- Better farming and economic opportunities leads to better mental health of farmers (prone to suicide in India). 

- By providing nutritional diversity and food security, it also combat malnutrition among poor rural communities. 

- Finally, as recent pandemics have shown (Ebola, Covid), the risk of transmission of diseases by wildlife to people and livestock is heightened. However, Utsuvari creates a natural barrier.

Our solution mitigates Human Wildlife Conflicts around protected natural reserves by introducing agroforestry. First, our team uses Geographical Information Systems (GIS) to identify "zones of interaction" which delimits adjacent human-dominated habitats zones, that currently faces the most incidents and threats from animals crossing. This technology also enables us to identify the best suitable soils and locations to plant native seeds. In the future, once trees have grown, GIS will help us monitor our efforts.

Secondly, beyond land-use planning through GIS technology, Utsuvari's team gives native seeds and teaches new farming techniques to selected farmers. By helping beneficiaries tranistioning from mono-cropping to agroforestry, Utsuvari provides them with sustained additional incomes. If successful, these farmers will influence their peers to shift towards more sustainable farming practices and transfer their newly acquired skills.

Thirdly, multiple positive externalities arises from agroforestry near protected areas. Ecologically, Utsuvary restores harmony between humans and animals, saving lives and avoiding transmission of diseases. Agroforestry more than just acting as a natural barrier, increases forest cover and biodiversity. Economically, on the long term, Utsuvari procures farmers with additional incomes, better soil productivity, and peace of mind. The surrounding communities will also enjoy more economic opportunities and diversified food.

The solution is targeted at small-scale farmers adjacent to the reserves boundaries, who are almost entirely dependent on monocultural yields for sustenance. These farmers can hardly grow any crops due to damages caused by the wildlife, and their livestock which also provides very low incomes, are also at risk of being killed by surrounding wildlife. 

Annual household income in the programme implementation area is less than INR 74,672. In comparison, annual losses due to wildlife related crop damage alone amounts to INR 26,831. It has been estimated that state governments spend ~Rs. 38 Crores ($5 Million) annually to compensate for wildlife-related damages. These compensations are insufficient. Many farmers do not even file claims due to high transaction costs. In the Karnataka state, less than 30% of the victims apply for the compensation scheme. (data from Karanth & Vanamamalai, 2020).

Overtime, persistent conflict can result in severe financial setbacks, pushing families further into poverty traps and aggravating their frustrations due to the lack of adequate coping mechanisms. Such negative interactions significantly influence people’s attitudes and perceptions, resulting in hostility toward wildlife and government officials and in retaliatory killings of wildlife through poisoning, electrocution etc.

With the help from the team of the Centre for Wildlife Studies (CWS), the needs of the farmers have been recorded and understood from previous field surveys. We plan to work with 1000 farmers around eight wildlife reserves, based on their conflict history, and willingness to afforest a portion of their land for a three year period. Our partnership with CWS ensures link with key stakeholders in the region. Indeed, CWS enjoys a long-term presence and partnerships with local groups and individuals as well as good relationship with local and state officials in Karnataka state of India. Moreover, Utsuvari’s team will learn and benefit from CWS’s prior experience with the regulatory, legal and policy processes, their education activities and knowledge of conservation and the areas.

Through the proposed afforestation program, we incentivise farmers to plant native trees in a portion of their land. In the short term, the program beneficiaries will be able to benefit from the tree yields (seeds, fruits, firewood, fodder, timber, manureetc.) and significantly supplement their annual incomes. In the longer run, the program will promote mixed cropping patterns and increase forest cover in  the fringe areas, serving the dual goals of increasing biodiversity and transforming attitudes towards wildlife. 

The project aims to make farmers economically sound by providing them native seeds of 40,000 timber and fruiting trees including sandal, malabar neem, sapodilla, pomegranate and lemon. Through the agroforestry approach, they would be taught and engaged in growing varied forms of crops and trees to cater towards sustainable farming practises. Introducing agroforestry will boost biodiveristy and economic opportunities of the entire rural communities around. Utsuvari promotes resilient farms and on the other hand protect wildlife.

The program will be conducted in three phases around eight wildlife reserves as follows:

Phase 1: Bandipur and Nagrahole National Parks (400 families)

Phase 2: Pushpagiri, Brahmagiri and Talakaveri Wildlife Sanctuaries (300 families)

Phase 3: Biligiriranga (BR) Hills, Male Mahadeshwara (MM) Hills,
and Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuaries (300 families)

1. Identifying beneficiaries: select 10 villages experiencing the highest levels of human-wildlife conflicts within a 10km buffer zone around Bandipur and Nagarahole, further select 400 farmers based on their willingness to afforest. Each randomly selected farmer will be provided with one hundred 3-5 foot tall native trees that will reach maturity within a period of 12 months. In total, 40,000 timber and fruiting trees will be planted.

2. Program implementation phase.
3. Program expansion to the other areas.

Over the full program implementation period, we will provide 1000 farmers across 8 wildlife reserves with 100,000 native trees.

In the Karnataka region, some organisations are involved in indentifying Human-Wildlife Conflicts incidents, helping farmers to anticipate threats with early-warning systems (such as a mobile app), and already tried to raise fences which didn't work. Farmers and animals are still injured, loss their crops and properties. Such conflicts heigntened antipathy towards wildlife. Our solution is unique and powerful as it tackles multidimensional issues at once, in a realistic, simple yet efficient manner. 

Indeed, Utsuvari goes beyond just protecting lives and mitigating conflicts. It transforms habitats, currently facing high threats, into harmonious ecosystems, with thriving biodiveristy, and restoring peace between humans and animals. Increased fauna and flora in the buffer zone act as natural barriers and in addition to ecological benefits, agroforestry brings many more socio-economic benefits to rural communities around.We hope to inspire organisations working either only on the ecological restoration & wildife protection, or only on empowering farmers to combine both goals. 

We expect our positive impacts to multiply quickly. Indeed, if our beneficiaries prove to their peer farmers that agroforestry is a sustainable and financially attractive farming alternative, then agroforestry would become more popular in India. 

As our model is easily replicable, we want to export it to communities worlwide, adjacent to protected reservces, facing similar issues. 

Currently, our programme is in its first phase, serving 400 pilot farmers. Over the full implementation period, we will provide 1000 farmers across 8 wildlife reserves. If these beneficiairies demonstrate success, through increased income levels for instance, we believe neighbors' farmers could imitate this solution, provided they enjoy access to agroforestry means, due to peer pressure effects. 

We are currently focusing on the Western Ghat region of India. However, if we receive more funds, we would be able to scale up to the entire coutnry in the next five years. India has over 500 protected areas.

Our model being easily scaleable, we hope to help threatened communities worldwide. At the global level, there are 202,467 protected areas (data from UN Environment's World Conservation Monitoring Centre).

- Number of Human-Wildlife incidents per year 

- Average income of our beneficiairies

- Proportion of population below the international poverty line, by sex, age, employment status in the areas we intervene (SDG1)

- Prevalence of undernourishment (SDG2)

- Volume of production per labour unit by classes of farming/pastoral/forestry enterprise size

- Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

- Forest area as a proportion of total land area (SDG15)

- Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area

Our partnership with Centre for Wildlife Studies includes exchange of information, share of knowledge and know-how, as well as social capital (legitimacy and relationships with key stakeholders).

3 full-time staff members.

We are also potentially partnering with Centre for Wildlife Studies in India.  

Our team have been studying sustainability issues for the past year. We met through a program for Climate Action, and are determined to find concrete solutions to issues, negatively affecting humans, animals and nature. Our team, although small, enjoys a wide range of knowledge experstise and skills.

Indeed, Shreya has previously been using GIS technology in her past work. Sumit is the technical lead of our team, since he is an expert in software and technology. Elisa has worked with farmers communities in Peru& India. We all have solid skills in project management, with presence on-the-groud, working closely with beneficiairies. 

We all have good undertsanding of farmers' issues in India, thanks to direct interactions with them. From the start, we are designing this solution with and for farmers. Their inputs is crucial not only to understand well local conditions and needs, but also for the sense of ownership. We want to ensure farmers who voluntarily enrolled and associated with us feel this program is made by them, for them so they are actively taking part in the design stage. During implementation, we are actively seeking their feedbacks to improve the program and ensure it meet their needs and respect the local customs.

Threatened farmers by wildlife currently face many obstacles to have their voices heard and issues put on the policy agenda. Our solution not only solve some of their pressing issues, but raise awareness about their predicament.  Rather than representing farmers, we hope to act as an institutional bridge.

Our team is very diversified. 

First geographically: Elisa comes from France, Shreya is located in Greater Noida, a northern region of India, while Sumit is based in Bangalore, south of India. 

Then, in terms of gender: 2 women, 1 man. We want to ensure gender equity in our future recruitments.

As stated in the question above, we come from diverse academic and professional backgrounds. However, we are united by our passion and determination to work for climate action and social justice towards a more peaceful, equitable and sustainable world.

We are committed to not discriminating, on the contrary, we want to promote diversity in our team. We want members to feel respected and included. For this, we will set up a policy that each member need to sign and set up an anonymous feedback system to cast complain or possible ways of improving. 

Our main barriers are financial. We need funds to continue Utsuvari and scale up.

We are applying to Solve to :

1. Refine our solution: think and design it well. 

2. Receive funds to upscale the implementation of Utsuvari. 

3. Enjoy possible useful social connections. 

As stated in the question about the barriers to reach our goals, we need funds to upscale. Right now, our solution is at the protetype stage. Our business model is financially viable, however we need seed funding to launch. We believe with the help of MIT Solve, we could improve our financial and business skills.

We are also looking support to develop a market strategy and build market linkages.

We would welcome help from a carbon market expert to deal with carbon accounting and applications. 

Finally, we need more field staff to collect data and partnerships with local NGOs and individuals.

We want to partner with Centre for Wildlife Studies to support us with the field research and on-the-ground work.

We would love to connect with a carbon market expert, and get training on business. 

General Motors is already very present in India, and we would love to connect with them. Our solution in the theme resilient ecosystems perfectly macthes their requirement of helping create smart, safe and sustainable communities.

Our solution through agroforestry works towards carbon absoprtion. Our model is easily replicable in rural communities worldwide.