ISPWDK can draw on the experience of both SDC/IC and NADEL, since the Swiss Science Foundation has supported an Indo-Swiss research collaboration RLS - Rural Livelihood Systems between 1994 and 2000. The following institutions were involved: ISEC (Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bangalore), IRMA (Institute of Rural Management, Anand), Sampark (NGO, Bangalore) and NADEL (Postgraduate Course on Developing Countries, Zürich Switzerland). The Nine Square Mandala as a research tool has been field tested in various projects and studies (Schuelein, Albertin, Premchander etc.), but it has yet to be further tested and its application consolidated. In this study it was chosen for three reasons:

1. The author as a NADEL trainee attended livelihood courses where the Mandala was introduced so it was apparently interesting to test the knowledge gained in the field.

2. The Mandala was developed in the Indian context, unlike the other "global" approaches and thus considered better adapted to local thought, belief and habit.

3. All the above approaches ask for a thorough analysis of the structure and policy environment. In the few weeks of field work as a one-man research this attempt would be a little daring. Here the Nine Square Mandala offered a more appropriate tool, since the main focus would be on a micro- or personal level. The main task was talking to local village women and men. DFID and UNDP give little guidance on how to look at a person's livelihood in a direct confrontation, be it with an interview or any social research tool. Thus the Mandala was tempting because it included "inner realities" of human beings such as emotions, fears, dreams etc. and thus incorporates psychology into its design.

Adding to that, this study does not claim to be a full livelihood assessment, but rather a report on the learnings and observations, circling around the livelihood systems in Kanakanala watershed.

The Mandala framework helped to bind together the researchers' different aspects of livelihoods into a holistic ("claiming wholeness") perspective of livelihood systems. Livelihood strategies are the result of a continuing personal (or collective) process of learning. These strategies root in the perception of one's own livelihood at the specific context of that livelihood.

Livelihood intervention schemes with a focus on poverty reduction may use three options:

1. Improve the external conditions and structures of livelihood strategies of the target group (example: enable access to credit for farmers)

2. Increase the capacities of the target group for pursuing a livelihood strategy (example: train a women's self help group in marketing their products)

3. Support the target group in developing more efficient livelihood strategies (example: motivate farmers to switch to bioorganic farming)

Individual reality Family reality Community reality Inner Reality Outer Reality RLS Nine square Mandala ; Reference: Högger, R. (2003)

The Mandala uses the "eastern" concept of capturing the "whole Universe" in these nine squares. At the same time it represents a rural house, with floor (green), living space (red) and roof (blue) The nine fields cover nine aspects of peoples' livelihoods. They are arranged in such a way that moving from left to right is moving from inner to outer realities, or from the individual reality (in italics), via family reality (bold) to the community reality (normal font). Moving from bottom to top may also be seen as a transition from tradition into the future. The Mandala stands out among tools to assess livelihood systems in so far as it promotes the researchers to look at the Inner Reality (left column, squares 3, 6, 9) of people. The window thus opened should help to examine different ways of asking how a rural livelihood system functions. It is in no way a model of such a system though. It does not claim to model reality, it remains a descriptive (heuristic) tool without defined outputs. Any intervention derived should make use of the insights that were gained into the livelihood strategy. Throughout the report, the coloured squares of the "little Mandalas" on the right side (see following pages) highlight which aspect of life the issue covers:

The following box offers a look through the mandala lens at a farmer and thus visualizes the concept and should clarify the Mandala philosophy.

Let me introduce Shubas, a farmer from Kowdiyal village in Bidar district, Karnataka. He is an Indian farmer making a living in a semi arid landscape. All the farmers of his village depend on dry land farming. This dry land, the fields and forests around the village are the Physical Basis (square 1) of their livelihood systems. Shubas has taken up kitchen gardening as an additional source of income, so he is trying to shape and improve this basis. Looking at his house with the shelter for his cattle offers a glimpse of his Knowledge Basis (square 2), since Shubas has built this house himself, so obviously he has carpentry skills. In the same manner, gardening, farming and accounting contribute to that square. The way Shubas receives us and poses comfortably with his daughter, spreading a certain pleasant warmth around his place, opens a view of his Emotional Basis (square 3). What memories does he hold of his families' history? How content is he staying in a village? Is he afraid of natural calamities? Is he bored with his daily activities? Etc. are all questions related to this square. These three squares make up the basis of his livelihood system, the "floor of his house". The middle row refers to the space he lives in: Square 4 is the Socio-Economic Space which includes Shubas' household economy and his wealth and status in the village. How much he earns from his buffaloes, his fruits in his kitchen garden, how much he spends on his family but also how he interacts with banks, markets, and customers all fall in square 4. Closely linked to that is the Family Space, the center of the mandala. Indian families function after highly complex relations and these determine how and by whom decisions are taken. Looking at a person alone one wonders where he draws his self esteem from: how does his Inner Human Space (square 6) look like? Who and what does he feel responsible for and why? Who and what does he love? Is he curious? Courageous? Compassionate? Above the living space is the roof, the orientation. Square 7 refers to the Collective Orientation such as Shubas' religion, his Government (State, Panchayat, etc.), his politico-economical value system (his market and trade patterns). Important questions such as who ensures Shubas' food security? Who does he rely on during drought periods? His Family Orientation is captured in square 8, where ancestors may be worshipped, caste rules upheld and aspiring agents of change promoted by his parents, children or wife. Such an agent may as well develop out of his very private, individual vision or aspiration, a square often difficult to enter: The Individual Orientation of Shubas. To a friend or (perhaps) his wife he might talk about these feelings and emotions freely, while for a researcher it requires a basis of trust and mutual understanding. The possibility to enter the Inner spaces on the left of the Mandala really depends on the character and the "chemistry" between two human beings such as a social worker and Shubas. This universe is Shubas' living space and should describe his livelihood. Of course, the next step now is to put Shubas in the context of development interventions such as a livelihood promotion scheme.

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