Greater Food Security for women farmers in India

Climate-resilient farming is transforming vulnerable livelihoods

During the past few years, with your unstinting support, climate-resilient greenhouses have started transforming the vulnerable poor women and their marginalised farming families into strong, sustainable and climate-resilient livelihoods.

Using the knowledge and understanding fostered through these efforts, we are now working to share these innovative means and impart the knowledge-for-life to tribal women farmers living in the extremely challenging villages in the Newada District, Bihar.

Faced with increasingly, erratic weather patterns, dwindling water resources, increasing inability to secure a sustainable level of income and with little or no decision making ability, in their households, the women in the village of Parna have struggled for several generations to sustain their farming activities.

With the help of our friends at Pradan and Kheyti, another 40 women will receive the education, training and their own, affordable access to the climate-resilient greenhouses in order to start transforming their, otherwise very vulnerable farming livelihoods. By additionally helping these women to work and help each other within a self-help group, they will be able to support each other and gain from a collective approach to their common challenges.

A Story of Triumph: Kavita's Journey

Kavita, is one such woman. Struggling to support her husband and children, Kavita agreed to invest her time and effort in adopting the use of the climate-smart greenhouse and adopt the more sustainable farming practices that she and the other women farmers are taught.

From her initial skeptism, Kavita is now a firm believer and slowly, but surely transforming her farming skills and removing the daily stress and vulnerability that arises from not knowing whether mother nature and her considerable efforts will together lead to a healthy harvest and the possibility of enough income to feed her family and invest in her children.

After just 3 months, Kavita’s initial sceptism turned into visions of opportunity for her family. As the first flowers of her tomato plants started turning into fresh, healthy fruit with a vigour and abundance Kavita had rarely witnessed in her open land farm. With the training and guidance provided for first testing the soil, then improving the soil fertility, and then installing and using modern, drip irrigation methods meant that Kavita’s costs for planting and growing the tomatoes was reduced significantly to INR 3,000 (GBP 30).

News of the the resulting initial increase in her income of INR 35,000 (GBP 350) less than half-way through the growing and harvesting season, with the added benefit of a more bountiful and healthier harvest, quickly spread through her village, and other women farmers have started to take notice and ask to participate in the on-going efforts.

Together with her husband, Kavita is already looking forward to growing capsicums as soon as the tomatoes have been harvested, thus ensuring that she can continue growing throughout the year, reducing her water consumption to less than 1/10^th of that she would normally have to use as well as significantly reducing the cost of farming.

Beacon of Success !

Kavita's success serves as a beacon of inspiration for her community and encourages other women to follow suit and start adopting their use of climate-resilient farming.

Please continue supporting our efforts to transform many more vulnerable women farmers livelihoods through their journey towards becoming confident, climate-resilient farmers equipped with knowledge-for-life. 

Links:

• Sophia Akash Foundation