Livelihood Initiatives

	(Top and bottom) Villagers working at a site

Parmarth believes that food security and livelihood initiatives are two sides of the same coin. Accordingly, in the 36 villages of Madhaogarh and Rampura blocks of Jalaun district Parmarth has initiated livelihood activities to compliment food security endeavours. The organisation has made available the credit/loan/revolving fund to community members under its livelihood initiatives activities in the region. These include irrigation loans to 34 families enabling them to irrigate 176 bighas of agricultural land, crop loan of Rs 50,000 each to 15 families enabling them to purchase oxen and ploughs, goat rearing loan to one landless family.

Small Scale Agriculture Support

This initiative is carried on in 56 villages of Rampura and Madhogarh blocks. It is aimed at making the environment favourable and profitable for agricultural operations on small pieces of land, establish a system of collective marketing on the production of small and marginal farmers and recognise as well as enhance the skill of the women farmer through training and motivation.

For promoting rights of small farmers, Kisan Sangathans have been formed in all the villages. It is a platform that brings together other existing community based organisations like self-help groups, Gram Chetna Samitis, Kishori Mandals, etc. For betterment of such farmers, liasoning is being done with different relevant government departments like UP Agro, District Minor Irrigation, Animal Husbandry, District Soil Conservation and District Fisheries offices.

Steppingstones for Interventions

Innovative techniques are being used by different farmers, even in remote areas. These innovations are being identified, documented and then shared with other farmers, the community and the government for its recognition and acceptance.

To enhance the knowledge base of both the staff and the farmers, Parmarth subscribes to various magazines and booklets on small-scale agriculture. Inter cluster visits are being promoted where farmers from different villages are encouraged to share their experiences with each other. More than 10 villages have been covered in this way.

A number of villages maintain black boards for showing agricultural product rates after reading them from the daily newspapers. Mahila Ekta Sangh has been instrumental in promotion of collective marketing of the agro-products.

With an increase in awareness, farmers in the region today themselves are opting for soil testing, line sowing and distance sowing. A total of 26 NADEP pits and 45 vermi compost pits have been constructed. Integrated Pest Management technique is also being widely popularised. The farmers are getting support for various horticulture-based activities like cultivation of papaya, jackfruit and Amla and expect good benefits from such support in the near future.

Rainwater Conservation and Natural Resource Management

In a drought prone area like Bundelkhand, it is necessary that every drop of water is conserved and put to optimum use. As a result of the intervention the community has come forward to collect rainwater in ponds through soak-pits and drainage. So far 50 farmers have been trained on water conservation issue and they are now working as village engineers. Acknowledging initiatives of the organisation and people, the district administration is replicating the soil and water conservation techniques and has sanctioned construction of three check dams in the region. Also through this endeavour, 146 families are treating their own lands for better farming by adopting soil and water conservation techniques. Additionally, 25 micro-plans have been prepared in the project area for natural resource management.

As a consequence of Parmarth's livelihood initiatives, migration scenario has changed in its intervention area. Better water conservation and natural resource management, start of various new livelihood alternatives (like small scale agriculture) and support to various livelihood initiatives has strengthened the livelihood status in the region. For example, through the efforts of the organisation and the community around 400-hectare land has been benefited from irrigation facilities owing to which it is now possible to harvest twice a year on the land rather than once, as was the case earlier.

The collective result is that in the region of Parmarth's intervention, the migration situation has changed. Earlier around 40 per cent of the rural youth used to migrate to cities or towns for around 6-10 months. However, a recent survey has shown that there has been at least a 15 per cent reduction in out-migration over the years. This is largely attributable to the efforts of the organisation and community's effort to protect and enhance the natural resources and greenery.