Greater Food Security for women farmers in India

Your incredible and generous support has enabled another 40 vulnerable women in rural Nawada, Bihar, India to transform their farming livelihoods for better, more climate-resilient futures.

With your incredible support, Reema, Pratibha, Surekha and 37 other women farmers living in the water scarce villages of Nawada (Bihar, India) started their inspiring progress towards a sustainable farming livelihood last summer. In October 2024 we reported how quickly they were learning to make use of their unique climate-resilient, protected environments to grow healthier crops.

With the help of the on-the-ground training organised with your amazing support, they continue to learn how to address their many challenges faced over countless years of failed crops, ever increasing temperatures and ever reducing rainfalls that increasingly lead to longer periods of drought.

By using their climate-resilient greenhouses, they are now growing their crops with greater assurance, increased resilience against such climate change related hardships while constantly gaining knowledge and confidence in their abilities to adapt to more sustainable farming practices.

During their first, tentative efforts they have already started reaping the benefits of their hard work, their courage in choosing to work with modern, more sustainable farming methods and with your generous support they are also gaining in stature and confidence in their own decision making, thus presenting them with a voice, greater agency and increased respect and standing in their families as well as their village communities. 

During their first crop season, using the unique properties of their climate-resilient greenhouses, they have learnt how to prepare their soil beds so that their seeds and saplings remain naturally protected from sudden heavy rainfalls, weed infestation or disease carrying pests.

By learning how to produce and apply natural, bio-organic fertilizers made from ingredients found abundantly on their farms, such as cow dung and urine, they have learnt how to nurture as well as protect their crops against pests or diseases without the use of harmful, chemical based fertilisers or pesticides.

Having suffered from increasing water scarcity for many years, they have now also learnt how to make much more frugal use of their precious supply of water by using drip irrigation which delivers the water directly to the roots of their plants as opposed to their traditional method of flood irrigation which directed the water to indiscriminately soak their entire field.

This ensures that the water is applied only when and where needed, always with the right quantity and exactly near where the growing crops' roots and surrounding soil will benefit most. The resulting reduction in their use of water of almost 80% when compared with their traditional farming methods, also helps remove one of their biggest challenges and ever present vulnerability.

By also learning how to use healthier seeds or saplings, they are seeing near 100% germination rates for their crops (as opposed to the 60% or 70% they encounter in their open land farming) thus ensuring that their hard earned money is invested in a crop that will provide a healthy and abundant harvest for them every time and a sustainable return for their amazing efforts in very demanding circumstances.

These women have also learnt how to grow a variety of vegetables such as french beans, european cucumbers, capsicums, tomatoes, berries, etc. that are always in constant demand in their local villages, ensuring that they are able to sell all of their harvests in a timely manner, at a preimium price and without any wastage.

Because their harvests are also considerably healthier and richer, these farmers such as Reema, Pratima and Surekha are also becoming known throughout their villages and nearby districts for growing and supplying best quality produce.

This is helping them to secure their highest source of income to date from any of their farming activities. This amazing turnaround in their otherwise desperate struggles to sustain their livelihoods, means that they can now feed their families without fear of rationing, reinvest in their next crop, while also start saving towards a better education for their children.

So let’s see how these women and their families are benefitting….

• By adapting their farming methods to the benefits of the unique, protected environment of their climate-resilient greenhouse, these women are able to improve the fertility and health of their soil, make sure that the excessive heat doesn’t destroy their crops in the temperate environment of their climate-resilient greenhouse as well as use the already scarce supply of water frugally without harming their crops.

• Many of the women started using their greenhouses by growing capsicums which are always in high demand locally and help them to earn a good income. However, due to their lack of experience in growing capsicums, they have also learnt how to grow 2 or 3 other crops at the same time which are also in high demand locally.

• This helps reduce their dependence and the likelihood of any single crop failing, thereby increasing their climate resilience while also helping them to secure an assured and ever increasing source of income from their farming efforts.

• This has meant that for many of the women, their husbands no longer have to look for work in towns and cities, leaving in squalor in urban slums while the women are left alone for long periods to look after their farms and look after their children, many of whom remain malnourished already from an early infant age.

• A number of women have already realised the enormous potential of the opportunities that they were not able to even see before, let alone pursue due to their constant struggle with making ends meet. As a result, many of them have already resolved to save and borrow more money to make use of an additional climate-resilient greenhouse on their small farm at the earlier opportunity.

• By also encouraging other women in their farming collectives to learn from and benefit from their experiences, a number of these women have also started growing nurseries of seeds and saplings to supply to their fellow farmers in their villages who will now also start transforming their farming livelihoods.

As a result we have been moved to provide the same opportunities, learnings and guidance to another 40 vulnerable women starting this spring. Please continue to support their efforts. Your generosity is directly helping to transform their lives, help them become considerably more climate resilient whilse also increasing the sustainability of their otherwise fragile environments.

You are all champions of remarkable change and we very much look forward to reporting next time how these women have started their remarkable journies towards a better, climate-resilient future next time with your invaluable support.

Thank you from all of us at Sophia Akash Foundation.

Links:

• Sophia Akash Foundation, CIO (UK)
• Greater Food Security for vulnerable women farmers (Rural India)

We are pleased to report that with your generous and amazing support, more and more vulnerable women farmers are adopting sustainable climate-resilient, farming practices while also fostering self-enabling farming ecosystems for their village communities.

Using the established and proven methods and practices, the program is rapidly expanding to lift many other vulnerable women farmers towards improved farming outcomes, while also increasing their knowledge and their confidence to help reduce the gender inequalities that have for so long and traditionally held them back from safeguarding their children’s and families’ welfare and food security.

In our report today, we share with you and illustrate just how amazingly well these women have quickly learnt and adopted new, sustainable farming methods while also encouraging other women in their villages to also benefit.

Training the women how to select most optimal crops to grow:

• Women farmers, such as Rita and Sheetal, are able to participate in training sessions that teaches them how to carefully select and plan the appropriate crops to grow which will also benefit their soil, reduced water consumption, nutritional health as well as maximise their income generating opportunities.

• During the training sessions, the women also gain essential knowledge for determining which crops will thrive most, given the combination of seasonal weather conditions, local market demand and soil suitability.

Growing saplings and a variety of crops within their greenhouses:

• Farmers, such as Rita and Sheetal, are using the knowledge and confidence gained to start cultivating seeds & saplings for use by their village farmers and more importantly as a local, trusted and reliable source for their fellow women farmers in their village communities.

• Another added, and very positive outcome, is that Sheetal is actively pursuing her sustainable, climate-resilient farming as a local enterpreneur to serve her fellow women farmers with the help of training from our on-the-ground partners.

• To help mitigate the risks of less than optimal outcomes, these women are taught how to cultivate three varieties of crops which will all serve demand throughout the year in their local marketplace.

 The value of making their own bio-fertiliser and bio-pesticides:

• Through specialised training, often referred to as “Non-Pesticide Management” practices, the women are shown how to prepare and apply organic pesticides such as "Agniastra" and "Jiwamitra”. This reduces their needs for and reliance upon expensive, mass produced pesticides, significantly reducing their costs while also enriching their soil and crop fertility.

• Through the re-introduction of these traditional farming practices, that were otherwise lost during the last 80-90 years, the women are successfully growing crops without any presence of pests or the need for chemically prepared inputs for their crops.

• Rita and 39 fellow women farmers have all received special containers to prepare, store, and apply these bio-fertilizers and bio-pesticides using the required quantities for each crop and most importantly at the optimal intervals to secure, healthy and bountiful harvests.

 Installation and usage of modern, drip irrigation methods:

• Rita, Sheetal, Sarita and their fellow women farmers receive hands-on training to learn how to install and use modern, drip irrigation methods which result in significant reduction in their water consumption for their crops; and

• Through the training, they learn the value of this form of irrigation as opposed to their traditional flood irrigation methods. In many locations, where ground water supplies are ever increasingly become scarcer, they are now able to remove their vulnerability that arises from unexpected droughts.

 Adopting Flood Prevention Measures:

• In the event of heavy rainfalls and flooding, the women farmers are also trained to take preventative measures to protect their crops; and

• The specific measures adopted include raising the height of their crop beds from 6 inches to 10 inches and using protective rain covers to shield the crops inside their greenhouses from excess water seeping through and reducing the risks arising from waterlogging.

We thank you for your continued and unwavering support to these women farmers’ journey towards safeguarding their families’ food-security while also successfully lifting themselves towards their path out of poverty and sustainable farming livelihoods.

From all of us at Sophia Akash Foundation, we extend our warmest gratitude. Without your support much of what has been accomplished over the last few years would have been significantly more challenging.

Please continue supporting our efforts to improve the livelihoods and food security of these vulnerable women farmers.

Links:

• Sophia Akash Foundation