Dry toilets to help Ladakh in organic farming

Night soil compost seen applied in a field is insufficient for organic farming, prompting promotion of traditional dry toilets (Photo by Rakshak Kumar Acharya)

Bacteria boosters that help night soil decompose faster and increase crop productivity, help in promotion of traditional dry toilets, and thus organic farming and water conservation

Traditional breeders conserve indigenous Dangi cattle

Maharashtra Gene Bank Project helps breeders such as Dattu Karbhari Dhonnar in conserving indigenous Dangi cattle (Photo courtesy BAIF)

Indigenous Dangi cattle are found in pockets of Nasik, Thane and Ahmednagar districts. A majority of farmers rear Dangi cattle for draft purpose and for dairy products. In general, the entire family of a farmer is engaged in animal rearing. In 2014, BAIF Development Research Foundation (BAIF) initiated the conservation and revival of indigenous breeds… Continue reading Traditional breeders conserve indigenous Dangi cattle

Haryana introduces crop diversification to prevent groundwater exploitation

Haryana government is taking various measures to prevent groundwater depletion caused by water-intensive crops (Photo by Katrin Park, International Food Policy Research Institute)

India is the world’s largest user of groundwater with over 80% of the rural and urban domestic water supplies met by available groundwater. But each year the water table keeps falling in different states, but considerably more in some states. As Haryana makes news for being challenged by low and falling water tables, the Haryana… Continue reading Haryana introduces crop diversification to prevent groundwater exploitation

Climate change disrupts livelihood of Kerala’s fishers

Traditional fishermen in Alappuzha district have been observing a reduced catch over the last few years (Photo by KVA Khadar)

Extreme weather and cyclone alerts reducing the number of fishing days, besides dwindling fish catch, climate change is taking a toll on fishers’ livelihood

Lockdown initiative links villagers to social welfare benefits

Mission Gaurav helped villagers access entitlements under social welfare schemes the villagers were unaware of (Photo courtesy TRIF)

Mission Gaurav, an initiative to support rural households during the lockdown, makes villagers aware of various government welfare schemes and helps them access the entitlements

Enabling policies are necessary to ensure gender equality

Government policies should address women’s needs and removes barriers in their path to ensure gender equality (Photo courtesy The News Agency)

The pandemic has exacerbated the multiple barriers that women face. Gender-specific policies and accountability in implementation are needed to ensure gender inclusivity

Committed efforts will create progressive villages

Rural development should remove caste and gender inequalities and ensure overall growth (Photo by Deepak Kumar, Unsplash)

By working together with zeal, development organizations and governments can overcome inherent challenges in rural India and bring about a positive change

Ration sustains marginalized households through lockdown

Food for Work program ensured food security of marginalized households, while helping them contribute to relief work (Photo by Neha Verma)

Relief package of dry rations alleviated the hunger and food insecurity of informal wage workers who had lost their livelihood during the pandemic

Rural job guarantee program sequesters tons of carbon

Social security scheme MGNREGS has ensured food security, climate resilience and carbon sequestration (Photo by Yann Forget / Wikimedia Commons)

MGNREGS, the anti-poverty scheme has ensured food security to millions, especially during the pandemic. The natural asset created through the scheme helps in carbon capture

Kashmir’s plum no longer a plum crop for farmers

Plum farmers find the crop economically unviable as selling price has remained the same over the past few years (Photo by Nasir Yousufi)

With increasing production costs and constant selling price over the years, farmers find growing plums economically unviable. They hope to explore new markets for better returns

Women sustain traditional wisdom of conserving indigenous seeds

Women, who have been the seed custodians in tribal communities, exchange seeds during a festival (Photo by Manohar Pawar)

Understanding the close link between crop diversity and resilience, women farmers in Mandla ensure that the conservation practice of climate-resilient traditional seeds continues

Extreme weather events destroy Himachal’s apple orchards

Snowfall and hailstorm have severely affected the orchards of Shimla region, impacting the apple orchardists (Photo by Rohit Prashar)

Unseasonal rains, snow fall and hailstorms have damaged lakhs of apple trees, ruining Shimla’s famed fruits. This has dented the orchardists’ income and government’s revenue

Women volunteers allay vaccine fears in Jharkhand

With the help of community collectives, women volunteers removed villagers’ fears and myths about COVID-19 vaccine (Photo by Kiran Kumar, TRIF)

Acting as a bridge between communities and public health services, setu didis addressed the concerns of villagers and convinced them to get vaccinated

Villagers demolish flood-ravaged homes to save recyclables

Villagers demolished their house and collected reusable bricks and other materials before the floods swept the full house away (Photo courtesy V Shilpi)

Families in the Champaran districts demolished their own houses to save construction materials before the entire house was washed away by River Sikrahna in spate

Ostriches or supplicants? Missing home insurance in rural India

Even among villagers living in disaster-prone areas, insurance is not popular; they prefer the government’s compensation (Photo courtesy GODL-India)

Disasters destroy houses. Despite living in disaster-prone areas, people do not opt for home insurance. They prefer to take the disaster relief offered by the government

Pandemic pushes impoverished villagers into further debts

Lack of employment and poverty force villagers to borrow from local money lenders, pushing them into perpetual debts (Photo by Rinku Kumar Meena)

With income from marginal landholdings and rain-fed agriculture unable to sustain them, tribal communities migrate for work to clear loans. Pandemic has pushed them into perpetual debts

Conservation of bio-resources improves farmer’s livelihood

NTFP species nursery helps farmer Gavate ensure species conservation, and enhances his income from vegetable cultivation (Photo courtesy BAIF)

Revival of non-forest timber produce species that are rare and have market value, and the species’ mass multiplication ensures conservation while enhancing farm income

Supplementary teaching helps students’ overall development

Supplementary programs – conducted for small groups of students because of the pandemic – have improved their learning outcome (Photo by Hitesh Malaviya)

The activity-based program, aimed at age-appropriate learning of students in government schools, has also improved their academic performance, besides ensuring comprehensive progress