Case Study Status Report on Gram Nidhi - APFED

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Photo 1& 2: Members of NARMADA TRUST Activities supported by Gram Nidhi Many activities supported by Gram Nidhi have been funded since 2004. From 2004-2008, organic agriculture farming and animal husbandry are the main funding activities, and over 250 cases have been funded (personal contact with CEE). In the target village, PVMs groups are now producing valuable organic crops, as well as traditional medicine plants for market. Also, the activity for animal husbandry which provides training and advice to the villagers in order to increase milk production, such as selection of calves, which resulted in increased income generation. The milk collection association was formed and a milk collection house in the village was run by the villagers themselves. Before the introduction of Gram Nidhi project, the villagers hasd only produced milk for their own consumption, but now many villagers can produce more milk for sale. In addition, the delivery of milk means that there is now easy and direct access to the market, following the establishment of a milk collection house in the village. The villagers bring milk twice a day to the milk collection house, and a member of the milk collection association measures and records its quality and quantity. Based on the record, the villagers get payment. The products by Gram Nidhi such as oil butter are now widely recognised for their quality, both inside and outside of India. Some members directly negotiate with buyers from Australia and send products to them. Also, ecofriendly activities are supported by Gram Nidi, such as making compost, rainwater-harvesting structures, the construction of toilet facilities and drainage system inside the village. Photo 3,4,5,6 From left to right: ;Products by Gram Nidhi Entrepreneurs, the house for milk collection, cactus fruit for juice, rainwater harvesting structure on the roof top 4
Positive impact to local community The perception of the villagers both male and female has been dramatically changing after the implementation of the project. The traditional Indian society, a male dominant society where there are no women participating in public settings, still strongly prevails in the rural area. In the early stage of Gram Nidhi project, the men and old women were very sceptical of the project, citing a negative effect on their wives and the other women. Now, however, they are pleased to send them to SHGs meetings. The villagers also have recognised that organic farming generates more income due to low input costs and good market value in a sustainable manner. The villagers are now able to save some money for further investment in livestock. The savings also can generate further investment for the improvement of their lives, such as access to drinking water, toilets, and construction of a drainage system in the village. The improvement of their lives in terms of sanitation and health can be physically observed. For example, some houses have been equipped with the rainwater- harvesting structure on the roof, and water storage underground through the Gram Nidhi loan. Also, the awareness of sanitation and health has increased. After the implementation of the project, the villagers are more aware of their sanitation and health, and some toilets have been installed. Also, increased additional income and saving has been invested in their children’s education, health, sanitation facility, and safe drinking water. In the target village, many members think that education is important for developing their capacity as entrepreneurs. One female entrepreneur stated that they want to give priority to girls for education over boys, since girls have more potential to be good entrepreneurs, and through the enterprise activities, they can have more opportunity to explore outside of the village, as well as to improve their lives. It also notes that after implementing the programme, the rural economy has been diversified, so that now it is less vulnerable to natural disasters and other inevitable stresses. Now the villagers have developed confidence to run the self-employment style enterprise to improve their life. Key for success It is important to note that CEE has been involved in the target area for a long time. Without this long-term involvement of CEE, the project may not have built up such a big success. Before starting the Gram Nidhi, CEE has been working in the target area since 1988 for Eco-development programmes and from 1996 onward, the formation of Self Help Group (SHGs) was started. Since then, many programmes have been implemented in the village and women's SHGs have already existed in the villages. On this foundation and environment, the Gram Nidhi has started. Photo 7: Women Entrepreneurs 5
Page 1: Display only Please contact PMO/IAC
Page 4 and 5: Institutional Setting The actors of
Page 8 and 9: The innovativeness for this micro f
Page 12: For further inquiries, please conta

Case Study Status Report on Gram Nidhi - APFED

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?