Page 52 - Annual Report
P. 52

Transformative


                  Journeys


                                                                                                         practical inputs on pig-rearing. She developed her
                                                                                                         capacity, empowered around 150 farmers, and
                                                                                                         formed new SHGs. And within just a year of working
                                                                                                         as an LSP, she became so well respected that the
                                                                                                         villagers now consider her to be no less than a
                                                                                                         veterinarian doctor!
                                                                                                         Hillang recounts how it all started, “The Hara Happa
                                                                                                         SHG obtained funds from NEIDA, from which
                                                                                                         I received `14,000 to construct a pigsty and
                                                                                                         purchase two piglets (male and female). After 8
                                                                                                         months, the sow farrowed 10 piglets, of which I sold
                                                                                                         8 for `32,000, and also sold the male pig for
                                                                                                         `22,500.” She reinvested the amount in 5 more
                                                                                                         pigsties and added an extra `17,500 from her own
                                                                                                         savings to purchase 5 new piglets (4 females and 1
                                                                                                         male). And with that, Hillang’s new business was all
                                                                                                         set to turn profitable!
                                                                                                         Currently, she is rearing 7 pigs, all vaccinated. And
                                                                                                         piggery is supplementing her family’s income, while
                                                                                                         inspiring other farmers in the village to enhance
                                                                                                         their pig-rearing practices and become
                                                                                                         entrepreneurs themselves. Happy to be the role
                                                                                                         model for the villagers, Hillang Yapa shares: “After
                                                                                                         NEIDA’s intervention, pig-rearing has become a
                   Hillang Yapa with her husband at her pigsties                                         business enterprise in the village and every member
                                                                                                         of the family is involved in it!”
                  From simple hill-woman                                                                 Which goes to show that, sometimes, all it takes is
                                                                                                         an empowered woman to change the future of an
                  to inspiring entrepreneur                                                              entire village.


                  Pig-rearing is an age-old practice in Hara Happa   Thanks to her dedication and desire to help the
                  village in Papumpare, Arunachal Pradesh.    community, she was appointed as a Livelihood
                  However, no one has ever thought of transforming it   Service Provider (LSP) by the SHG and the Village
                  into a profitable enterprise.                Head. As a LSP, she provides guidance and technical
                                                              inputs to fellow farmers on cultivation of paddy,        1  NO
                  No one except Hillang Yapa, a mother of five   maize and also rearing of pigs. That is how she got      POWERTY
                  children, living with her husband.          the chance to attend a training programme on             PROJECT ALIGNS
                                                                                                                       WITH SDG
                  Hillang worked as a seasonal labourer before joining   pig-rearing organised by NEIDA, which motivated
                  the Hara Happa Self-Help Group (SHG), which is   her to bring about improvements in the pig-rearing
                  nurtured by the North-East Initiative Development   practices followed in her village.
                  Agency (NEIDA) – an associate organisation of the   Basis  the learnings from the training and her own
                  Tata Trusts.                                experience, she started to guide villagers with



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