Page 52 - Tata-Trusts-Annual-Report-2021-22

OF
HOPE

Augmenting income, empowering
tribal women entrepreneurs

The creation of Self-Help Groups (SHGs) has been instrumental During subsequent meetings, Sumitraben learnt more about
in empowering women entrepreneurs and reducing gender credit practices, various helpful government social security
disparity across tribal communities in India. Sumitraben schemes, including insurance and pension schemes, and support
Sureshbhai Ninama, 36, practices farming in Dungarpur village benefits o ered by the agriculture department. Listening to her
of Gujarat’s Dahod district. Joining an SHG started by the Tata peers’ positive personal experiences about increased farming
Trusts’ associate organisation—Collectives for Integrated returns stemming from the use of new cultivation methods,
Livelihood Initiatives (CInI), under its Parivartan-Lakhpati Kisan access to quality inputs, and adoption of scientific practices to

initiative in Gujarat—changed her life. choose suitable crop combinations for optimal returns, gave
Sumitraben the confidence to incorporate these learnings into
Using traditional rainfed and mono-cropping agricultural
her crop planning strategy.
techniques to grow maize and wheat on a two-acre piece of
land to support a family of eight, Sumitraben struggled to make Doing so helped Sumitraben augment her
ends meet. Unreliable rainfall patterns, lack of knowledge about farming income substantially and improve
sustainable farming practices, increasing costs of cultivation, her overall economic condition. Says

and dwindling returns forced her to borrow credit from a local Sumitraben, “My family is happier
moneylender, at a high rate of interest, to alleviate her situation. because of the substantial income
generated from farming our land,
With no improvement in her economic condition, Sumitraben
which was not the case before. I
and her husband had to resort to working as agri-labourers in
will sincerely continue my e orts
the village to supplement their income. Attending a meeting
to adopt, scale up, and follow
organised by Clnl under the Parivartan-Lakhpati Kisan initiative
sustainable agriculture practices
to improve knowledge and scale up programmes in areas, such
in the future as well.”
as agricultural productivity stabilisation, water resource
development, and microfinance, gave her hope of turning
things around.

1 NO POVERTY Sumitraben and Sureshbhai Ninama in
their field
PROJECT ALIGNS WITH SDG

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