Our Projects

• We are working in 6 villages, impacting upto 4000 farmers
• A testament to a remarkable result of enhancing income by around 33% was achieved in the GEF project that we implemented in Takmachik in 2016-17.
• Plantation drive in Bihar:
  In West Champaran, we have planted over 20,000 trees of Eucalyptus, Mahogany, Mango and Neem. These plantation employ 30 tree growers mostly women. For our work in remote village of Bihar which lacked employment opportunities and increased crime rates in the region. With our interventions there is more greenery and better employment opportunities impacting over 100 people. For our efforts and excellent contributions to a greener India, we were awarded by Earth Day Network in September 1, 2017.

• Economic Impact- Through our interventions, we have witnessed a rapid growth in sale price of apricots- INR 190/kg in 2013 and now post solar technology it is INR 565/kg
• Environmental impact- The portable solar cook boxes for 67 families of eco model village save 536 kg of LPG in a month and guarantees 250 sunny days of usage in a year, With the use of wooden solar dryers 436 kg of GHG has reduced, organic farming and beating plastic pollution reduce soil erosion and water contamination.
• Social impact- No middlemen between the farmer and supplier. Maximised women participation in leadership and decision making.
• Takmachik is awarded as star village by Earth Day Network in 2020 after our interventions Preserving Ladakh’s agricultural heritage- by insisting on promoting indigenous crops and working towards making Ladakh fully organic and biodiverse by 2025.

According to the last Census of India (2011), 63 percent rural households used firewood as primary cooking fuel and 23 percent crop residues and cow dung cakes. Facilitating rural areas to shift to cleaner renewable energy means will not only curb carbon emissions, but also reduce indoor air pollution and associated health issues.

Recently, introduced Solar technology in Eco-Model village Takmachik which includes portable and low cost solar dryers for hygienic and efficient post harvest management of organic produce. The portable solar cook boxes for 67 families of eco model village will save 536 Kg of LPG in a month and guarantees 250 sunny days of usage in a year.

USP of Solar Cooker:

• Low-cost INR 2,500/-
• The cooker is designed and made in India at a very nominal cost can be made available and includes low cost repair.
• Available to cook for 250 sunny days of usage in a year.
• Good for outdoor cooking, Reduces Indoor air pollution, Light, Portable & Women friendly.
• Cooks Indian food properly. Food is protected, heated & warm and is also cheap.
• Thermal Efficiency is around 50%
• Saves up to 10 LPG Cylinders/year on fuel use
• The cooker reduces almost 450 kgs of liquefied petroleum gas usage per family over a period of eight months as measured by our partners Global Environment Facility UNDP and Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change.
• Use of solar cookers has resulted in 90 minutes extra time on the farm as cooking is automatically taken care of and is especially useful in betterment of young children’s health as children less than five years of age would hover around their mothers while their mothers would cook indoors causing health and hazard concerns.

 

Benefits and USP of Solar Dryers:

• Low cost INR 10,500/-
• Women friendly as is light weight
• Involves low repair and maintenance
• Can be shifted indoors , is low cost
• Wood shade makes the color of apricots better
• Increases shelf life from 2days to 2 years
• Made in India for Indian women farmers
• Reduces hill related accidents that expensive fixed dryers cost and time, expense spent on foreign imported dryers.

Rural women have more limited access to productive resource, service education and employment opportunities while experiencing, excessive workloads and limited decision making power. We have chosen Rong valley in Ladakh where there is forced nunnery & polyandry in the name of population control, equality as a result of lack of opportunities. We want to uplift.

We wish to reduce her drudgery as she works for 3,485 hrs on one hectare of farmland and there is no mention of her in budget and policy framework.

A strategy for acknowledging gender differences and determining key actions to promote women’s role in implementation of programs is a part of our project preparation.

Our innovations are devised keeping  women in mind. Therefore they are light weight portable & affordable. The implementing technologies are locally made, women friendly, low cost, portable interventions such as solar cookers, solar dryers, solar lamps, millet threshers etc.

VISHWADEEP ORGANIZATION

DISSERTION REPORT
SUBMITTED BY:
ARIKA TIWARI

CERTIFICATE

I here by declare that the matter in the project report entitled “ TRIBAL WOMEN IN COLD DESERT REGION”, submitted by: ARIKA TIWARI. It is a bonafide and genuine research project under the guidence of NEHA Ma’am, and is an original work and has not been submitted so far, in part or full, for any other degree or diploma of any university. This may be placed for evaluation.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to VISHWADEEP ORGANIZATION for providing me an opportunity to do my internship under them.
I also thank Amity University, Noida, for providing me the opportunity to embark this internship.

Tribal and Women Farmers In Cold Desert Regions:

Deforestation has become a major issue in the Kandhmal district of Odisha, India. The tribal (Kondha) people of this area are engaging in deforestation for agricultural purposes as well as hunting for food. This initiative implements more sustainable agricultural methods by mainstreaming minor millet-based agriculture into the tribal farming system in less irrigated areas, more specifically in uplands without using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Fast facts:

This activity aims to reach 500 tribal women farmers.
The problem

The livelihood of the Kondha tribal people is dependent on what the forest can produce. The shift to agricultural production and hunting is leading to deforestation, which is threatening the biodiversity of surrounding natural forests. Women are the main breadwinners in their families, but non-recognition is preventing them from obtaining social status in their communities. They contribute largely to agricultural activities but are not recognized by the government as “farmers,” which does not allow them to receive the same benefits as male farmers.

The solution

This activity is promoting a millet-based diverse farming system to cope up with uncertain agro-climatic conditions brought about by deforestation. Millet farming is profitable and can protect and conserve the local ecosystem. There are 22 different types of minor millet that are rich in vitamins and grow and mature at different times, so the use of water and soil nutrients remains low and keeps the soil fertility unaltered. This activity is empowering tribal women farmers to have access and control over natural resources and find avenues to use it more efficiently to improve the quality of their own lives, ensure household food security and protect the environment for future generations.

Helping the planet

Millet farming is a low cost natural agricultural strategy and way out to produce foods comparatively rich in nutritional value. This is an eco friendly farming system, which has the potential to solve global food crisis too. The major objective was to create employment for tribal women by involving them in the most profitable farming sector and make them socio-economically empowered, which may help them to lead a better quality of life in the tribal society. The idea looks into various dimensions of food and livelihood security, sustainable farming practice with increased crop diversity that exists among the tribal communities, which may further contribute to the global environmental protection.

Helping people

This activity is bringing women together at the community level and providing training on climate change issues and how to address them. Women farmers are practicing sustainable agricultural methods and creating an atmosphere in their villages that is promoting the use of self-prepared organic manure, using the unused upland and barren land to increase income and protect the surrounding forests from deforestation. The activities carried out are focused on the needs of the community and women.

Scaling Up

Currently, this activity has been implemented in only one district. It hopes to scale up to other forest districts using a consortium approach, as this issue needs collaborative efforts. This activity has also adopted participatory and gender sensitive approaches to address the constraints related to the climate change issues

The gutsy, diminutive lady says, “We should learn to earn and eat, then sell the remaining. When we have got so much from the government in the form of schemes and help from NGOs, why shouldn’t one strive and work hard?”

RELOCATION
In 2007, 60 tribal families were relocated from Nagarhole National Park to Sollepura degraded reserve forests. Each family was allotted 3 acres of land, house and `1,000 cash. Out of 60 families, only 10 have borewells. Presently, 15 families have applied for borewell facilities.

WCS SUPPORT
Wildlife Conservation Society, India, has been involved in motivating and supporting tribal families in various ways after the state forest department relocated them from Nagarhole. For the past 5 years, WCS field assistant  Govindappa has been their mentor, adviser and facilitator in getting benefits from government schemes, growing and selling their farm produce, providing seeds, taking them to farm educational workshops and awareness programmes and imparting a host of other training activities.

CHIA QUEEN
Prema, tribal farmer, has been experimenting with chia, a super food millet from South America. Receiving encouragement from JSS Krishi Vignana Kendra and Organic Krishi Kendra, she has grown 5 quintals of chia seeds in one acre and got Rs 16,000 per quintal.

She says, “It is so popular that organic retail outlets from Bengaluru have been coming to our doorsteps to buy the crop. It is direct marketing for me with no transportation charges.” Out of 30 farmers who had adopted chia farming, only 6 tribals, including 52-year-old Prema succeeded. She used the transplantation technique to grow chia successfully.

The super food is usually sown during September-October and does not need much water. Just like ragi, it needs the benefit of retreating monsoons.

Thoughtful high network individuals like Smt. Anubha Prasad, ex Sidbi and UNIP, H.K. Firodia Memorial, Shri Ashutosh Sharma, Secretary of Department of Science and Technology

The NGO initiated their interventions in the year 2014-2015 in the regions of Ladakh through self-funding and received overwhelming support from local administrations, villagers and farmer communities for peaceful facilitation of awareness campaigns, testing of organic demos of agriculture. Neha, a social entrepreneur and activist, based in New Delhi, India. Graduated from King’s College London, founded the organization upon her return to India with a vision “to empower communities , especially the tribal population and women farmers through organic, ecological agriculture based activities using vertical integration of organic farming and providing renewable energy access to rural population for electrification and post-harvest management” with an aim to create awareness amongst farmers and urban customers and reducing women drudgery.

We have played a significant role in the development of Ladakh’s first eco model village Takmachik, by eco model village we mean we farm organically , use solar technology for post harvest management and carried out the campaign of beat plastic pollution. We employ primarily women ,tribals and year by year work for their upliftment and income enhancement.

The organization which was self-funded till the year 2015, received funding under OP5 cycle of GEF-UNDP Small Grants Programme project titled “Solar Technology for post-harvest processes and sustainable agriculture for enhancement of income of tribal communities” as part of Climate Change thematic area from December 2016-17. They have been granted GBPNI/NMHS 20-21/MG_ from Ministry of Environment , Forests and Climate Change. They have received donations from well wishers for their work in the pandemic.

We cater to 650 rural women farmers for our solar appliances, 800 urban customers for organic products. Our work includes combination of land utilization for cultivation of local organic crops as well as harnessing solar and clean energy for post-harvest management, drudgery reduction and rural electrification across six villages in the Ladakh and Takmachik region of Kargil. The major crops include apricots, walnuts, seabuckthorn, barley, buckwheat, yak milk. We will be providing access to clean energy for electrification, post-harvest processing of organic agro products and market development of solar dried organic products for these along with introducing indoor activities during winter months and intervention in waste minimization, ending stubble burning and renewable energy technologies. The implementing technologies are locally made, women friendly, low cost, portable interventions such as solar cookers, solar dryers, solar lamps, millet threshers etc.

Each year we work for upliftment of women farmers in Ladakh.

We provide them with regular trainings in organic farming and use of solar technology for post harvest management and rural electrification.

Our training module is called Ujjwalini and currently 45 trained women self help group leaders train farmers on compost making , use of solar appliances for rural electrification and post harvest management. We even trained farmers to package organic products in paper packaging completely stopping the use of plastic for food packaging. We encouraged use of solar cookers for cooking at least two meals and use of portable , mobile solar dryers.

Recently, introduced Solar technology in Eco-Model village Takmachik which includes portable and low cost solar dryers for hygienic and efficient post harvest management of organic produce. The portable solar cook boxes for 67 families of eco model village will save 536 Kg of LPG in a month and guarantees 250 sunny days of usage in a year.

Through our work and interventions, we have witnessed a rapid growth in the sale price and negotiating power of apricot farmers. For example, in 2013 the price of 1 KG of Apricots was INR 190/- In 2015 we were able to increase  it to INR 400/- a kilo and now post solar technology it is INR565/- which has encouraged the farmers to continue organic way of farming, eco-positive living. Sustainability for us lies in reducing food waste and environment degradation. One of the primary objectives at the grass roots level are capacity building initiatives that will lead to upstream benefits for example the empowerment of previously marginalized groups such as rural women and youth to participate in decision making and negotiating with other buyers for a fair support price.

No middlemen- increase in farmer remuneration per kilo of organic apricots whose price is gone up thrice to what it was when we started the project. Opening of marketing channels with them apart from J&K includes premium retail outlets, exhibition opportunities in New Delhi-NCR, Ahmedabad and other coming up market linkages. We won a partnership deal, a collaboration of the Estonian government and UNCTAD. This entails an e-residency enrolment program which will allow us to sell in the EU, to market in Scandinavian countries, and those in the Americas.

livelihoods enhancement by 33% of farmers , continuing with the vision of organic Ladakh by 2025

Apricot, barley and Buckwheat emerge as three key aspects of Takmachik’s agriculture, with apricot as perhaps the only cash crop. Under value addition, production of apricot oil is done. Loans are given to members at 10% interest and to outsiders at 20%. Outsiders must have a guarantor from the village. YargyasTsogspa Got a revolving fund support of Rs. 10,000/- under watershed development program. Explored options for embarking on a program of value additionthrough jam making, oil making and packaging etc for whichwe are currently negotiating with relevant government departments, NGOs, banks and research. Takmachik has a significant number of SHGs, engaged in some income activities. However, AmaTsogpa, the women panch and the women representative in various committees seem to be lacking in a sense of direction.

Their lung health has improved as a result of switching to solar cookers from the traditional Ladakhi Thaab system and we have distributed sanitary napkins , back belts for improving their health

We conducted beat plastic pollution awareness campaign in Takmachik  asaawareness exercise with International organisation, Earthday network.

We distributed blankets purchased from JavedAlam, Kambal market, Leh as shown in entries and collected many clothes from our neighbours, medecines and thoughtful friends to be distributed to help them shield harsh winters.

With partnership and fellowship  of international NGO Earthwatch , we have participated in conducting awareness camps and solar cooking class , introducing solar chefs in the community for better livelihoods.

 

We have conducted emergency counseling during flash floods in Ladakh and motivational camps.

We have also provided relief and rescue operations for child gangrape victims covering medical expenses , collecting donations , rescuing and shifting her to a shelter in Chennai along with help of Sai baba trust.

We at the Vishwadeep Trust have been actively involved in COVID-19 related relief activities since the month of April and our teams have been engaged in the following humanitarian relief measures in the Delhi NCT region:

1. We were actively engaged in collecting data on stranded persons, helping them obtain Govt. permissions to travel to their intended destinations, arranging for their train tickets and helping them travel with a semblance of human dignity. Our teams also provided emergency counseling regarding safety measures to prevent the spread to the virus during travel and also tried to reassure panicking individuals in light of apprehensions regarding their individual health and the health of their loved ones. We had instituted special teams with instructions on managing misinformation and rumours, which were a major source of mental agony and chaos to the distressed and fleeing masses.

2. We had designated members looking into the manufacture and free distribution of home -made face masks in addition to the free distribution of gloves, soaps and sanitizers
3. The dynamic and evolving nature of the situation with thousands of families on the road meant that we had to make emergency arrangements of funds, which we accomplished, to an extent, by the generous and timely donations from our global donors.
4. In this endeavor, we managed to knit together a  group of  thoughtful, sensitive and  highly committed individuals, members of Civil Defense  and some other responsible CBO’s and NGO’s for the successful distribution of essential supplies in quarantine centers, train stations, open construction sites, bus depots etc.
5. Part of our Essential supplies kit included nutritious items like ‘Sattu’ (roasted gram flour powder, lemon, sugar), Jaggery ,Glucon-d , Water bottles, Biscuits and Dry ration. The effort was worth all the ensuing logistical complexities as a large proportion of these people were barely surviving on half their regular nutrition intake. They were mostly saving for an unknown future and that meant families and children were going hungry making them even more vulnerable to disease and fatigue.
6. We made and are continuing to make efforts to create employment and livelihood opportunities  like a ‘Gram Udhyam’ for migrating workers in their home states, towns and villages.
7. We have distributed ration to over 7000 Families living in sangamvihar, freedom fighter colony, Sai baba temples Shahpur jat, Mazaar, Nehru place fly over in New Delhi and collected responses about COVID-19 and provided emergency counseling , other adequate relief measures.

8. We have distributed Hygiene Relief Kits( Mask, Gloves, Soaps) Over 650 families of ladakh During China Crisis Time in Takmachik with donations from Setu Sverige Foundation.
9. We generated revenue for housewives during lockdown by giving them raw material, sewing machine to make masks for better hygiene for all income strata, primarily for distribution to migrant workers.

10. We have rescued  an old lady abandoned by her son and daughter in law. Sharing the pandemic & gave her shelter in an old age home.

11. Our work of Smart water management and saving water with the chhorpun system was published in terra green magazine. We conducted rigorous trainings on the same topic.

12. Purchase and distribution of frugal innovation solar butter churner for livelihoods in Liktsey and Tukla as yak is present in good numbers and butter churner given free of cost will will help them create butter, Cheese, Ghee for home and commercial purposes.

13. Distribution of oil expeller and filling machine to extract and cold press oil from mustard, apricots earlier the farmers had to walk 35 kms to extract oil and carry it back now they can do so at ease for their home and for commercial purposes.

14. We have conducted surveys and done impact assessment especially on livelihoods enhancement.

15. We have conducted the Beej bachao andolan, creation of seed bank by saving indigenous seeds. It was our first food march in memory of Smt. Stanzin Dolaker, we distributed pamphlets in Bodhi to all farmers.

16. We have completed our financial work filled out quarterly, annual progress reports submitted to ministry.

17. We have conducted various trainings on organic farming and eco village developments as our mission is to make Ladakh fully organic by 2025.

18. We are designing a donation kart for our website.

19. We have Started a medical project with which we have funded a paralysis patient treatment of 2 months, we have funded our keeper’s arm breakage treatment and local social worker’s gall bladder treatment.

20. We regularly feed poor – Rice, channa, gurr to relieve Malnutrition.

21. We are actively working on amendment of our trust deed.

22. We have been working on religious harmony especially nullifying bad aspects on brahmanism , importance of buddhist brahmin harmony. We have been raising awareness on our guru and great grandfather Pandit Vishwanath Upadhyaya and Swami Vivekanand.

23. We have been learning the EAT system and PFMS for management of public funds.

24. We have highlighted our impacts with respect to nutrition , health keeping Indian women in mind.

We have observed that a number of individuals and organizations, including many NGOs have come forward in this time of emergency, to help the needy with food supplies and rations. While we cannot express in words our gratitude towards everyone who has contributed to alleviate human suffering in this hour of need, we would like to stress that we at the Vishwadeep Trust are committed to the upliftment and welfare of families-in-need in a holistic and sustained manner. We plan to stay with these communities on a sustained long term basis and help them at every step in managing the current crisis. It will also be our endeavor to ensure that they come out stronger and more resilient to face any crisis in the future and also become more empowered to guarantee a bright future for their children.