Background:
Hundreds of women in a small rural village in India dealt with the same struggle of trying to make ends meet with minimal employment options. The majority relied on agriculture, but their lack of direct income-generating activities and limited market access meant they were economically reliant on their husbands. In response, a group of women took the initiative to establish gardens which led them to sell products and use money as their only source of income.
The Initiative:
It started from home based yard of local womens self help group (SHG) where they were anyhow not using the land. Supported by a local NGO their training on organic farming and growing variety of vegetables in kitchen gardens followed sustainable agriculture (composting, water saving) practices. Women began with very modest kitchen gardens where they grew produce as tomatoes, cumbers, spinach and peppers.
Turning Point:
Originally, the gardens were seen as a way to put healthy foods on their tables and to save money at home. But, when the plants grew rapidly they thought of making the project at scale. A few women also started selling vegetables in nearby markets hence earning a little stable income.
Before long, the women’s group decided to come together and contribute jointly. Then, with the help of the NGO, they pooled their produce and started collectively marketing it. It allowed them to have a better price and target both local areas as well as reach other towns in the region.
Outcomes:
- Economic Empowerment: The new economic activity the women created brought income into their household, putting more power in their hands as decision makers. The money was also used for paying school fees of children and taking care of other essentials.
- Effect on Community: Seeing the women work had a positive effect on other people in the village. Great, now men are apparenetly being encouraged by their wives to takepart in the village wide affair.
- Skill Building: At this stage, some elements included gardening tips and techniques; learning basic financial and marketing skills by the women participants. They were trained in the skills of managing common resources, keeping books and also bargaining for better prices on their produce.
- Organic fertilizers were introduced and high yield crops tested in the pursuit of more sustainable options. Moreover, they even began to sell seeds and organic fertilizers which became an added business line.
- Market development: New business lines started to emerge like providing original produce to local restaurants and schools. This got rid of the middleman and thus raised their profit percentages even more.
Key Lessons:
- Collaboration is Key: They say strength in numbers, well they pooled Adobe then targeted larger markets where individually would not have been possible.
- Building Skills Generates Sustainability: With basic training, the women increased their product portfolio and followed the best gardening- and small business practices.
- Localized Network: Through partnering with an NGO and the support of local markets enabled to capture, even more, barriers such as transport and reach the market.
Conclusion:
What was first a project for the kitchen garden of our home had become an active community business. The changes are not only affecting the lives of single women for good but their families and communities as well. The success that has come out from their venture demonstrates the ability of gardening to serve as a source of livelihood for women living in rural areas and shows how some small steps can go ahead long way towards enabling them economically, with willpower, cooperation and the right resources.