In the year 2019, the two self-help groups viz. Gavdevi Mahila Bachat Gat and Durga Devi Mahila Bachat Gat, had taken a piece of land from a landlord on contract under the guidance of our partner Sarva Vikas Deep for 11 months.  These groups planted peanuts on that land and then continuously for six months worked hard in taking care of the crop. Under the guidance of the CSA staff and partner animator, the women’s self-help group made a good profit and had a pleasant experience.

In the month of January 2020, CSA staff and the partner animator called for a meeting of all the five self-help groups of the hamlet and discussed various livelihood opportunities like, selling dry fish, sweet water fish, fruits and vegetables from the forest, make products out of nachni, etc. The two groups who had success with planting peanuts earlier decided that they would plant nachni this year.

The women from these two groups discussed amongst themselves, met the CSA staff and the partner animator and expressed their desire to farm on 6 acres of land. Again, under the guidance of the centre the two groups entered into a fresh contract with the landlord for 6 acres of land for 11 months. In the month of March 2020, the women started clearing the land to plant nachni. Towards the end of March, they started to prepare the land for cultivation and in the first week month of June 2020 successfully planted nachni. A total of 24 women from both the groups are working hard towards this venture.

The success in cultivation last year was a big boost to the morale of the women of these two self-help groups. This has helped bring some stability to the families. The confidence of the women has improved and are eagerly waiting to reap the benefits from their cultivation.