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DIGIQUITY – Let’s talk access and quality

AIF’s flagship education programs design and execute innovative, tech-driven solutions, to assist school children at risk of dropping out, being left behind or ending up in child labor

By Shreya Ralli & Tina Kapoor

India is home to almost 19% of the world’s children, while over one-third of the country’s population is below the age of 18. With the world’s largest adolescent and youth population, India is poised to harness the demographic dividend and achieve real economic growth over the next few decades. Sadly, most of India’s children live in rural, low-income, and vulnerable communities. and their everyday lives are marked by a lack of access to basic rights, and resources, with educational poverty as one of the key impediments.

As the world works to “build back better” from COVID-19, we stand at the cusp of an inimitable opportunity to build back differently! AIF’s post-COVID-19 vision aims to radically transform the underlying economic systems of inequity and social structures of inequality that are at the root of our present suite of socio-ecological crises, further exacerbated by the pandemic. And, access to quality education is the biggest driver of this change.

UN’s SDG4 aims to ‘ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’. But, despite India’s phenomenal growth story, issues of access, equity, quality, relevance, and infrastructure, continue to impede progress, especially for those living in hard-to-reach communities.

Designing participatory goals, American India Foundation (AIF) is building resilient school systems through teacher capacity development and executing an action-oriented pedagogy to address accrued learning losses. In concert with the government’s efforts to reverse the Foundational Literacy and Numeracy regression, AIF’s flagship education Programs —Digital Equalizer and the Learning and Migration Program —design and execute innovative, tech-driven solutions, to assist school children at risk of dropping out, being left behind or ending up in child labor. These high-impact interventions are committed to meeting the educational needs of children in some of the remotest geographies of India.

Children’s access to educationis limited by diverse factors and is often unique to their communities. 9-year-old Anjali from Nuapada, Odisha, never stepped inside a classroom for the first seven years of her life. The lack of livelihood opportunities in her native village led to distressed seasonal migration for her community. Every year Anjali migrated with her parents, displacing her from the safety of her house and keeping her away from school during her foundational years. According to UNICEF, one out of every five migrants is a child, resulting in an estimated 92.95 million migrant children who often drop out of school or are never enrolled, robbing them of their Right to Education and a secure future.

Mitigating such learning losses, AIF works intensively with migrant communities, and the government, to run Government Seasonal Hostels through its Learning and Migration Program (LAMP). Increasing access to seasonal hostels for children like Anjali, not only provides them a safe haven to learn and grow among their peers, keeps them away from child labor, but also gives them an opportunity to access education, clean water, and nutritious food, improving their health, enrollment, and retention in rural schools, equipping them with tools to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty in their family.

Access, without equity, is only half the job done. LAMP works with government schools and 1,300 Anganwadis to address fundamental learning deficits, acute learning regression, and remove impediments to attain age and grade-appropriate education for all. LAMP does so by leveraging a multi-pronged approach, focusing on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), remedial classes, and multilingual teaching to reach tribal children at the last mile.

Its Learning Resource Center supports teachers and students with a dedicated education facilitator, and learning tools such as STEM kits, smart classes, reading corners, etc to further equity in students’ access to educational resources. In its 18 years, LAMP has impacted over 1.3 million children across 3,269 villages in 17 states and union territories of the country.

Over the last few years, the pandemic reinforced the dire need to integrate technology into the education system and brought forth India’s deep digital divide. More importantly, the growth of digitalization, automation, AI, and other emerging technologies, now warrants a new cadre of trained workforce to step up. India, at the forefront of designing a technology-driven knowledge-based economy and with around 280 lakh youth population added every year, can deliver the workforce the world needs.

AIF’s Digital Equalizer (DE) program is addressing this emerging need, by ensuring the quality and relevance of learning transacted. It has been instrumental in changing the landscape of education in over 32,000 under-resourced government schools, by equipping them with technology-enabled classrooms that offer a wealth of new opportunities for teaching and learning by integrating technology such as interactive whiteboards, projectors, audio-visual capabilities, ICT, and STEM labs, etc, and empowering 7.2 million children through digital technology and STEM experiences. Strengthening the ecosystem, DE has also trained over 2,00,000 teachers, to integrate STEM and technology-based pedagogy in the teaching-learning methods.

Leapfrogging ahead of its peers, DE has designed the STEM Innovation and Learning Center (SILC) – the first of its kind in the country, focusing on the four core disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and 21st-century skills to prepare educators and global citizens. The Center provides teachers and students with a comprehensive solution and hands-on tools for experiential learning and discovery-based education to improve learning outcomes, which is one of the focus areas of NEP 2020 and SDG4.

SILC, with its Innovation Corner for students, introduces them to a transdisciplinary learning approach through Robotics, AI, Space technology, and the STEM Incubation workstation. It aims to nurture their curiosity in advanced STEM courses, while also assisting them in developing their innovative ideas into prototypes and providing a platform to take part in State/ National/ International level competitions.

The Center also consists of a Technology Corner for Teachers. Fitted with a smart lab, the Tech Corner facilitates teachers to conduct techno-pedagogy-enabled classes for their students, as well as, receive training on the Digital Equalizer Way of Teaching (DEWoT). The center also contains a Studio Setup to assist teachers in creating high-quality DE Edu Reels, increasing their reach in the state.

Digital Equalizer works with children from grade 6th onwards, propelling them to the world of coding, innovations, and rocketry, and familiarizing them with Information Technology skills, with the goal of encouraging students to embrace technology from an early age. Working with state governments, AIF is creating opportunities for young innovators, especially girls, to learn more about satellites, drones, AI, and space technology to build a futuristic workforce.

While the STEM field is one of the most rapidly growing and in-demand industries globally, one of the fundamental issues that plague this multidisciplinary ecosystem is the prevailing gender gap. For 14-year-old Pratibha, despite being in school, deep-rooted patriarchy, cultural norms, and gender biases keep her from accessing technology and confidently pursuing STEM education.  This evident gender disparity reflects in India’s tech workforce with women occupying only 29% of tech roles. Rooted in achieving gender equality with lifelong learning opportunities, DE makes dedicated efforts to design STEM interventions for girls. Last year alone, DE reached over 100,000 girls giving them the agency they need, to choose a career in STEM and build pathways to become future-ready. At AIF this is just the beginning. Its well-entrenched and flexible frameworks ensure innovative solutions and impact at scale. In the years that lie ahead, AIF aims to strengthen the education ecosystem for 10 million children and continue to foster a culture of equity, inclusion, and positive discrimination while transforming the lives of underprivileged communities at large.

(Shreya Ralli serves as the Director of Communications at AIF, while Tina Kapoor is Senior Manager, Communications)

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How Swades Foundation’s water efforts are impacting lives in rural Maharashtra

Our experience over the last decade has made us realise the inter-connectedness of the various verticals and the cascading impact that an effective water programme can bring about.


By Mangesh Wange, CEO, Swades Foundation

Until recently, Mulgaon, a tiny hamlet in Nashik’s Trimbak taluka relied on a single well almost 500 meters from the main village. During summers – April to June – theirs was the only well with water in all of the nearby geography. “From April to June, communities from five nearby hamlets came to fetch water from our well. On those days, fetching water would take close to four hours. One family member had to be dedicated to the duty, making us lose out on daily wage work,” says Tukaram Chavre.

In 2022, Swades Foundation’s water scheme for the entire village of Mulgaon supported by donor partners provided Tukaram’s home with a drinking water tap. “It has transformed our lives,” he said. Tukaram is one of the 2,20,000+ lives positively impacted by the water schemes under Swades’ WatSan (water and sanitation) program. So far, the foundation has constructed 713 water schemes, built toilets in 28,979 homes with support from CSR partnerships and helped declare 1,503 hamlets as Open Defecation Free – ODF.

As a grassroots execution non-profit, Swades’ vision is to create a model of development that lifts a million people out of poverty every 6-7 years. The foundation currently works in 5 major areas of community living, namely water, sanitation, education, health and livelihoods. Our experience over the last decade has made us realise the inter-connectedness of the various verticals and the cascading impact that an effective water programme can bring about. Water, followed by sanitation is hence at the helm of all transformation efforts at a Swades Village, tying in to UN’s SDG 6 – Clean water and sanitation. Following are the areas where one can see the transformative impact especially for women across various aspects of life because of “direct to home’ drinking water availability:

Health impact

Access to clean drinking water liberates women from the drudgery of walking miles each day for fetching water from an open source. Back aches, neck pains, extreme exhaustion – these are common symptoms for women who carry heavy pots of water multiple times each day. It is sadly also common for the women to drink less water, in order to save more for the family, leading to dehydration, abdominal pains, cramps etc. Drinking contaminated water on the other hand poses a whole other set of challenges. According to a study published by Water Aid, an estimated 37.7 million Indians are affected by waterborne diseases annually. 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone. Lack of a sanitation infrastructure further fuels the contamination of water.
Swades communities report of fewer health scares and doctor visits after access to a water tap and household sanitation.

Safety and Dignity
Most women and young girls in rural communities walk long distances to relieve themselves – often before the break of dawn or late in the night to avoid passers-by. It is not very uncommon for them to be a victim to snake and scorpion attacks and in some cases, abduction and even rape. A toilet in the home premises therefore goes beyond sanitation services, assuring safety and restoring dignity.
The opening of some of the toilets in Swades’ Nashik villages (with garlands, ribbons, cracking of a ceremonial coconut and aarti) are testimony to the special place they hold in the lives of rural the communities. 

Education
A 2020 Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) survey suggested that out of 1,967 coeducational government schools that they surveyed, 40% did not have a functional toilet. A whopping 72 per cent had no running water either. Lack of a sanitation infrastructure directly impacts attendance of children, especially girls. A 2019 report by Dasra suggested that 23 million girls drop out of school annually due to lack of sanitation facilities and no awareness around menstrual hygiene. A functional water and sanitation infrastructure with a separate toilet for girls and boys after high school, can help girls pursue education after hitting puberty. Swades has built school watsan facilities in 248 schools so far to address this problem.

Livelihoods
A Water Aid study suggests that 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne diseases in India each year. Spending long hours to fetch water too leads to loss of work hours for communities that rely on daily wage labour.
Access to water has real economic or monetary implications.  The story of Angrekond, a ‘Swades Dream Village’ is particularly heart-warming in this regard. Before Swades launched the Drinking Water Scheme in Angrekond in 2017, the women here spent 2-3 hours each day fetching water. When the water scheme installed a tap in each home, the women found the time and energy to engage in economic activities. They received training in financial literacy from Swades, apart from support to set up SHGs – this included SHG registration, branding, labelling etc.

Today, a group of 30 women in Angrekond run three Self-Help groups – Asha Mahila, Samriddhi and Pragati – that are engaged in kitchen garden, dairy, poultry and papad-making.In 2021, collective sales from kitchen gardens-enabled by grey water from household taps – fetched close to Rs 4,00,000. The produce has enriched the nutritional value of their own meals too.  

Clean water and sanitation are corner stones to public health. Collectively they also hold the key to uplifting all areas of life and empowering communities to take charge of the change they wish to see. If we want to see our rural communities flourish, we must as governments, corporates and civil institutions invest in their access to clean drinking water and a functional toilet.

(Photo credits: Swades Foundation)

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How HDFC Bank has been creating livelihoods across India

HDFC Bank Parivartan, the bank’s flagship CSR programme, has transformed more than 9.8 crore lives in over a million households across the country

Charulata, aged 35, works as a farm labourer in Thoothukudi district in Tamil Nadu. Her husband works in the city as a security guard, and she raises their two children at home. It is incredibly hard to make ends meet because of limited economic opportunities available in her village.

Her situation is common for 48% women living in 664,369 Indian villages. Almost 75% of such rural women are agricultural workers. India, home to one-sixth of all humanity, is the key to the long-term success of the 2030 SDG goals. However, attaining SDG goals without a robust rural development program focused on bringing rural women to the centre stage will be challenging.

This is where HDFC Bank Parivartan, the bank’s flagship CSR programme, works towards the socio-economic development of the society by sustainably empowering communities. It focuses on six areas: Environment, Rural Development, Education, Skill Development & Livelihood Enhancement, Healthcare & Hygiene, and Financial Literacy. It has transformed more than 9.8 crore lives in over a million households across the country.

Amidst the wide range of interventions the Bank is undertaking, it is notable to see the sustainable change in the lives of people through the livelihood interventions. Following are three such initiatives undertaken by the Bank that are innovative, sustainable and scalable.

Water Hyacinth Handicraft project

Local Economic Activation Project (LEAP)

Three-Tier Vertical Livelihood Structure Model

From Weeds to Wealth: Water Hyacinth Handicraft Project

In January 2022, the Water Hyacinth Handicraft project was Launched for 60 women beneficiaries. They were given specialized craft tool kits to use during their training and beyond. The project taught them how to make handicraft from water hyacinth, a weed that is abundant in more than half of the 400 villages in Thoothukudi district.

They were trained in correct ways of harvesting, grading, drying, and storing the water hyacinth stems. They were also introduced to four types of weaving for making baskets and flat products. Sewing machine were given to add value to the products. The training included stitching removable lining in fabric for laundry baskets and handbags. Wooden handles and woven multi-coloured straps were specially designed to match the products.

The training advanced to dyeing the stem, welding and braising the metal armature, designing pleated techniques, and tufted products. The women were also trained in segregation, drying, and storage of the stem in white gunny bags for several days.

These products were also exhibited in Tuticorin and Coimbatore in August 2022. The project aimed to be sustainable and scalable by training ten people from each village in Thoothukudi district to produce commercially viable water hyacinth handicraft products. The government is planning to develop the model as a full-fledged program by forming a cooperative where skilled artisans would work and promote the Water Hyacinth Handicraft.

The project weaver groups shared sample products with IKEA through Ramesh Flower Company. However, the shortage of skilled weavers presents a challenge in meeting demand. Director of Industries & Commerce visited the project villages and recognized the potential of water hyacinth products and the skilled weavers. The department conveyed its interest to extend the project to further develop and scale it. In addition to the Industries & Commerce Ministry, the District Collector of Thoothukudi district intends to extend the project to six neighbouring villages, expanding its impact.

LEAPing Towards Economic Activation: Local Economic Activation Project (LEAP)

LEAP is empowering rural women through the creation of efficient, transparent and income-generating entrepreneurial platforms that facilitate sustainable livelihood enhancement. LEAP is taking the Self-Help-Group (SHG) movement to the next level by aggregating them in clusters for enterprises/income generation activities. The project was launched in 2022, and it aspires to accelerate the economic empowerment of women in the farm and non-farm sectors.

LEAP aims to achieve various objectives over four years, including increasing the real income of direct beneficiaries by 40%, benefiting over 500,000 women farmers and artisans spread over 120 clusters, leveraging new investments, including government schemes and private-sector investments, and enabling partnerships at the national, state and local level.

LEAP’s three-pronged income enhancement strategy includes improving income from existing occupations, adding another income source, and convergence with government schemes, based on two fundamental pillars: cluster planning and a market-led approach. LEAP has made significant progress at the district and state levels in terms of outcomes, income increase, building stronger institutions, enabling convergence, and ensuring the creditworthiness of the borrowers. The project has extensive backing from government departments, and financial institutions have partnered with POs to offer credit and financial support for input and forward linkages.

The LEAP programme is being implemented in 24 districts in Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Punjab and West Bengal. The team has been receiving tremendous support from respective state governments and their departments, such as the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Rural Development, and Planning. A unique feature of this project is digital literacy, transparency, and equipping rural women with greater digital know-how and capabilities, enabling them to function independently in the long run without any external support.

LEAP’s impact so far includes the mobilization of 35,117 women beneficiaries into POs, the registration of 95 POs, INR 35 million share capital by PO members, and 11 sanctioned Common Facility Centers. LEAP has leveraged approximately INR 260 million, sanctioned INR 10.05 million in credit, recorded 9,273 digital transactions, availed 23,716 central and state schemes, and trained 22,179 women beneficiaries on best practices.

Building Dreams, Floor by Floor: Three-Tier Vertical Livelihood Structure Model

Ajay Kumar lives in Gondey, Pratapgarh, in Uttar Pradesh, with his parents and two younger brothers. He is physically challenged and comes from a landless family. His daily wages are his only source of income. He abandoned studies to support his family. He is discriminated due to his disability.

The bank created a three-tier vertical livelihood structure model to provide a stable source of income for him. HRDP Pratapgarh built two vertical livelihood structures (as a prototype) for three livelihood activities simultaneously. 1) Fisheries 2) Poultry; 3) Goats.

The structure has three floors to breed fish on the ground floor, poultry on the first floor, and goats on the second floor. The chickens eat goat waste, and fish eat chicken and goat waste. Additionally, chick and fish feeds are also given to boost their growth and reduce risk from diseases.

This livelihood structure demonstrates other village households to choose a model for a substantial revenue. Once developed, this structure will last at least 30 years for a one-time investment. This model could be shared with Uttar Pradesh State Rural Livelihood Mission for a state level team for large-scale adoption as a group enterprise with the most vulnerable/marginalized families.

By lowering investment costs with landless families/people with physical disabilities, this model can be expanded up in new HRDP clusters.

In conclusion, one can see the transformative impact of all three initiatives–Water hyacinth projects, LEAP and the three-tier livelihood model. The Bank customised solutions leveraging locally available resources, markets and stakeholders. This helped persuading government and agencies to support the projects and create long-term impact. All the three projects also influenced cultural perspectives about women and people with disabilities. HDFC Bank Parivartan is committed to help India achieve SDG goals through its robust rural development focus, and take all stakeholders together in its stride.

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Leveraging community partnerships to address nutritional challenges in school children

A large number of children enrolled at Akanksha schools come from low-income families, where nutrition often ends up taking a backseat. Akanksha works closely with parents on creating awareness around health and nutrition.

As children grow, they need adequate nutrition to develop cognitive skills and abilities that impact their academic performances. In a country like India where poverty levels are high there are many challenges associated with providing children with safe and affordable access to healthy meals. A recent report by the Ministry of Women and Child Development has found 4.3 million children in India to be malnourished. Poor nutrition is one of the major reasons for absenteeism and low school attendance among students from underserved communities.

The Akanksha Foundation is trying to bridge this gap between malnutrition and learning loss. A non-profit that runs school based on the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model in Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, Akanksha operates on the belief that when we reimagine learning for students, we can pull their entire families out of poverty and address several allied Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Akanksha’s vision of delivering quality education for all children, no matter their background, aligns with the goal to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education for all. 

For its students, Akanksha’s focus is on holistic growth that goes beyond the classrooms. It includes engaging with parents and communities to ensure students’ mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. A large number of children enrolled at Akanksha schools come from low-income families, where nutrition often ends up taking a backseat. Akanksha works closely with parents on creating awareness around health and nutrition.

In June this year, Shindewadi Mumbai Public School (SMPS), one of twenty-six Akanksha run schools, located in Dadar locality of Mumbai, was recognised for its efforts in prioritizing nutrition for its students by T4 Education, a UK-based organization. SMPS was shortlisted in the top 10 schools of the World’s Best Schools(WBS) prizes in the ‘Supporting Healthy Lives’ category. 

Since its inception 14 years ago, the school has introduced several programs focusing on the health and well-being of children. With Covid-19 having severe implications on the health and education of children, Akanksha’s belief in healthy living became even more relevant.

Making nutrition top priority

In 2022, after schools opened post the COVID-19 pandemic, SMPS found that children were showing signs of low immunity. Nearly 80% of parents at SMPS are employed as sweepers or sanitation workers in government/ private hospitals and societies. Many of them lost their jobs during the pandemic, which impacted their purchasing power. The lack of proper meals led to many children falling ill. 


To tackle the issue of malnutrition, public schools in India carry a mandate to check every child’s weight and height enrolled within classes I to X, along with providing free of cost mid-day meals. During one such assessment, SMPS identified 103 students as severely malnourished, 238 children as underweight, 10 as overweight and 6 under obese category among their 391 students. These alarming numbers pushed the school to make nutrition as its number one priority for the children.  

Over the years, SMPS has built a deep-rooted connection with the community. Considering the challenges and response to the growing need of nutrition, teachers and social workers spent months talking to parents on the importance of healthy-eating habits such as balanced meals in tiffins and breaking the habit of eating junk food every day. The school set a two-year target for educating parents on a healthy lifestyle. In the first year (2022-23), SMPS decided to focus on nutrition. Other aspects of healthy living such as exercise, de-addiction and hygiene will be tackled in the second year. 

Engaging with communities, driving a mindset shift

The school has adopted innovative ways to ensure a healthy diet for their students, like introducing the ‘ladoo project’ where several parents of students come together and make ladoos, using nutrient-rich ingredients. Additionally, the school management committee, which comprises parents, does regular checks of the nutritional value and taste of mid-day meals provided by the Government. The school also works closely with the doctors at Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for counseling and dietary suggestions for the underweight children. 

“The training given by ICMR helped us understand the concepts of healthy and unhealthy food. After attending their [ICMR] programs, we started to follow their diet charts and it has immensely helped my son whose weight has increased,” says Harsha Solanki, whose two children are SMPS students. 


Another way that the school got children and parents to focus on nutrition was by leveraging festivals. For instance, during Navratri, the school came up with ‘nine days, nine recipes’ for the community. The healthy meals, created from these recipes, were to be sent in children’s tiffins during Navratri. Nearly 350 women from the community participated in the nutrition awareness event by the school while some came up with their own low-cost, healthy recipes. 

Abhishek Chavan and Monali Thopare, social workers at SMPS, share that due to the various interventions and awareness programs, the mindset of parents has gradually started shifting.

“Our objective initially was to get children to bring healthy meals in their tiffins. The impact it created was multifold. Not only did parents start to eat the same healthy meals that were cooked for their children but it eventually brought a change in eating habits within the entire community,” says Abhishek.

With the school’s continued efforts, all 103 students that were previously identified under the severely malnourished category have now gained a minimum of 1.5 kilos. The school is regularly following up with parents and doctors on the health of these children.

“We are now seeing improvement in the posture and overall health of our children,” says Sakshi Bhatia, School Leader at SMPS. “Their participation in school activities has increased along with their focus on academics. The WBS recognition win holds significance as we continue to address nutritional challenges in our schools. As we enter into the next phase of our nutrition programs we are looking forward to identifying the correlation between student’s learning outcomes and how the programs have played into their academic performances.”

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A Dairy Woman Dreams Big

In a society still beset by rigid patriarchal norms, Sapna Singh’s story emerges as a shining example of resilience and inspiration

It was in 2017 that a pregnant Sapna took the brave decision of walking away from her marriage. A survivor of domestic violence, she returned to her parents’ home in Dalepur village in Kanpur Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh, India’s largest milk-producing state accounting for nearly 18 percent of the country’s total output. However, what started as a journey into uncertainty has now transformed into one of self-healing, self-discovery, and self- and community-empowerment.

Overcoming Barriers

Thirty-nine-year-old Sapna hails from a progressive family. In a district where only 58.5 percent of women complete 10 or more years of education, Sapna was able to achieve the rare distinction of earning a postgraduate degree, and, in the process, learning the importance of technology in running a business. In 2019, when the dairy company Namaste India came to survey Dalepur, she was able to convince them to allow her to run the village-level collection centre (VLCC) for a minimum of six months, despite concerns over the lack of support from her former husband, in-laws and even her own father, whom she used to support, previously, in his dairy-farming activities.

However, this was not the only barrier she had to overcome. She also had to earn the trust of her fellow villagers and help them deposit their collections at the centre. The meticulous Sapna impressed the dairy farmers by making timely payments to them. As a result, not only was she was able to open her own dairy in 2019 (with Namaste India’s help), she also expanded her business with the help of the same people who had once doubted her. “I had the benefit of an education, and so when I started my own dairy, I began speaking with the women (who used to come to sell milk) about their life and their families. When I heard their stories, I realised I had to empower them just like I had done it for myself,” says Sapna.

Just as things were looking up for Sapna and her business, adversity struck in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic, causing banks to shut down in the region. It forced a rethink on Sapna’s part, who used to rely on making cash payments previously. Having used a smartphone from 2017 onwards, she decided to make use of her technological know-how to shift to digital, UPI-based transactions in the middle of the pandemic. It also continued a tradition within the family of being early adopters of technology in the village — her father was among the first in the village to own a mobile phone, back in the late 1990s.

Empowering a Community

Sapna coordinating with the other women dairy farmers.

In 2021, Sapna was trained by Solidaridad experts in good dairy farming practices, and financial and digital literacy (including topics such as loans, savings, investments, budgeting, household planning, government schemes, and how to use online payment methods and digital systems). Under the Reliance Foundation and USAID-funded WomenConnect Challenge India Project, implemented by Solidaridad in 230 villages across the districts of Kanpur Nagar, Kanpur Dehat, Fatehpur, Auraiya and Unnao in Uttar Pradesh, the aim was to bridge the gender digital divide.

In Sapna’s case, it added yet another dimension to her untiring efforts. Even though she was adept at using a smartphone, she soon realised that motivating the village community, especially the women, posed a significant challenge. “Women in my village are often hesitant to access mobile technology as they feel that it cannot further their lives, given the roles that they are expected to play daily — raising cattle, looking after the family and tending to the field,” she says ruefully. Now working as a community mobiliser, Sapna works with Solidaridad to train women associated with her dairy on how to make online transactions, hoping to improve their digital literacy. She devotes time in explaining every aspect — from downloading the apps to using QR codes for transferring money. “To provide more hands-on experience, I often make them transfer ₹1 through the payment apps so that they become more confident with the UPI transactions,” Sapna elaborates.

She spares no effort, either, in explaining the other benefits of mobile technology and digital literacy — from taking part in online classes and finding cooking recipes on YouTube to comparing market prices of various commodities online. Even more inspiring is the fact she often speaks to the elders in the village, asking them to provide mobile phones to their daughters so that they can be financially aware and independent, and use them to advance their careers. Even though she acknowledges the risk of fraudulent activities online, she also believes that the menace can tackled through adequate literacy and training.

The realisation that women are the main asset of the dairy industry lies at the core of Sapna’s efforts aimed at social upliftment. In 2019, when she opened her own dairy, she started connecting and creating a rapport with the women on a personal level, often enquiring about their children’s health, and, later, providing information regarding cattle treatment and vaccination with Solidaridad’s support. It is little wonder then that Sapna’s dairy, which is also the village milk collection centre, now aggregates milk deposits from about 35 dairy farmers, mostly women, in the area.

The results of the WomenConnect Challenge programme are already visible, building capacity of 11,000 women dairy farmers in the region through dairy experts. The Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system reaches 14,000 women farmers, equipping them with critical information on good dairy practices and efficient cattle management.  A total of 3,200 women farmers are now linked to the formal dairy supply chain. Similarly, 3,200 farmers now have bank accounts and linked wallets. And, these 3,200 farmers are now digitally and financially aware and literate.

When it comes to Sapna’s dairy, the monthly milk production has risen from 115 litres in the early days to 160 litres currently. The yearly income of the women dairy farmers has also grown significantly — from ₹60,000–66,000 in the pre-pandemic years to ₹78,000–84,000 following the adoption of good dairy practices shared by Solidaridad. Since the money is deposited directly in the accounts of the women, it has afforded them a greater degree of financial independence, to the extent that they are now able to plan their expenses according to the needs of the household, and feel greater self-reliance.

The Road Ahead

So, what’s next for the trailblazing Sapna? By her own admission, she aspires to take on another learning curve. “Although mobile phones are extremely important, I want to get acquainted with laptops now so that I can provide training to other women on a bigger screen with better clarity,” she mentions. She is also keen to pass on certain key values to her four-year-old daughter, namely that self-respect and independence are the most important things in life. Sapna is likely aware that the road ahead will be bumpy but she remains undaunted. Surely, the sky is the limit for Sapna.

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Integration of MIYCN & Birth Spacing to Maximise Opportunities

Integration of birth spacing family planning services in nutrition programming, an important public health intervention, is often overlooked

By Dr. Sujeet Ranjan

The issue of undernutrition which affects survival, development, health, productivity, and economic growth is a complex and multi-dimensional issue. The multidimensional effects of malnutrition make nutrition interventions imperative to incorporate a multi-sectoral and integrated development approach. Public health studies say that birth spacing plays an important role in nutritional status among children under 5 years of age, with shorter birth intervals increasing the risk of both stunting and being underweight. However, to date, there has been limited documentation on integrating family planning with nutrition programs in India.

According to the recent World Population report released by UNFPA, India has surpassed China in terms of population, with India currently estimated at 142.86 crore (1.4286 billion) and China at 142.57 crore (1.4257 billion). This significant shift in population dynamics marks a significant milestone. To provide context, in 1990, China’s population stood at 1144 million (1.144 billion), while India’s population was 861 million. As of last year, China remained the most populous country globally, with 1426 million people, closely followed by India with 1412 million. However, the United Nations’ 2022 projections indicate a notable shift in the future. By 2050, India’s population is projected to surge to 1668 million (1.668 billion), surpassing China’s projected decline to 1317 million (1.317 billion). This trend of India surpassing China has been anticipated for some time, though the expediting factor lies in China’s slowing population growth. Earlier this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in China reported a decrease of 850,000 individuals in 2022 compared to the previous year.

India has an enormous problem of malnourishment, being home to almost 25% of the world’s malnourished children. A study by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) shows that child marriages and underage pregnancies are making a sizeable contribution to this problem, drawing a clear correlation to the undernutrition of children born to adolescent mothers. Researchers from IFPRI analysed the data relating to more than 60,000 first-time mothers across the country from the National Family Health Survey. 

The recent data from National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – 5 reveals that India should more than ever focus on nutrition as it has not fared well. India has a number of programs aimed at bringing down malnutrition – the Integrated Child Development Scheme, the system of Anganwadi creches to look after and feed toddlers, and the mid-day meal scheme at schools to ensure that children get at least one full nutritious meal. These programs have been successful to a large extent. The efforts are in the right direction but the efforts will yield results only when we combine them with serious attention to bring linkages between birth spacing family planning methods and other nutrition-sensitive interventions.

Poor maternal nutrition leads to poor birth outcomes. Short pregnancy intervals are associated with an increased risk of infants being born preterm, small-for-gestational-age, and with low birth weight, all of which are associated with key indicators of childhood undernutrition, including wasting, stunting, underweight, and anaemia. Evidence shows that short birth interval is associated with adverse nutritional outcomes for the mother or the child. Birth too closely also affects the nutrition outcomes of all children in the family when the mother’s ability to adequately care for and feed her children is compromised due to too many young children to breastfeed at one time and lack of time and resources to provide adequate nutritious food and care for all children. We know that adolescent pregnancy can result in adverse nutritional outcomes for both the mother and the foetus, with an increased risk of adverse perinatal outcomes such as preterm birth, low birth weight, and small-for-gestational-age.

Integration of family planning and reproductive health services in nutrition programming, an important intervention, is often overlooked. To date, there has been limited documentation on integrating family planning with nutrition programs in India. I was part of a study program where we put an effort to fill the evidence gap in this area, and conducted a preliminary review including an evaluation of programs that have integrated family planning and nutrition, success stories thereof, and plausible strategies to link the two.

The study was divided into two broad components: a) Literature Review and b) Secondary Data Analysis. Through literature review, we captured studies that show the influence of family planning (FP) on maternal and child nutrition outcomes around the world, programs that integrated FP and nutrition, their challenges, and success stories. Whereas, secondary data analysis was carried out to study the current status of nutrition and family planning indicators in India, the effect of family planning indicators on nutritional outcomes, and regional variation in India. For conducting secondary analysis, data from the recent National Family Health Survey was used.

Studies have also shown that the first 1,000 days of a child are the most critical as infants and young children are exceptionally vulnerable to poor diet and infection during this time. There is a need for strong advocacy for empowering women through programs, which can improve maternal, infant, and young child nutrition (MIYCN). Integration of family planning (FP) services (to avoid unintended pregnancy and choose whether or when to have a child) and MIYCN programs have a crucial role to play.

The study revealed that FP affects nutrition in myriad direct and indirect ways. By helping women and couples have the number of children they want at the healthiest times in life, family planning can benefit mothers, infants, and children. Well-spaced births allow women’s bodies to recuperate and replenish essential nutrients and lead to better nutritional outcomes, such as healthy birth weight for their infants. The benefits of optimal birth spacing also have far-reaching effects in childhood, reducing the prevalence of one key measure of malnutrition—stunting—among children under five. Also, family planning can help women avoid high-risk pregnancies and have children at the healthiest times in life. Thus, national and local programs aiming to improve nutrition may benefit from strengthening FP services and integrating FP strategies into multisectoral development policies and implementation plans.

In 2011, the National Rural Health Mission launched the Healthy Timing and Spacing of pregnancies Initiative in three districts of Bihar using the behaviour change communication model developed by Pathfinder’s PRACHAR program. Although NGOs have had some success with spacing, they have found it much more difficult to persuade couples to delay the birth of their first child until the mother was 18 due to strong social pressure on newly married couples to demonstrate fertility by producing a child, especially a son.

Most fundamentally, spacing affects people in myriad ways and it advances human rights. The knowledge and use of family planning methods can regulate the planning of birth in terms of birth interval and nutritional status of mothers and children, birth order, and nutritional status of children. When births are well-spaced, mothers have more time, energy, and resources to adequately breastfeed and feed their young infants and children. Research studies showed that breastfeeding practices improve, leading to improved nutrition, leads to empowerment, allowing them to make better choices that ultimately benefit the health and nutrition of children and families.

Dr. Sujeet Ranjan is a public health professional and heads the Nutrition theme of Tata Trusts. Dr. Ranjan’s key focus is on social impact, establishing strategic relations and alliances with government, civil society, and social & private sectors. His core interest areas are strategy, innovation, and organization building. Dr. Ranjan has also worked as Executive Director – CFNS and Director – CARE India.

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Say Yes to Better Soil with Regenerative Agriculture

Agriculture in India is at crossroads. Regenerative agriculture can offer social, economic, and environmental benefits to small-scale farmers.

The global population is expected to reach the 10 billion-mark by around 2050. While the demand for food is ever-increasing, the intensive farming practices (in a bid to grow more) have had a devastating effect on soil, leading to soil erosion and degradation.

In the long-term, shrinking cultivable land can put global food security at risk. Coupled with the climate change impact, agriculture in India, as well as globally, is at crossroads.

Regenerative agriculture holds the rare potential to offer social, economic, and environmental benefits to everyone in the farm value chain, including the small-scale farmer. It is a way of farming to build and improve soil fertility, while sequestering and storing atmospheric CO2, increasing on-farm diversity, and improving water and energy management.

“One of the key focus areas of regenerative agriculture is soil health. By implementing practices such as cover cropping, straw mulching and crop rotation, farmers can improve soil structure, increase organic matter content, and enhance the soil’s ability to retain water and nutrients,” explains Dr Suresh Motwani, General Manager, Solidaridad. Solidaridad is an international civil society organization that works with small farmers, local authorities, private sector and research institutes for improved food production, a safer workplace, better access to clean water and a better income.

For farmers adopting regenerative agriculture, benefits range from stable yield, reduction in input costs (think fertilizers and pesticides) to improved soil biodiversity, which in turn can improve retention of water in the soil.

Tasting Success with Straw Mulching

Gopal Patidar, a 32-year-old farmer in Shajapur district of Madhya Pradesh, swears by straw mulching. A lead farmer in the Smart Agri Project implemented by Solidaridad across 10 states of India, Gopal owns a five-hectare land in Tilawad Govind village. He grows soybean during the Kharif season and wheat during Rabi besides some seasonal vegetables.  

A follower of sustainable agricultural practices, Gopal was not aware of straw mulching and its benefits. He first heard about it at a three-day training programme on agribusiness at Jawaharlal Nehru Krishi Vishwavidyalaya in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Organic straw mulching is a farming technique where straw is spread over the soil surface to protect it from erosion, conserve moisture, and check weed growth. For a hot and dry district like Shajapur, straw mulching is particularly helpful for temperature moderation. Benefits of straw mulching include:

  • Weed control: A thick layer of straw checks weed growth, thereby reducing the need for herbicides and manual weeding.
  • Soil protection: Straw mulch protects the soil from erosion caused by wind and water.
  • Moisture retention: Mulching with straw reduces water loss from evaporation and can help keep the soil moist.
  • Temperature moderation: Straw mulch can help regulate soil temperature, keeping it cooler in hot weather and warmer when it is cold.
  • Nutrient retention: As the straw decomposes, it releases nutrients into the soil, improving its fertility.

“Availability of water for vegetable crop has always been a big challenge for the farmers in my area as this region receives little rainfall. It is difficult and cost-intensive to improve yield when your soil is dry,” says Gopal. “During the training programme I learnt that straw mulching is a potential solution as it helps with moisture retention, which in turn can reduce water consumption by the crop.”

Gopal shared his interest in straw mulching with the Solidaridad team who then helped him prepare his land. He started the practice on one-acre land where he grows tomato.

Over time, Gopal noticed several positive outcomes. With the mulching improving the moisture levels of the soil, the irrigation cycles for the crop reduced, thereby bringing down the irrigation cost. Unlike plastic mulching, which would have cost Gopal Rs 7000-Rs 8000, straw mulching cost him nothing. Further, the decomposed straw added to the nutrient profile of the soil.

Finally, there was a marked improvement in the quality of tomatoes (in size and taste), fetching Gopal a better price in the market. He had a bumper crop and sold tomatoes worth Rs 1.75 lakh during the tomato season, with a net profit of Rs 1.50 lakh.

After tasting success with regenerative agriculture in tomato, Gopal has decided to follow the practice for his chilli crop this season.

“This time I could save around 60 per cent water (consumption) because of straw mulching. At the same time, I didn’t have to spend much on weed control and micronutrient supplements, and I got an unexpected harvest this year. My family is very happy to see us thrive in agriculture,” says a beaming Gopal.

Regenerative agriculture is important for the future of our planet.

Effective Water Management through Drip Irrigation

Like Gopal, Vishnu Dhakad of Ujjain district has also witnessed the transformative impact of regenerative agriculture on his livelihood. Regenerative agriculture focuses on better water management through water efficiency, and for Vishnu drip irrigation, in particular, turned out to be a winning practice.

Vishnu grows soybean during Kharif and wheat and onion during Rabi season on his two-hectare land in Barothiya village. He would leave his farm unsown during the summer season. Team Solidaridad advised him to grow watermelon during summers and suggested drip irrigation for the crop because of its ability to provide targeted water supply directly to the root zone. Watermelons have specific water requirements, and drip irrigation helps meet those while conserving water and promoting optimal plant growth.

Initially, Vishnu was hesitant about growing the crop because the region receives less rainfall. With the help of Solidaridad, a drip irrigation system was installed on his farm under the Smart Agri project.

He planted watermelon on one-bigha land (around quarter of a hectare). The controlled application of water and nutrients directly to the plant roots through drip irrigation helped maintain optimal soil moisture and nutrient levels, resulting in healthier crop. He also saw a 60 per cent drop in water usage due to water efficiency as well as a reduction in fertilizer use. He harvested 150 quintals of watermelon from the one-bigha land, and earned Rs 1.20 lakh. He was able to sell higher-quality produce at better prices, leading to greater profits and financial stability for his family of three.

The field team of Solidaridad provided him regular technical support on good practices like spacing between the seeds, irrigation scheduling, and monitoring soil moisture to ensure optimal water management.

“I never knew that watermelon could bring in good profits in my region. I am overwhelmed to see the results of drip irrigation. I will continue this practice now,” says Vishnu, who has become an advocate for drip irrigation among fellow farmers and shares his experience at the farmer field school, encouraging others to adopt this water-efficient technology.

Regenerative agriculture counters climate change and promotes food security.

In April, Solidaridad laid the foundation for the Nico Roozen International Centre of Excellence for Regenerative Agriculture in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. Named after the founder and honorary president of Solidaridad Network, Dr Nico Roozen, the centre will provide training on regenerative agricultural practices that are climate-smart, improve soil biodiversity as well as farmer livelihoods.

During the foundation laying ceremony, 125 gram panchayat sarpanch joined hands with Solidaridad and took a pledge to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by adopting regenerative farming practices. 

“This Centre will support more farmers to learn about and practice regenerative farming. By adopting regenerative practices, farmers can play a vital role in building a more sustainable future for agriculture and the planet,” says Dr Suresh Motwani.

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Report elevates the voice of small-scale commodity farmers to the global stage

The Small Farmer Atlas reveals high income dissatisfaction, yet changing climate remains farmers’ biggest concern

Small-scale farms account for 90 per cent of the world’s 570 million farms, yet these farmers are often sidelined in discussions on topics critical to their livelihoods. The Small Farmer Atlas, a comprehensive satisfaction survey covering nearly 10,000 farmers in 18 countries on three continents, is an effort to help companies, governments and civil society to learn from farmers’ perspectives on sustainability.

Small Farmer Atlas launch at VSI, Pune

The Small Farmer Atlas was launched by Shambhaji Kadupatil – Director General, VSI; Monika Khanna, Country Manager, Solidaridad Regional Expertise Centre; Mahesh Kharade Lead Farmer – Maharashtra; Dr. Santosh Karanje, Subject Expert – KVK; Ganesh Salunkhe, Regional Manager – Bayer; Santosh Kumbha, Managing Director – Dalmia Bharat Sugars; Pankaj Gawande; Head Quality Control and Sustainability – Baramati Agro); at the Vasantdada Sugar Institute, Pune, Maharashtra, on 30 May 2023. The event was attended by more than 50 sugarcane small farmers from Maharashtra.

“Farming is the most important job in the world. They are the original influencers shaping our daily diets. The opinions and views of farmers matter,” says Jeroen Douglas, Executive Director Solidaridad Network. “We invite companies and governments to take this to the next level and work to truly involve farmers in the design of policies and sourcing practices.”

The Atlas includes farmers’ insights on issues ranging from prosperity and income, to bargaining power, land use and environmental sustainability. This data-rich resource covers eight commodities: bananas, cocoa, coffee, cotton, palm oil, soybeans, sugarcane, and tea.

Key findings include:

●For most farmers, their income is insufficient for weathering climate shocks and price volatility.

●Over half of all farmers surveyed feel they lack adequate access to markets, financing and information to succeed.

●Climate change issues – soil quality, ability to adapt to climate change, and access to water – are farmers’ biggest concern.

Find more at www.smallfarmeratlas.info 

WHO ARE SMALL-SCALE FARMERS? THE ANSWER DEFIES EASY DEFINITION

Small-scale farmers are not a contiguous, easily-defined group. The eight commodities covered in the Atlas are produced by roughly 120 million small-scale farmers, the majority of them in Africa, Asia and Latin America. For this report, Solidaridad focused on two distinct categories of small-scale farmers:

●Small-commercial – These farmers typically sell a high portion of their production into commodity value chains, yet often live with poverty and rely on diverse strategies to survive.

●Semi-commercial – These are farmers with land holdings of less than 20 hectares. They are well-connected to domestic and international value chains, and farming can be a viable livelihood strategy for eventually achieving a living income.

Some of these farmers still live below the poverty line, others are on their way to a living income, yet these farmers have the means and access necessary to make farming work. Even for this potential, the research found that most have a negative outlook for the future of farming.

“Small farmers’ produce feeds nearly 8 billion people globally. Despite their massive contribution to food value systems, majority live in poverty. The Small Farmer Atlas highlights that compared to the incremental increase in farmer income, the cost of farm input has gone up exponentially over the last few years, thus reducing the overall savings for the farmer,” says Shatadru Chattopadhyay, Managing Director, Solidaridad Asia.

“While spotlighting the challenges faced by small farmers in India and 17 other countries, the Atlas aims to steer policy conversations around solutions that can make small farmers resilient to climate change impact, provide them better market access and reward them for sustainable practices,” he adds.

THE LOOMING IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE

For many farmers, the impacts of a changing climate are their biggest concern. Nearly two thirds of farmers surveyed struggle with a lack of resources needed to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Furthermore, across all 18 countries covered, farmers express grave concerns about deteriorating soil quality and water scarcity.

●60 per cent expressed serious concern about the quality of their soils and the capacity to improve soil health.

●60 per cent expressed dissatisfaction with the availability of water for irrigation.

●57 per cent do not have the resources to adapt to climate change.

SIGNS OF PROGRESS, OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE

Over half of the farmers interviewed express confidence in their ability to meet basic needs. This indicates that sustainability interventions have had a positive impact, even through the pandemic and the related economic downturn when the survey was conducted.

And yet the majority of farmers express that they are ill-equipped to handle price volatility or climate shocks. Women, in particular, are concerned with their ability to achieve a fair income, to find market support, and produce in harmony with the natural environment.

Overall, the Small Farmer Atlas illustrates the need for two key interventions:

●Profit-sharing across agricultural value chains that directly benefit farmers, and improve their business case so they can invest in their farms and access finance.

●The need for systemic change that prioritizes the perceptions of small-scale farmers and grounds interventions in their needs.

Monika Khanna, Country Manager, Solidaridad India.

“In India, agriculture, and its allied sectors, is the largest source of livelihoods. 70 percent of India’s rural households still depend primarily on agriculture for their livelihood, with 85 percent of farmers being small and marginal. These farmers have less than 2 hectares of land, with 70 percent having less than 1 hectare of land. Given that smallholders represent a very large number of individuals with diversity of situations, their individual voices are hardly heard. Smallholders are the foundations of our food system, so it makes sense that their voices are heard for an inclusive agricultural transformation. As a novel attempt, Solidaridad explores the experiences and expectations of small-scale farmers in 8 global value chains.”, says Monika Khanna, Country Manager, Solidaridad India.

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A Barefoot journey to lifelong learning

Accessible quality education rooted in indigenous wisdom is the mantra for transformation at Tilonia’s Barefoot College

Shefali Martins/Rajasthan

An engineering class is underway. The 45 students are grandmothers from 10 different countries. None of them have formally studied science. In fact, most of them are semi-literate. Dressed in a ghaghra odhni, their rural instructor Magan Kanwar doesn’t speak any of their languages or even English. But, their communication is perfect as she instructs them on assembling circuits for solar lamps. This group of women, after a six-month training, will return to their respective villages and electrify them. If you thought this was unusual, this is just one of the multiple uncommon but highly effective educational innovations at Social Work and Research Centre, Tilonia’s Barefoot College located in the heart of rural Rajasthan, 110 kilometres from Jaipur.

In the past half-century, it has stood for bringing together technology, communication, education and handicrafts for the betterment of the rural communities rooted in traditional wisdom and practiced through Gandhian values. The college, right from the beginning, has been putting into practice all the values of modern education: breaking silos between subjects, experimental and hand-on learning and most important of all –learning for change and impact.

Early Literacy & Schooling

In 1975, the institution began with evening literacy classes for 15-35-year-olds. As the student body expanded across villages, so did the number of Night Schools. Community-run village education committees (VEC) appointed local teachers provided with a uniform training on basic subjects, civil and constitutional rights.

Learning in these schools is integrated in the pupils’ lives. They learn math through the number of animals they take for grazing and science through the concepts they see around them. Local and relevant environment issues are added to the teaching alongside agriculture and animal husbandry because most of them tend cattle. Though the journey is barefoot, the approach is modern and updated. 2014 onwards, when it was seen that digital growth is imperative to education, Barefoot College equipped the schools with technology and thus began Solar Digital Night Schools. These Night Schools across 10 states have impacted 80000+ working children.

Learning at a night school underway. Image credit: Barefoot College.

Shiksha Niketan

As far back as 1988, Shiksha Niketan, a primary school for low-income, marginalised children, practised methods we often associate with modern pedagogy: experiential learning, learning from one’s immediate environment, project-based learning and STEAM. “The mother of a child does at least 20 experiments in Science every day. She does it without realising this is Science. The same concept is there in the book, but is unfamiliar territory for the child. We connect the students to the subject through examples of routine activities around them. The focus is on developing the curiosity of the child,” shares Durga Singh, a founder teacher of Shiksha Niketan. So, while the teacher covers the government curriculum, the educational experience is based on real-time learning.

Each department of Tilonia is a chapter at the school. The communication team simplifies a concept through puppets and the carpentry department becomes a lesson in geometry. Functional props, origami and visitors at Tilonia expand the perspective of the learners. “The alumni of Shiksha Niketan are in various government and other high-paying jobs across different levels. But, there is a greater sense of pride when our alumni are recognised as good citizens of their villages, helping others grow along with themselves,” says Singh. Among the   

Bridging the Gap

Even Shiksha Niketan cannot meet the needs of 10-year-old Anshu who moves with his nomadic sheep herder parents. Like him, there is an entire section of children of Nomadic communities that cannot pursue education as their families constantly move for work. A six-month programme to address this gap was started in 2007 in the form of a residential Bridge School at Singla, 25 kilometres from Tilonia. The programme, now 10-month-long, covers the entire syllabus till Class V for children between 8 and 12 years who never went to school. Students from five districts come to this school where a greater preference is given to the enrolment of girls. Besides attending regular classes and extra work in the evenings, the students learn grooming and care. They play games and work with the volunteers to explore concepts in their academics through the simple, practical model that Tilonia creates. At the end of the course, the students take the Class V exam via Shiksha Niketan and can then pursue their further education.

Office bearers of Bal Sansad: Image credit: Barefoot College

Children’s Parliament

There is no rulebook in the ever-evolving lab of Barefoot experiments. However, if there is one book that the Barefoot College lives by, it is the Constitution of India. From slates to iPads, this educational journey has kept up with contexts. So, with the implementation of the Panchayati Raj Act in 1994, a new model was created to explain basic constitutional framework to the children. In classic Barefoot style, it was learnt by doing.   

A ward was made of 10-12 students and they elected one member representative. The wad representatives together formed a bal sansad. Thisparliament chose its Prime Minister through an election that had proper canvassing and election symbols. Secret ballots were maintained. The PM chose a cabinet and assigned roles. They participated in the various meetings of the organisation and gave recommendations to the programme coordinators. This went a long way in developing an independent leadership among children. The children who grew up with this learning went on to mobilise people to get water supply lines to their village, agitate for removal of alcohol thekas and even contest polls. Devika, as the PM of her sansad, also went to Sweden to receive an award where she met the Queen and they exchanged notes as heads of institutions!   

Energy & Environment 

The vocational trainings at Tilonia channelize the energy within besides working with the energy in the environment. It is not just about skill but identity-building and empowerment. From making the campus self-sufficient in energy requirements back in 1996 to the renowned Solar Mamas programme that teaches components, colour coding and circuits of solar home-lighting systems to women from non-electrified villages, this transfer of solar energy to the rural community has a three-layered impact. It sustains the villagers’ need for electricity at reasonable costs through the most vulnerable section, the women. It lights up perspectives – a significant takeaway of education across all areas. Thirdly, it saves millions of litres of kerosene from being used as an energy alternative, hence addressing the big sustainability question much before sustainability became a popular word across academic corridors. The nearest pucca road to the villages of these women is about two hours away, but when they are ready to go back, they seem to have time-travelled a lightyear ahead! Besides the equipment and the know-how, the Solar Mamas take back with them a newly-discovered identity. “When the trainees come in, they barely have a voice within their families. When they go back, they not only electrify their villages but also train other women through rural electronic workshops. Nobody goes back with them to help them with the setup. We just send the equipment,” explains Kamlesh Singh Bhist from the solar department.

Interactive Education

Tilonia is an ever-evolving lab of educational experiments. While the various educational models have shown that true learning is not dependent on a formal degree, even programmes not directly related to education are largely educational. Perhaps the most endearing of all its inspiring innovations are its puppets and their wide role in educational awareness. At the Barefoot College, string puppets evolved into more practical glove and rod puppets besides life-sized and giant puppets. Made of scarp cloth and paper, the puppets are contemporary characters identifiable by the villagers. When they give out information about a programme or a government scheme, they both engage and simplify the concepts, creating wide-spread awareness. Traditional folk instruments and songs are part of the performance. This delightful, digital fatigue-free audio-visual medium has been working for, with the villages for the past 40 years. The puppets are the mascots of Tilonia, exemplifying what the institution and the Gandhian philosophy it embodies stand for – that indigenous knowledge, skills and wisdom should be applied to villages and that simple yet sophisticated technology well-understood by the locals should be used to improve their lives. The puppets go by relatable names to be one with the villagers. As Chetan Kaki and Dhanno Bua, they propagate equality and fight for women’s rights. The much revered puppet, Jokhim Chacha, the bard of Tilonia, is 365 years old because one should learn every day of the year! “The puppets also contribute to the schools run by Tilonia. We engage the students in a conversation about various facets of learning. The puppet makes them curious through a peculiar style of talking based on the character speaking to them. The puppets often act as the first line of information for the villagers. We tell them about a scheme/programme/event in our interactive style and that they could approach the anganwadi workers or the school master for more details,” shares Ramnivas from the communications team. In the past four decades, the team has performed interactive shows in 3,000 villages changing mindsets, gently but firmly.

All educational spaces in Barefoot College manage a delicate balance – they are formal enough to fit in, yet informal enough to stand out. The core concept applied across all departments is using an integrated approach through the understanding of and partnership with the community.

As it marks 50 years of this journey, the institution has exemplified across all possible spaces how anything is possible – whether it is elderly women doing accounts on computer systems or community-driven waste management systems. Learning isn’t dependent on age and one’s life experience counts as a valued qualification. The sky is the limit, but the journey is always barefoot! As development coordinator Ramkaran rightly puts it, “We are a community-based organisation. There is no outsider here. The locals are working for locals. The application of practical knowledge is the base of all our endeavours. Our non-negotiable values of equality, simplicity, decentralisation, collective decision-making, community participation, responsibility, honesty, transparency and accountability are deeply integrated in all our work.”

Shefali is an independent writer from Ajmer, Rajasthan. Share your feedback on features@charkha.org

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How smart agri is giving wings to unstoppable Sona Bai

Smart devices like automated hyper-local weather stations, crop view cameras, insect traps and soil moisture sensors are helping farmers make informed decisions on agricultural practices

“I am not going to stop until I do my best for my farm.” Sona Bai, 50, does not believe in giving up.

Sona owns 1.5-acre land in Bamaniya Khedi village of Agar Malwa district, Madhya Pradesh. For a small soy farmer, running a family of six, including her grandson who goes to school, with meagre farm income is daunting, to say the least.

“Years of monocropping had destroyed my farm. The village shopkeeper would tell me which fertilizers to use and I would buy them without knowing or understanding if my crop really needed these. And then, sudden rains would often destroy my standing crop,” she says.

“Solidaridad became my pillar of support,” says Sona, one of the 6,500 active farmersin the district who are part of the Smart Agri Project, a CSR initiative of Vodafone Idea and Indus Towers, implemented by Solidaridad. Agar Malwa is among the districts where the first phase of the project kicked off in January 2020.  

The Smart Route to Farming

Small and marginal farmers make up for more than 80% of the total farmers in India, but they face several challenges and have limited resources to overcome these, even as there is increasing pressure to produce more to feed a growing population. From lack of access to vital agriculture-related information, to water shortage and dependence on erratic monsoons, to rise in input costs and low yield, a farmer is fighting on many fronts.

Technology can be an enabler for such farmers, helping them access critical information regarding their crop and farm better and in a smart way. The Smart Agri project aims to empower small farmers by:

  • Enhancing their livelihood through sustainable and climate-resilient farming approaches and use of smart devices/solutions based on Artificial Intelligence and IoT.
  • Building farmer capacity while also increasing farm output in terms of yield, reduced input costs, and other benefits.
  • Promoting farmer(s)-owned producer companies and rural enterprises to facilitate farmer’s access to input and markets.
  • Building a learning ecosystem in the project areas, raising awareness about nutrition, health and hygiene.
Sona Bai is an inspiration for other farmer families in her village.

How is Technology Working for Farmers

“I never knew this phone could change my life,” says Sona Bai, proudly displaying her phone on which she receives regular weather and agriculture-related advisories. These advisories are a result of the information collected by the hyper-local weather station installed next to her farm. “I listen to the advisories using the missed call facility,” she says.

“The Solidaridad team has trained me to send a missed call to the Smart Agri helpline. The helpline calls me back and gives me information on the weather forecast for the next week, any pests common in our area, best time to irrigate and good agricultural practices,” says Sona. This, she says, has helped farmers like her take informed decisions about agricultural activities on their farm.

In October, Sona received an advisory on heavy rainfall on her phone. Harvesting was just over and the soybean crop was kept out for drying. Sona and other nearby villagers followed the advisory, shifted the harvested crop to a safer place and covered it. As a result, Sona’s soy crop was saved.

For 43-year-old Devli Kushwah, the advisories helped save the wheat crop and, in turn, prevent losses. “Last season, we were about to start irrigating our wheat crop when I received an advisory on my phone about a rain forecast. We decided to postpone the irrigation activity,” she says.

“Next few days, there was heavy rainfall. Had we gone ahead with irrigation, our standing crop would have been destroyed. Plus, we saved Rs 800-Rs 1,000 per acre on irrigation cost,” says Devli, who works with her husband Suresh on their 5-acre land in Gunga village of Bhopal district in Madhya Pradesh. “I now pay more attention to the advisories,” she says. The couple grows soybean, maize and wheat during the Kharif season, and gram and vegetables during Rabi.

In October 2022, Devli was among a group of farmers under the Smart Agri project who logged in from their phones and interacted with the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, sharing their experience of how ‘smart’ advisories on their phones have changed the way they do farming. “It was a proud moment for me and my family,” she says. 

The Smart Solutions

Helping Sona and Devli farm efficiently are smart devices like automated hyper-local weather stations, crop view cameras, insect traps and soil moisture sensors. Using Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things, these devices, installed in the farms, capture information critical to farming like soil and air quality, wind speed, presence of insects and pests, and crop growth. They are low maintenance, powered through solar energy and connected to the Internet.

The data collected by these devices is also analyzed and reviewed by agricultural experts and shared with the farmers through localized mobile advisories. Farmers can access these advisories in their local language through push call, mobile application and through the missed call facility, and in some cases, through WhatsApp groups too.

“The outcomes of the Smart Agri Project are overwhelming. More than 5.50 lakh farmers across 10 states can access cutting-edge technologies and agronomic practices to overcome production constraints, as well as access better infrastructure facilities and profitable markets,” says Deepender Kumar, General Manager, Corporate Social Responsibility, Vodafone Idea Foundation.

Since its launch, the project has reached farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Telangana, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, West Bengal and Karnataka – and across soy, mustard, tea, cotton and sugarcane crops. It also supports farmers with intercropping. Some of the key outcomes of the project are: 

  • More than 5.50 lakh farmers are getting regular weather- and agriculture-based advisories in all the project areas
  • Farmers are equipped to take informed and timely decisions on activities like: sowing and intercultural operations to ensure better germination, preventing spread of pests/diseases to remaining crops in case of a pest attack
  • 23% increase in average yield – more than 90% farmers reported an increase in yield per hectare
  • Adoption of efficient water management practices by farmers, with more than 80% farmers adopting these in some project areas, which in turn has reduced the number of irrigation cycles for the crops, thereby saving water
  • Customized consultations on phones benefited farmers who earlier had access to limited information through agri-input outlets or Krishi Vikas Kendras (KVKs)

“The Smart Agri Project has enabled our farmers to make informed decisions related to agricultural practices. Smallholders, in particular, who were more susceptible to agricultural losses are now getting advanced and evidence-based solution to mitigate these losses, incurred due to climate change, lack of sustainable agricultural practices, unavailability of agricultural inputs on time etc.,” says Dr Suresh Motwani, General Manager, Soy and Palm Oil, Solidaridad.  “Sona Bai and Devli illustrate how the combination of traditional farming and modern technology can bring about massive changes in agricultural production.”

Support from the Field Team

The digital aspect of the project is supplemented by the Solidaridad team sharing these advisories with farmer/s on the field and helping them decide on appropriate next steps for their crop, while also training them on sustainable agriculture. 

The Solidaridad team encouraged Sona to give vermicomposting a try. Vermicomposting is the method of making compost using earthworms; this compost (or natural fertilizer) is rich in nutrients good for the soil. The team provided her a vermicompost bed and necessary training and assistance to get started.

Sona is proud to support her family of six.

Of her 1.5-acre land, she decided to turn an acre into a demonstration plot for good agricultural practices. Besides using the vermicompost on her soy crop, the practices included pre-sowing seed treatment, which helps improve seed germination, protects the seed from fungus, thereby contributing to improved yield during harvest. She monitored pest populations through yellow sticky traps and pheromone traps. In the harvest season of 2022, her crop yield increased to 8 quintals compared to 4-5 quintals in previous years, helping her earn an additional income of Rs 22,000.    

“By using vermicompost, I saved nearly Rs 14,000 in a year, an amount I was earlier spending on buying fertilizers from the market, which made my soil hard,” says Sona, who also earns some extra money through the vegetables she grows on her field during summers.

Sona Bai is an inspiration for other farmer families in her village. “Seeing the increase in production in Sona Bai’s farms, villagers now come to me and ask me about yellow sticky traps, vermicompost and other good agricultural practices, which they want to adopt on their farms,” says Mukesh Jain, Cluster In-charge, Susner, Agar district. 

With the profits, Sona has now bought a buffalo. After keeping aside milk for her family, she is selling the extra milk to a nearby dairy centre, and earning around Rs 150 daily.

Sona doesn’t want to stop here. She has acquired an additional 4.5-acre land on lease from her relatives to do farming. 

More power to unstoppable Sona!

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