Deepali Suryavanshi overcame difficult odds to support her family and become a successful businesswoman.
Married at a young age, Deepali tai lost her husband and moved back to her parent’s house with her daughter at the age of 21. Soon after, her brother, the major breadwinner in the family also passed away in an accident, leaving the family in a precarious economic condition. Deepali tai’s father cultivated their 2 acres of land, and earned just enough to keep the household running. In 2018, Deepali tai heard about SSP from some of the women leaders in her village, and was invited to attend a meeting to introduce women to their work. In the meeting, she learnt about the work that other women were doing, opportunities for leadership, empowerment and financial independence. Inspired by this, Deepali tai started attending various trainings provided by SSP on entrepreneurship, one-acre farming, animal husbandry etc.
When Deepali tai first broached the subject of implementing the one-acre farming model on their farm, her father was dismissive of her suggestions, as she had no prior experience in farming. However, she convinced her father to give her a small area of land to start cultivating vegetables using bio-farming techniques. Deepali tai first implemented the one-acre farming model on 5 guntas of land, producing enough for household consumption and to sell in the market. Having demonstrated the success of the one-acre model, Deepali tai was able to convince her father to start implementing it on greater areas of land. Today, Deepali and her father cultivate the full 2 acres of land using bio-farming techniques, growing vegetables, grains and pulses at a large scale. She sells the vegetables in the weekly market and around her village, earning around Rs. 9000 per month as income.
Through trainings with SSP, Deepali tai also learnt about the dairy business and started raising a cow and buffalo to sell its milk. By selling it to the nearby Laxmi Dairy, she earns around Rs. 6000 per month which is transferred directly into her bank account. Through digital and financial literacy trainings, Deepali tai also learnt how to manage accounts, conduct online payments and take orders online using whatsapp.
Today, Deepali and her father make agricultural decisions together, and she is fully involved in household financial decision making. She is financially independent and able to support her daughter’s education. When asked about her future plans, Deepali tai says, “Today, I am able to support my family in the same way a man could. I want to teach my daughter that men and women are equal, and that she needs to be independent. I had to learn this the hard way, and I hope to show other women how important it is to stand on your own feet.”
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
January 17, 2023