Asha Doifode, from Dasmegaon in Osmanabad District, Maharashtra was a victim of child marriage, becoming a widow when she was only 15 years of age. With young children and legal proceedings ongoing to gain land rights after her husband’s passing, she spent many years working as a sugarcane cutter and in road construction as a daily wage labourer.
In 2014, when the land was officially passed on to her sons and her, she began farming on the 8 acres of land. With water scarcity being a major issue in the region, Asha tai could only cultivate one crop on the farm (in the monsoons), as she was fully dependent on the rainfall for irrigating her crops. Not one to give up hope, she slowly invested her farm income back in agriculture and was able to dig a well on her farm by 2018. Asha tai’s hard work did not go in vain, and over the next 3 years she was able to invest more money into digging another well and two borewells on her farm. With access to water for irrigation, Asha tai was now able to cultivate two crops (monsoon crop and winter crop) on her 8 acres of land, and greatly increased her income by diversifying into other agri-allied businesses like dairy as well.
In early 2022, Asha tai was approached by an SSP leader from a neighbouring farm, who invited her to attend one of SSP’s meetings. With Asha tai being economically empowered and running a successful farm, she urged her to now start thinking about her community’s well being and how she can guide other women to become empowered too. When Asha tai attended the meeting and listened to the stories of other women leaders who were bringing about change in their communities, she was inspired to do the same in her village. She attended trainings on the ‘one-acre farming’ model and entrepreneurship development, and subsequently started teaching the same to women in her village. To date, Asha tai has been able to guide 13 women in diversifying their livelihoods by starting small businesses and another 15 women in adopting the one-acre farming model
“Through participation in SSP’s programs and trainings, I have gained knowledge, experience and also leadership skills. As a mentor and leader, I am now more self-confident and feel like I can inspire and guide other women in my community to become empowered. My aim is to reach out to over 300 women in the next 3 years,” says Asha tai.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
December 23, 2022