Women Leading Local Climate Adaptation
SSP developed the Women-led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF) model, which has been adopted by over 3,00,000 women in the drought-prone Marathwada region of Maharashtra in the past 10 years. Kokila Munde, from Govindpur village in Osmanabad district illustrates the success of this integrated model that promotes climate smart agriculture and agri-allied livelihoods diversification.
Prior to associating with SSP in 2018, Kokila tai and her husband cultivated the cash crop sugarcane in their 5-acre farm, which incurred very large input costs. After attending trainings provided by SSP leaders, Kokila tai decided to experiment with organic vegetable cultivation on a small piece of land. With a successful harvest, she gained confidence on implementing additional practices like vermicomposting, bio-pesticide making and diversifying into dairy, goat rearing and poultry business.
Slowly increasing the amount of land cultivated organically, Kokila tai was able to prove to her husband the benefits of organic farming, which had minimal input costs as opposed to mono-cropping of sugar cane which requires large amounts of water. Currently Kokila tai has fully converted her 5-acre farm to organic vegetable and fruit cultivation.
Through SSP’s support, Kokila tai is now able to recognise issues related to climate change and the environment, and the need to carry out multi-cropping of local varieties of vegetables, grains, cereals, pulses and fruits to diversify risks and address local food security. Her farming costs have also reduced as she focuses on crops that require less water, with manure and other inputs being created organically at home, and using water saving technologies like sprinklers and drip irrigation.
Kokila tai and her husband sell their fruits and vegetables locally, as well as in the Kallam market. She takes pride in the fact that her income has increased by at least 40% over the last two-years. She is also a well-known leader in the area, known for excellent quality of produce, and has farmers from surrounding villages visiting her farm to learn about the WCRF model.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
23rd February, 2022