Rohini Khade, from Solarwadi village in Washi Block of Osmanabad District, Maharashtra is a grassroots woman leader and entrepreneur who is bringing about change in her community.
Married into a landless family after finishing school, Rohini tai worked as a daily wage labourer in other people’s farms for many years, due to her family’s poor financial situation. In 2021, she attended a variety of capacity building trainings provided by Swayam Shikshan Prayog – SSP, and received guidance on starting her own small-scale milk business. Taking a loan from her local SHG, she also started sharecropping on her neighbour’s land using SSP’s women-led climate resilient farming model. Both of Rohini tai’s early efforts were successful, and by reinvesting her profits from the milk and vegetable vending business, she was able to expand and diversify. Today, she owns 3 cows and has been able to purchase her own farmland where she cultivates a variety of food crops. She has also started running a small bangle and stationery shop in the village. Within a period of 3 years, Rohini tai emerged as a strong and business-savvy entrepreneur in her village, earning around INR 2 lakhs annually, which significantly improved her family’s financial situation.
As a village leader, Rohini tai began to work with a small number of interested women farmers in implementing the same ‘one-acre farming’ model within their own farms. The success of this initiative helped promote organic farming, with 120 farmers now practicing it within their own farms in Solarwadi village. She has also helped them access government schemes and bank loans, by supporting online applications and lobbying with local authorities. Further, her own experience led her to advocate fiercely for women’s rights to land. As a result, today 30 women farmers in her village have their name formally recognised on land deeds. Rohini tai is also one of the formative leaders of the local Village Action Group, which is a group bringing together women from different communities to develop their leadership and bring about change in the village.
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
September 29, 2023