Swayam Shikshan Prayog’s globally recognized Women-led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF) Model is gaining acceptance amongst tribal women from Wayanad, Kerala. SSP has been working with locally created Sakhi Farmer Groups in Wayanad to transform high-input chemical dependent monoculture farming to sustainable farming practices that benefit the land, environment, health and nutrition.
Srijisha belongs to the Sakhi Farmers Group from Kallattippoyil village in Kalpetta block of Wayanad district, Kerala. Her group consists of eleven women from the Kurichiya tribe, who traditionally practice sustainable farming through the use of indigenous seeds and polyculture practices. Since its establishment in 2018, each of the Sakhi Farmer Group members have started implementing organic and bio-farming practices to carry out diversified vegetable cultivation for both household use and sale in the market.
In 2022, after the women-led Keravriksha Farmer Producer Organization (FPO) was created in Wayanad, Srijisha and her other group members saw an opportunity to increase vegetable production. Since the FPO prioritized the purchase of organic vegetables from women farmers, the Sakhi Farmers Group leased a 2-acre plot close to their village and began cultivating vegetables like cabbage, beans, carrot, cauliflower, beetroot, chilly etc on a collective basis. They were able to do this by taking a loan from the Sakhi Farmers Group and through their own investments. Today, the group sells their produce to the Keravriksha FPO and also in the local market, dividing the income between each of the group members. Since starting this collective initiative, Srijisha is earning an additional income of INR 1,000/- per month.
A forward-thinking leader and changemaker, Srijisha says that, “We need to adapt our farming methods with time, using both traditional and modern agricultural practices. If we are not willing to learn new things, we will not be able to survive.”
Swayam Shikshan Prayog
April 11, 2023