Farmers have faced acute economic, social and ecological challenges due to crop failure. With high reliance on chemical inputs and alarming drift towards cash crops, small and marginal farmers lack food security and are vulnerable to climate shocks. Marathwada (where this model was developed) faces crippling water shortages coupled with extremely low coverage of irrigation that poses more risks than rewards for the farmers growing cash crops.
SSP works with the landless and marginalized farmer households and among these with women, who face the most challenging social and economic inequalities in drought prone regions in India. To earn and sustain livelihoods women face enormous problems in access to resources, skills, finance, and market opportunities.
A resilient farming model goes a long way in helping the farmers to improve their agriculture practices. When women are empowered to decide what to grow, what inputs to use, when and where to sell – key shifts happen in agriculture and livelihood.
The Women-led Climate Resilient Farming (WCRF) model attempts to position women as farmers, leaders and change agents who adopt food-secure practices on their farms.
The model focuses on four key dimensions:
It improves productivity, increases income, enhances the health and nutrition of the family and builds resilience. The WCRF model keeps women at its centre and transforms them into changemakers in agriculture with a view to promoting resilient livelihoods.
To operate our model, we have designed an enabling ecosystem with Government, Agro-tech partners, Training partners and Knowledge & Resource partners to empower women through farm literacy, decision making abilities, access to land and leadership skills. On ground, our Krishi Sakhis or Community Resource Persons (CRPs) take center-stage in disseminating the model and act as a constant linkage between the model ecosystem and women farmers. By adopting this model, women farmers are silently fighting climate change, building enterprises and boosting local economies.
Key-partners:
UMED-Maharashtra State Rural Livelihoods Mission – Govt. of Maharashtra, Misereor Germany, Huairou Commission, Welthungerhilfe-GIZ, Hindustan Unilever Foundation, ADM Cares, HSBC, Axis Bank Foundation, SBI Foundation, Oak Foundation, Mankind Pharma, LIC Housing Finance Ltd.
The WCRF model delivers social, economic and ecological resilience to small and marginal farming communities in drought prone Marathwada that are vulnerable to acute climate shocks. By empowering women as change-makers in agriculture, it promotes resilient livelihoods for farming households and ensures that farming becomes an economically viable venture.
The changes brought about through the model are:
