Abstract

More than 80 percent of the women in rural India engage in agriculture for their survival. However, in spite of women forming the backbone of the agricultural rural economy in developing countries, they remain one of the most vulnerable groups of society. Some factors such as lack of access to education and technology and other socio-economic issues have had an adverse impact on the lives of women farmers. The denudation of natural resources, fluctuating climatic conditions, and sub-division of their land holdings have only added to their woes, leading to a decline in their incomes from agriculture. Moreover, gender disparities in areas of access to inputs, resources, services, technology, and sharing of benefits have compounded the problems of women farmers. Against this backdrop, a Karnataka-based public charitable trust, Genetic Resource, Ecology, Energy and Nutrition (GREEN) Foundation has worked to empower women farmers in India with the primary goal of providing a sustainable rural livelihood to them while bridging the gender gap. Since its inception in 1994, the organization has been working with women in the small village of Thalli in Karnataka, with the stated aim of helping them attain food security, economic security, and autonomy. The Foundation started a Community Seed Bank that enabled farmers to conserve their seeds and gave them a sense of ownership. It also started an organic farmers association, Sahaja Samruddha, to encourage farmers to adopt sustainable agricultural practices that promoted organic farming and cultivation of indigenous crops. GREEN also encouraged women farmers to implement kitchen gardens that promoted agricultural bio-diversity while empowering women. Under this initiative, landless women farmers were trained in agricultural methods and encouraged to grow indigenous vegetables, which provided food security and enhanced their economic status. In August 2011, GREEN took its women empowerment initiatives a step forward by entering into a private public partnership with the Government of India (GoI) to become the implementation agency of the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (women farmer empowerment project) (MKSP). Launched in the financial year 2010-2011 by the GoI, MKSP, a component of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission, aimed to improve the status of women in agriculture and enhance their opportunities for empowerment. By implementing the MKSP program, the Foundation aimed to strengthen the sources of livelihood and the nutrition security of women. It sought to do this by encouraging them to take up sustainable agricultural practices and by promoting alternate income-generating activities. To work closely with women farmers, listen to their concerns, and involve them in decision-making processes, GREEN launched Janadhanya and Village Development Committees. Another significant initiative by GREEN was a Community Consultative Committee formed to guide, monitor, and assist effective intervention through the MKSP program. Through this committee, GREEN aimed to build a strong knowledge base within the community by empowering individuals known as Community Resource Persons (CRPs) through intensive training in sustainable agricultural practices and biodiversity conservation. The initiative while aiming to equip women farmers with technical skills, also sought to empower them with skills to emerge as community leaders and carry forward the message of sustainable agriculture long after the intervention stopped. The Foundation through the MKSP initiative also aimed to improve the literacy levels of women farmers to generate awareness about several government programs and schemes that could benefit them. As part of the MKSP program, GREEN worked with 3,000 women farmers from Chitradurga district and 2,000 from Ramanagara district. In 2013, in a bid to further empower women farmers, GREEN in association with Women’s Earth Alliance, carried out a project involving around 40 women in the districts of Chitradurga and Kanakapura. The project sought to develop leadership skills in the women and thereby empower them to lead their own agrarian communities toward sustainability by training other farmers in sustainable agricultural practices.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Analyze the Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) initiative implemented by GREEN Foundation.
• Understand the problem related to gender gap in rural India and the strategy of GREEN for empowering women.
• Understand the socio-economic conditions of the women farmers under which the MKSP program was initiated.
• Understand the MKSP initiative in promoting sustainable livelihoods of the women engaged in agriculture.
• Understand the factors that contributed to the success of the MKSP initiative in the Chitradurga and Ramanagara districts in Karnataka.

Keywords

Genetic Resource, Ecology, Energy, and Nutrition (GREEN) Foundation Gender disparities, Gender equality, Women empowerment, Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana, National Rural Livelihoods Mission, Green Revolution, Sustainable agriculture, Organic farming, Food security, Economic security, Biodiversity conservation, Environmental degradation, Organic India Council, Food and Agriculture Organization, United Nations Millennium Development Goals