2008 - German Gov Grant to Anisha for Indian Farmers

Resource person Mr. Sundarama giving explanations on organic farming.

India has an economy with thriving Industrial and Information sectors. Recent economic growth, while of great benefit to the Indian middle class, has driven up prices throughout the country and the benefits of economic growth have largely bypassed the villages where the majority of Indians live.

Villagers in India farm plots that are tiny by western standards, often less than a quarter of a hectare. One family may farm several tiny fields that are scattered widely. And most poor farming families are vulnerable to economic changes because they do not own the land on which they work.

In contrast, agricultural inputs needed for industrial, or "Green Revolution" style agriculture rely heavily on copious inputs of fresh water, drawing heavily on scarce water resources. Heavy irrigation in arid lands where mineral laden ground water is all that is available, brings with it salts that, along with the excessive use of chemical fertilizers, bring about the destruction of the topsoil and pollute the earth, leading to the desertification of land that was once fertile. This style of agriculture is dependent on patented seeds bred in laboratory conditions and on chemical fertilizers and pesticides that must be imported from distant regions. And industrialized agriculture requires large, open fields that take advantage of capital inputs such as large tractors and other farm machinery that is unaffordable to villagers.

So, these these capital intensive agricultural techniques compete for resources with the villagers they were established to assist.

Anisha has recently received BMZ grant from the German government that will help fund improvements in agricultural methodology and food security through the use of appropriately scaled organic techniques and the creation of social and economic institutions that will help farmers to compete in the modern Indian economy. These will include:

• Infrastructure for storing and enriching agricultural products,
• The establishment of local seed banks,
• The creation of a resource centre and purchasing land for trails and demonstration of new agricultural techniques,
• Better methods of marketing produce such as forming a Farmers Federation, and obtaining organic certification to bring a higher return for the farmers when they sell their produce in urban markets,
• The creation of enterprises that produce cash income.

From left to right: Rear: Mr. Gabriel (field coordinator), Mr. Rajan (monitoring and evaluation), Mr. Srinivasu (technical consultant) Front: Mrs. Valliammal (project coordinator), Ms. Vasantha (field assistant).

The grant will go to improving the living conditions and food security of small and marginalised farmers and landless families in a poverty-stricken area about 150 kilometres south of Bangalore. Twenty-one farming villages with a total population of about 13,000 will be the beneficiaries.

The project began formally on Oct. 1, 2008 and will last until Dec. 31, 2011. It has a financial volume of €163,000 (Euros) of which BMZ will grant 75 percent (€122,000 Euros). The remainder will be covered by the Susila Dharma community together with Anisha.

Anisha has been preparing this project since 2006 with the financial support of the SD community. The proposal itself is the result of about eighteen months of hard work in which it has been reworked at least three times. We have applied the Logical Framework approach to analyse the stakeholders, problems and objectives.

http://project-activities.susiladharma.org/location_asia_oceania/anisha.shtml