All posts by Vaagdhara

Thousands of hands raised to preserve traditional seeds for a better future

October 06, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

Due to increasing new technologies in agriculture and the demand for hybrid seeds, the importance of traditional local seeds is gradually declining on a global scale. With the aim of improving the situation by restoring and promoting the importance of traditional seeds, Vaagdhara organised more than 90 events in the form of Seed Utsav (Seed Exchange Festival) from 18th to 22nd June 2024 under the guidance of the Agriculture and Tribal Swaraj Group in its working area, in which around 10,000 tribal farmers participated. At these events, traditional indigenous seeds were displayed and ideas about their characteristics and importance were exchanged. Beej Utsav was organised in the tribal belt of the trijunction of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat. The role of women tribal farmers was particularly encouraging.

The Seed Utsav was organised with various objectives in mind, the most important of which is to ensure the conservation and availability of high-quality traditional and climate-friendly seeds. Many seed species are endangered today, hence the Seed Utsav programme was organised which involved actions like promoting traditional seed varieties through the media, ensuring the availability of traditional seeds to every family at the community level, eliminating the market dependency of seeds, practising traditional methods of seed conservation in the community and reviving traditional agricultural practices.

The community, under the leadership of the community organisations of Vaagdhara, including the Farmers’ and Adivasi Sangathan, Gram Swaraj Samuh and Bal Swaraj Groups, participated in the Seed Utsav by parading around the villages with traditional musical instruments and spreading slogans for the conservation of indigenous seeds. Farmers contributed all the seed varieties that they preserve and seed exhibitions were organised where the farmers exchanged their seeds with one another. Moreover, the discussions on traditional seeds raised awareness about their quality, their health benefits, as well as the methods and measures to preserve them.

At a time when a few multinational companies are doing their best to consolidate their dominance over the world’s seed resources, events like the Beej Utsav help to protect and strengthen farmers’ rights to their seeds. More than 50 varieties of traditional seeds were presented at the exhibition, including some that are threatened with extinction: Black Kang, Red Maize, Santhi Maize, Ragi, Rajgira in the cereals category; Bailadiya Urad in the pulses category; Brown Gourd, Aabka in the vegetables category; Gundi, Arudu, Kosch, Nagfali, Timru, Ramphal in the crops category. The community also took an oath to preserve and promote these varieties. The farmers who devoted themselves to the protection of seeds were given a special honour. They were honoured as Seed Mitras or Seed Mothers.

The secretary of the organisation, Jayesh Joshi, said that it is the tribal community that has preserved the heritage of its natural resources for centuries. This heritage especially includes traditional local seeds, which are of utmost importance in today’s world where a few multinational companies are increasingly controlling the world’s seed industry. By organising such seed festivals or seed fairs, the organisation tries to set an example for the tribal community to other communities and the outside world so that they too are inspired to preserve the local seeds in their respective areas.

This is the only way Beej Swaraj can be restored in the true sense of the word.

This Beej Utsav also has a special significance for the preparations for the Kharif harvest, as the seeds are sown with the rains. Therefore, the exchange of seeds and information is particularly important at this time in order to increase one’s own chances and diversity of harvest.
As a result of all these efforts, a favourable environment for the protection of seeds in the area has been created thanks to the efforts of Vaagdhara. The farmers feel that they urgently need this work and one of the reasons for the success of the Beej Utsav is that work has been going on continuously for many years to protect these traditional seeds.

The organisation’s seed expert, Prashant Thorat, informed the participants that seeds are the basis of agriculture. Whereas farmers traditionally cultivated their own seeds and were therefore sovereign, they are becoming increasingly dependent on the external seed market. Currently, around 70 per cent of seeds are no longer in the hands of farmers, but on the market. This development is particularly favoured by politics. Every year, the central and state governments spend thousands of rupees on providing hybrid seeds. This hybrid seed is not only transported over hundreds of kilometres but is mostly unsuitable for the local conditions and climate. Additionally, due to hybrid seeds and modern farming methods, the expenditure on irrigation, toxic chemicals and pesticides is continuously increasing, which results in the cost of farming rising day by day. Therefore, agriculture is becoming a loss-making business. At the same time, the availability of traditional local seeds, which are rich in nutrients and suitable for the local climate, is constantly decreasing. The youth is forgetting the culture of seed conservation, traditional seed saving and promotion. Under these circumstances, we need to recognise our seed culture and make serious efforts to restore Seed Swaraj in the community.

Parmesh Patidar, Programme Implementation Lead of Vaagdhara, remarked that in this age of increasing marketisation, this Beej Utsav will prove to be an effective means of reducing the market dependence of marginal tribal farmers on seeds as traditional seeds are a symbol of agricultural traditions and cultural heritage passed on from generation to generation. These seeds have many characteristics, e.g. they are adapted to the local climate and soil, which means they produce higher yields and require less care, promote biodiversity and help maintain ecological balance. In addition, plants grown from traditional seeds are rich in health-promoting elements. It is therefore important to preserve traditional indigenous seeds so that we can offer future generations a better tomorrow.

Majid Khan, Lead of Vaagdhara Technical Support Unit, said that active participation of local farmers, members of the Saksham Samooh, members of the Gram Sawaraj Samooh, members of Bal Swaraj Samooh and members of Krish Evam Adivasi Swaraj Sangthan was ensured to make the Beej Utsav programme successful. The children were not only educated about the importance of traditional seeds but were also allowed to share their experiences and knowledge. To preserve traditional seeds, the programme focused on setting up seed banks in the communities to safely store the traditional seeds brought by the farmers. This way, the seeds of the future can be preserved and nurtured.

The villagers are very enthusiastic about the Beej Utsav. According to farmer Vjiaypal, there is now a platform for everything the community wants to know and do to protect indigenous seeds. Now they will also involve the youth and take this work forward. Other farmers, especially women, felt that such seed festivals should be organised every year. A farmer named Kesar shared that she had brought many types of seeds and is taking home a variety of new seeds. We all benefit from such an exchange.

One reason for the success of the Beej Utsav is that Vaagdhara has been working to protect traditional seeds for many years. Many marches have been undertaken to raise awareness on the importance of the traditional seed varieties, training sessions have been organised on how to continue this seed protection and efforts have been made in various villages to save community seeds.

Government officials and employees of the Ministry of Agriculture, elected representatives of the Panchayat and colleagues from other institutions were also united at the Beej Utsav. This way, it became a broad-based effort and received the support of all.

To conclude, here are the words of PL Patel, a senior partner of the organisation: “We hope that such Beej Utsav will continue to be organised successfully in the future as they bring great benefits to all.

The benefits of sustainable animal husbandry and multi-purpose plantations

September 23, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

Sarita Devi, the wife of Ruplal Kataria, lived like many other people in Jhikli, a village in the Kushalgarh tehsil in Banswara district of south Rajasthan, with modest resources. She worked from morning till night on her 4 bighas of land and also went for odd jobs in other people’s fields. She had been helping her parents with farming since childhood and continued this support even after her marriage by working in the fields with her husband. But despite all her efforts, her situation did not change. Now, at the age of 45, she has spent more than two decades in poverty without any improvement in her circumstances.

Banswara, the eastern part of South Rajasthan, is a mountainous region mainly dependent on rain-fed agriculture. The main crops grown here are cotton, maize, lentils, urad beans, mung beans, rijqa rice, etc. Farmers in the lower-lying areas also grow rice. Due to lack of water, these crops provided food and economic needs to some families for two to three months, but it was not enough to sustain their livelihood. Due to this situation, Savita Devi and her husband Ruplal also went to Surat in Gujarat to find work. However, as there was no employment available there either, she returned to the village. To earn a living, Savita Devi started small-scale activities such as rearing goats and cattle rearing. However, there was a lack of adequate knowledge and as a result, there was no significant improvement in her livelihood. Although the region was always rich in natural resources, the communities lacked sufficient income due to unsustainable practices.

In 2018, things slowly started to change when Savita Devi joined the group ‘Saksham Samuh’, which advocates for gender equality and women’s empowerment in all areas. In collaboration with Vaagdhara, she started the Multi-Purpose Plantation Program to replicate the ‘Vadi’ model throughout the village. With the support of the Saksham group, Sarita Devi grew around 40 different types of plants in an orchard. Through this program, she realized how she could benefit from high-yield crop cultivation. As a result, she generated more income and received guidance on how to integrate these improvements into her livelihood and that of her five family members. Sarita Devi attended training on intercropping techniques and purchased high-quality traditional seeds for her farmland, including bamboo, mango, lemon, and guava. As part of this program, work was also carried out on soil conservation methods through mulching, and a pump for irrigation was installed in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. This helped her to grow vegetables in the nutrient oasis and irrigate her fields, which quickly became a reliable and sustainable source of income for her family. This type of agriculture led to an improvement in the nitrogen content of the soil and an increase in soil moisture. As a result, agricultural costs decreased and production increased.

After making these changes, she immediately set up a rainwater harvesting system in her field, which ensures that sufficient water is available for irrigation and the increasing productivity remains sustainable in the years to come. Today, she earns an income of INR 65,000 a year from selling vegetables and fruits and has seen an increase in income within just two years of adopting sustainable farming techniques. Gradually, Savita Devi has also integrated other sources of income such as livestock farming into her practices.

Sarita Kataria explains that she applied for the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA program. With the income from NREGA, she bought a cow and with the money from the sale of milk, her livelihood began to grow. Her husband sold milk in the market for INR 50 per liter, which gave them a daily income of INR 200. With this income, she bought a buffalo, which led to a further increase in income. Today, Sarita has four buffaloes, two bullocks, and a cow. They produce 30 liters of milk daily, which she sells for INR 50 per liter, resulting in a monthly income of INR 45,000. With this income, she finances the studies of her two children at a college in Jaipur. By introducing multi-purpose plantations, vegetable cultivation, and improved livestock farming, she has not only diversified her sources of income but also achieved sustainable agricultural development and a better livelihood for her family. She remains motivated to learn more and inspires other women in the village to develop further.

Today, Sarita Devi has multiple sources of income and is financially secure. Savita Devi has an annual income of around 350,000 rupees. She also recommends other women participate in Vaagdhara’s programs to become self-reliant and change their lives.

(https://vaagdhara.org/success-stories/the-benefits-of-sustainable-animal-husbandry-and-multi-purpose-plantations/)

Kids Suffer Discrimination from Anagwadi Staffs on there Right to Nutrient India Mix

September 08, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

Today when Government and many development agencies are trying their level best to ensure that no person of the country should go to bed with empty stomach, but still it seems to be very tough to be achieved due to irresponsible behavior of staffs. There are many people who are supposed to be an efficient instrument to implement this goal through their duties are very much far away from doing it. When the number of deaths due to malnourishment was increasing, GOI started the India Mix nutrient supply, which is highly nutritious.

In an Anganwadi of Roojiya village, Rajasthan some of the kids had to bear the discrimination by the Anganwadi staff. Normally as per government rule all the kids should be provided with India mix nutrient once a week. So normally what happens is that either the Anganwadi cook prepares some dish made of this India Mix or they just provide the Nutrient to kids in their utensil. But here the innocent kids had to suffer the discrimination by the staff. The staff used to provide sufficient or sometimes more than the required to the kids of the families with whom the staff is in good terms and less in quantity to the kids with whose parents the staff were not in good terms.

But when the CAG members came to know about this they didn’t believed, but when they saw this discrimination by themselves they were shocked and were completely unable to digest this step motherly attitude towards these innocent kids. Hence on 2nd June 2010 the entire CAG members warned the Anganwadi staff regarding this and instructed them to change their attitude towards the kids. Moreover they decided to complain this matter to the Bal Vikas Kendra. But before doing this the staff themselves apologized to them and promised them that this will not be repeated and they said “from now onwards these kids are my kids so I will surely take care of them as a mother”.

The CAG members feel themselves proud for this achievement, and they want other CAG members to observe whether this type of behavior is prevailing in other Anganwadi or not. Since here the beneficiaries are the kids, so the CAG members are taking this matter seriously and they are trying their level best to ensure adequate and timely supply of India Mix to the kids as per Government Rule.

This incident is a matter of proud for the people of Roojiya Village, CAG members and also for Vaagdhara. This activity was done without the knowledge of Vaagdhara staff. This particular CAG is very active and they say we want our kids to see bright future and to be away from the darkness of poverty.

https://vaagdhara.org/success-stories/kids-suffer-discrimination/

A Family and Girl Child Fight With the Malnutrition

September 28, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

Dhula damor and his wife Surta Damor use to live in village Sheranagle, Anandpuri block. They are four members in including two girls child. They have small piece of land i.e. 2 bigha for doing agriculture which is totally rainfed. They use to grow maize, wheat, rice and pigeon pea in cropping season. Poor health of land was a reason for less production and it was available for 5 to 6 months. He used to buy food material to fulfillment of food availability over the year for his family. For this, he migrated to Ahemdabad and Surat where he engages in construction work for 5 months. His wife is stayed at home for taking care of children. During his migration, his wife had suffered for lacking of money. Sometime, in such situation she could not feed her children and she used to sleep starving. Neither she go to Aanganwadi centre and nor sends her children.

One day she took participation in PLA_LANN meeting conducted by VAAGDHARA in her village. In that meeting facilitator was taking anthropometric measurement of participated children (upto 59 months). Kavita whose age was 18 months also measured during the activity and her mother was called and told that your child measure as SAM-Sever Acute Malnourished (Height=70 cm, Weight= 6.3 Kg, MUAC= 10.7 and Z score=-3SD). When she was asked about poor health of the child she replied that the child is weak from birth. In that village LANN volunteer understood her about the situation of the child. Next day Surta took the child to MTC- Malnutrition Treatment Centre which is 73 Kms away from the village. Surta stayed there for 15 days. LANN-Volunteer gave his full support to family in that situation. Dhula came back at home and her wife told everything to him. In next meeting, dhula and his wife come together. After that they attended meeting regularly. 15 days Nutrition camp organized in the village. Surta and her daughter Kavita participated in the camp regularly through which the child’s health improved. After 8 months, she was 26 months old and Height= 76.4 cm, Weight= 8.7 Kg, MUAC= 14 and Z score= -1SD.

PLA LANN meetings brought changes in their life. Dhula did changes in agriculture. He adopted sustainable Integrated Farming System through and crop diversity increased, saving started after using organic manure and pesticides, started preservation of indigenous seeds for next crop. In summers, they started having dried vegetables including green leafy and others. Family developed Kitchen garden at backyard of home and growing seasonal vegetables and Banana, Mango, Lemon and Papaya fruit plants for their own consumption. Individual diet diversity increased of every member and hunger period is reduced for 3 months. He benefited by MGNREGA and sanctioned individual work plan up to 3 lac amount for his land development work, plantation and compost pit development. Migration is also stopped because he got employment under MGNREGA.

He “Dhula” thanked to all VAAGDHARA team specially LANN Volunteers who saved child health, supported in agriculture and income.

https://vaagdhara.org/success-stories/family-girl-child-fight-malnutrition/

हलमा: सामुदायिक भागीदारी से अपनी समस्याओं का हल निकालते जनजातिय समुदाय!

July 12, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

अरावली पठार में आने वाला बांसवाडा जिले के तहसील घाटोल का पहाड़ी क्षेत्र वाला गाव मियासा । यह इलाका पलायन और सूखे के लिए जाना जाता है। यहां रहने वाले भील समुदाय के आदिवासियों के लिए कई समस्याएं संकट लेकर आती है। इस समस्या का समाधान आदिवासियों ने अपने पारंपरिक ज्ञान में खोजा। सामुदायिक भागीदारी ‘हलमा’ की मदद से यहां कई जगह मेडबंदी ,फसल बुवाई ,फसल कटाई, और सामुदायिक भूमि पर अरंडी ,खाकरा टिमरू के बीज लगाकर पर्यावरण संवर्धन कर रहे है I

दरअसल, कम खेती उपज ,पानी संकट बांसवाड़ा जिले में रहने वाले आदिवासियों की प्रमुख चिंता है। ये संकट उनके लिए कई समस्याएं लेकर आता है। पीने के पानी समस्या तो इनमें सबसे विकराल है। फसलों को पानी देने का संकट अलग से है। इससे वे साल में सिर्फ एक ही फसल ले पाते हैं। इसके चलते पलायन, मजदूरी, भुखमरी और शोषण का कुचक्र शुरू होता है ।

लेकिन इन दिनों मियासा गांव में इन आदिवासीयो ने सामुदायिक तरीके से एक दुसरे के खेतों में बुवाई, मेडबंदी करके लाखों रुपये की बचत कर चर्चा में है । इसे अनेक समस्या ग्रसित भील आदिवासियों के इस गांव ने कृषि और अन्य की समस्या का समाधान खोज लिया है ।

वागधारा गठित ग्राम स्वराज संगठन की सदस्य श्रीमती अमरी देवी निनामा हलमा के बारे में बताती हैं, हमारी भील समाज की हलमा एक प्राचीन परंपरा है। जब कोई व्यक्ति गांव में संकट में फस जाता है और अपनी पूरी ताकत लगाने के बाद भी उस संकट से नहीं निकल पाता, तो वो हलमा का आह्वान करता है। गांव के लोग हलमा के जरिए सामाजिक दायित्व निभाकर कर उस व्यक्ति को संकट से निकालते हैं ।”

वही एक ओर सदस्य श्रीमती जमाना निनामा बताते हैं, “हमने गांव में खेतों में काम करने के लिए मजदूर नहीं मिलते इस संकट से निपटने के लिए हलमा बुलाया था। इसी हलमा से सामुदायिक भागीदारी के तहत बिना एक पैसा खर्च किए तकरीबन 15 किसानों ने अपने खेतों में सामुदायिक तरीके से बुवाई की इसमें एक किसान के खेत में 25 लोग सहभागी हुए इस हिसाब से 300 किसानों ने एक दूसरे के खेतों में श्रमदान किया हलमा द्वारा पेशा और समय भी बचाया है ” I

वागधारा संस्था इस क्षेत्र पिछले 20 वर्ष से इन जनजातिय लोगों को ,मेडबंदी ,तालाब निर्माण,सच्ची खेती के तहत जैविक खेती प्रणाली अपनाने, सरकारी योजनाएं लाभान्वित करने हेतु, और पंचायत में अपने अधिकार एवं भागीदारी ,सामुदायिक विकास आदि के बारे में प्रशिक्षण देते आ रहे हैं ।

कृषि एवं आदिवासी स्वराज संगठन के पदाधिकारी देवी लाल निनामा हमें बताते हैं, “हमारे गांवों में भील जनजाति रहती है। यह पहाड़ी, अर्ध-शुष्क जलवायु वाली मानसून की अनिश्चितता से जूझता इलाका है। यहां आमतौर पर औसत वार्षिक वर्षा 900 मिली लीटर के आसपास होती है। वहीं अधिकतम तापमान 45 डिग्री सेल्सियस तो न्यूनतम सात डिग्री सेल्सियस के आसपास होता है । यहां लाल, काली, पथरीली, दोमट मिट्टी पाई जाती है । यहां रहने वाली जनजाति यहां की जैव-विविधता पर निर्भर है । इसलिए ये जनजाति अपनी पुरातन परंपराओं और कुदरती ज्ञान को अपने अंदर समेटे हुए है । इसके चलते जंगल भी बचे हुए हैं और जनजाति समुदाय भी अपना अस्तित्व बनाए हुए है ।”

मियासा गाँव के युवा केशव निनामा मजदूरी के लिए गुजरात जाते हैं । केशव और उनके पिता के पास बिना सिंचाई वाली तीन बीघा जमीन है जिससे वे केवल बारिश में बोई जाने वाली मक्का और तुवर उगा पाते हैं । मक्का सिर्फ घर में खाने में काम आता है । उसे वे मंडी में नहीं बेच पाते और फसल से मुनाफा नहीं हो पाता । घर में नगदी की हमेशा तंगी रहती है । इसलिए आधे परिवार को मजदूरी के लिए दूसरे प्रदेशों में जाना पड़ता था, क्यों की खेती करने के लिए मजदूर नहीं मिलते थे और खर्चा भी बहुत होता था पर अब खेती में फसल बुवाई और कटाई हलमा द्वारा करने से मैं बाहर पलायन नही जा रहा हु । हमें अभी गांव में और एक दूसरे की मदद करके अपनी की जरूरत का हल निकाल लिया है और हम हलमा के जरिये सामुदायिक भागीदारी अपनी विकास की राह से बनाएंगे।”

Migrant Labour to Swaraj Mitra

July 12, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

Name: Mithalal Lalji Grasia
Village: Hadmat
Taluka/district: Gangadtalai, Banswara

Every year during summer, Mithalal used to migrate to Surat for 4-5 months to work as construction labour. When Vaagdhara started work in Hadmat village in 2018, Mithalal’s wife, Geeta Devi decided to join the village’s Saksham Samuh as a member. As luck would have it, soon, Mithalal was selected as a Swaraj Mitra to provide training to the Saksham Samuh members on SIFS practices. The couple was not aware at the time of how transformational these events will be for their lives.

Before long, they had converted 2 bighas of their 5-bigha land into organic, replacing costly agrochemicals with bio-inputs which they prepared at home. By their own estimate, they were able to save Rs. 4,800/- in one year by switching to bio-inputs. A greater understanding of sustainable agriculture practices provided other benefits as well – Mithalal and Geeta Devi took to inter-cropping of pigeon pea with maize, their traditional food crop. They even set up a small nutrition garden, taking vegetables such as brinjal, ladyfinger, cauliflower, onion, spinach, fenugreek, tomato and cluster beans.

This not only helped them save upto Rs. 200/- per week that they were spending on buying vegetables from the market, but also provided a surplus which they could sell in the weekly haat bazaar and earn additional income. But what was perhaps most significant was how the nutrition garden helped improve the family’s diet diversity and ensured a supply of vegetables grown without any chemicals, thereby contributing to their health and well-being.

Facilitating Gram Chaupal meetings also helped Mithalal influence the village panchayat to get a bund constructed on his farmland, as a result of which he is now able to cultivate all of his 5 bighas of land. He has not migrated since 2018 – he does not need to, busy as he is with his job and motivating other youth of the village to stay back and give agriculture, another chance. His next task now is to convert his remaining 3 bighas of land into organic.

सच्चे बचपन की मुस्कान, बालश्रम पर पूर्ण विराम

July 12, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

बालश्रम निषेध दिवस हर वर्ष विश्वभर में मनाया जाता है| इसका मुख्य उद्देश्य बच्चों में बालश्रम के प्रति सजगता बढ़ाना है और समाज का उनके प्रति सकारात्मक दृष्टिकोण में जागरूकता लाना है। इस संदेश को पहुंचाने के लिए विभिन्न कार्यक्रमों, गतिविधियों और जागरूकता अभियानों का आयोजन किया जाता है ।

हमारे आदिवासी क्षेत्र के बच्चों में अपने अधिकारों को लेकर जागरूकता की कमी होती है, जिसके कारण वे बालश्रम जैसी समस्या एवं उससे उत्पन कुप्रभावओ को समझने से वंचित रह जाते है | बच्चों के अधिकार एवं उनकी सुरक्षा मानवीय समाज के लिए अनिवार्य है | आदिवासी समुदाय के बच्चों के लिए सुरक्षित वातावरण तैयार करना एवं उनकी शिक्षा, स्वास्थ्य एवं पोषण की देखभाल करना अनिवार्य है।

इसी कड़ी में वाग्धारा संस्था प्रत्येक वर्ष अपने कार्यक्षेत्र में बालश्रम निषेध दिवस के अवसर पर इस महत्वपूर्ण विषय पर सामाजिक संवाद को बढ़ावा देते हुए समुदाय और विभिन्न हितधारकों को बच्चों के समान अधिकारों के प्रति जागरूकता के लिए प्रेरित करते हैं ताकि आदिवासी समुदाय के कई बच्चे जो अपने अधिकारों से वंचित एवं कई प्रकार की समस्याओं से पीड़ित होते है जैसे : शिक्षा में असमानता, बचपन में श्रमिकता, बाल विवाह कुप्रथा और बाल श्रम का सामना करना पड़ रहा है ,उक्त समस्याओं से निपटने एवं बाल अधिकारों को सुनिश्चित करने व गाँवो में बाल मित्र वातावरण निर्माण करने में महत्त्वपूर्ण भूमिका निभाते है।

इस वर्ष के विषय “आइए अपनी प्रतिबद्धताओ पर कार्य करे: बालश्रम को समाप्त करे” को ध्यान में रखते हुए, वाग्धारा संस्था द्वारा राजस्थान,मध्यप्रदेश एवं गुजरात राज्य के 1168 गाँवो में बालश्रम निषेध दिवस का आयोजन किया गया, जिसमें विभिन्न प्रकार की बाल संवेदी गतिविधियाँ संचालित की गयी I जिसमें बाल स्वराज समूह सदस्य, ग्राम स्वराज समूह सदस्य, सक्षम समूह सदस्य, कृषि एवं आदिवासी स्वराज संगठन सदस्य, अभिभावक एवं अन्य हितधारकों सहित लगभग 80 हजार से ज्यादा लोगों ने सहभागिता निभाई I कार्यक्रम के दौरान बच्चों द्वारा बालश्रम करवाए जाने से उनके शारीरिक, मानसिक दुष्परिणामो एवं अधिकारो पर बच्चों को जागरूक किया गया, स्थानीय स्तर पर बालश्रम, पोषण एवं स्वास्थ्य जैसी समस्याओ को सामुदायिक प्रयासों से कैसे हल किया जा सकता है, इसके बारे में ग्राम स्वराज समूह के सदस्यों ने बताया की बच्चों के अधिकारों की रक्षा करना हमारा कर्तव्य है, हमें ऐसी समस्याओ के समाधान के लिए समुदाय स्तर पर जागरूकता एवं निर्णय लेना होगा ताकि बच्चों का बचपन सुरक्षित हो सके | इसके साथ बच्चों के स्वास्थ्य एवं पोषण के लिए घर घर पोषण बाड़ी लगाई जाये, ताकि बच्चों को पोष्टिक फल और सब्जियां मिल सके, जिससे बच्चो के स्वास्थ्य व् पोषण को बेहतर बनाया जा सकता है | इसके साथ ही परिवार की बच्चों के प्रति जिम्मेदारियों एवं आंगनबाड़ी स्तर पर बच्चों के विकास से संबधित गतिविधियों से अभिभावकों को अवगत करवाया गया ताकि घर पर भी बच्चों के विकास पर ध्यान दिया जा सके | इसके साथ घर परिवार में बच्चों की भागीदारी का ध्यान रखे ताकि शुरू से ही उनको एक मंच प्रदान हो जिससे वे अपने बोलने,आत्मविश्वास, खुल कर अपनी बात रखने जैसे कौशलो को ग्रहण कर पाए।

गाँव स्तर पर बालश्रम के विरोध एवं रोकथाम को लेकर जागरूकता रैलीयां भी निकाली गयी और बाल स्वराज समूह के बच्चों ने भी अनेक प्रकार की गतिविधियों में भागीदारी निभाई, जिसमे बालश्रम के दुष्परिणामो एवं रोकथाम पर नाटक प्रस्तुत किये, स्थानीय (वागड़) की कविताए, खेल, संगीत, सरकारी योजनाओ पर विस्तार पूर्वक संवाद किया गया | इसके साथ ही बैठक के दौरान बच्चों द्वारा ग्राम स्तर एवं स्कूल स्तर की समस्याओ को लेकर आपस में और ग्राम स्वराज समूह एवं सक्षम समूह के सदस्यों के साथ संवाद किया | जिसमें मुख्यतः निकल कर आया की समुदाय में कुछ परिवार बालश्रम में लिप्त है जिससे बच्चों की पढाई एवं विकास वाधित हो रहा है | इसके साथ स्कूल स्तर पर बालक बालिकाओ के लिए पृथक-पृथक शौचालय नही होना, जहाँ शौचालय है वे उपयोग लायक नही है एवं शौचालय में पानी की व्यवस्था नही होने के कारण सफाई नही होना, जिसके कारण बड़ी उम्र की बालिकाओ की उपस्तिथि कम रहने एवं ड्रापआउट जैसे समस्या पनपने लगती है तथा ड्रॉपआउट के कारण बालश्रम जैसी समस्या पैदा होने लगती है एवं स्थानीय विद्यालयों में पर्याप्त शिक्षको का नही होना, जिसके कारण बच्चे प्राइवेट विद्यालयों की तरफ रूख करने लगते है | खेल मैदान का नही होना एवं खेल मैदान जहाँ है वहां पर चार दिवारी का नही होना, स्कूल में शुद्ध पेयजल की व्यवस्था नही होना, पीने के पानी में अत्यधिक फ्लोराइड की मात्रा पाई जाती है, जिसके कारण अनेक प्रकार की बीमारियाँ होती है | इन सभी विषयों पर गहनता के बाद बाल विवाह, बाल श्रम जैसी कुप्रथाओ को रोकने के लिए ग्राम स्वराज समूह एवं बाल स्वराज समूह के सदस्यों ने शपथ ली, ताकि ग्राम स्तर पर बाल मित्र वातावरण निर्माण की पहल की जा सके | इन सभी मुद्दों पर चर्चा के बाद ग्राम स्वराज समूह एवं सक्षम समूह के सदस्यों के साथ मिलकर इन मुद्दों को लेकर एक आग्रह पत्र तैयार किया गया और आग्रह पत्र पर सभी से राय ली गई | जिसमे सभी मुद्दो का गाँव स्तर, पंचायत स्तर, पंचायत समिति एवं जिलास्तर के हिसाब से वर्गीकरण कर सूचि तैयार की गई | वर्गीकरण के बाद इन मुद्दों के समाधान के लिए प्रस्ताव तैयार किये गए | प्रस्ताव को लेकर ग्राम स्वराज समूह और कृषि एवं आदिवासी स्वराज संगठन के सदस्यों को जिम्मेदारी दी गई, ताकि जल्द इनका समाधान किया जा सके|

Halma: Tribal communities solving their problems through community participation

July 12, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

Miyasa village is situated in the hilly region of Ghatol block in Banswara district, lying on the Aravalli Plateau. The area is known for frequent droughts and labor migration, but many problems contribute to the crisis that the local Bhil tribal community is facing. Being faced with adversity, some tribals have started turning to the traditional practice of Halma (community collective action), with the help of which they are planting castor, khakhra, and Timaru on community land and sowing and harvesting crops all throughout the village.

For the tribal communities of Banswara district, low agricultural yields and water shortages are the main issues. The two are linked as, beyond the most acute concern for drinking water, a water shortage also leaves less water available to irrigate crops outside of the rainy season. Thus, many farmers are limited to one crop per year- during the monsoon. Because this does not cover their needs for food, let alone income, many are pushed into a vicious cycle of labor migration, exploitation, and hunger.

But these days in Miyasa village, the tribal population has saved lakhs of rupees by sowing and fencing their fields with the help of the community. This village of Bhil tribals may have found a solution to the problems they were facing in farming and other aspects of life.

Mrs. Amri Devi Ninama, a member of the Gram Swaraj Sangathan formed by Vaagdhara, tells us about Halma: “Halma is an ancient tradition of our Bhil community. When a person is trapped in a crisis in the village and even after applying all his strength, he cannot get out of that crisis, then he invokes Halma. The people of the village get that person out of trouble by fulfilling their social responsibility of participating in Halma.”

Mrs. Jamana Ninama, a member, recounts: “We had called Halma to deal with the crisis of non-availability of field workers in the village. With this Halma, under community participation, about 15 farmers sowed their fields with each other’s help and without spending a single penny. Around 25 people helped on each farmer’s field. Accordingly, we can say that over 300 people did HALMA in each other’s fields, saving a lot of time and money for the farmers.

For the last 20 years, Vaagdhara has been giving training to the tribal people in this area, including on constructing dams and ponds, the adoption of organic farming systems under true farming, benefiting from government schemes, their rights and participation in Panchayat-level politics, community development, and much more.

Devi Lal Ninama, a member of the Krishi Evam Adivasi Swaraj Sangathan, tells us, “The Bhil tribe lives in these villages. It is a hilly, semi-arid area prone to intense rainfall during the monsoon. The average annual rainfall here is usually around 900 milliliters, while the temperatures range from a maximum of 45 degrees Celsius to a minimum of 7 degrees throughout the year. Red, black, stony, loamy soil is mostly found here. The tribes living here depend on the biodiversity here. That’s why these tribes keep their ancient traditions and natural knowledge within themselves. Due to this, the forests are also preserved, and the tribal communities are maintaining their existence.

Keshav Ninama, a youth of Miyasa village, frequently migrates to Gujarat for wages. Keshav and his father have three bighas of land without access to irrigation, from which they grow only rain-fed maize and tuvar. Maize is useful only for eating at home. They are not able to sell it in the market and there is no profit from the crop. Cash is always tight at home. That’s why half of the family had to start migrating to other states for wages because laborers were not available to do farming and our on-farm expenditure was also very high. But now, he stopped migrating outside thanks to the help he got with sowing and harvesting the crops after invoking Halma. We have now solved our own needs in the village by helping each other and we will make community participation through Halma our way of development.”

This is how Women of Bhima Ka Kheda village zeroed market dependency

July 11, 2024 | By Vaagdhara

There is a famous saying by Roy T. Bennett “Dedicate yourself to what gives your life true meaning and purpose; make a positive difference in someone’s life.”, these lines correlate with 20 women residing in Bhima Ka Kheda in Ghatol Tehsil, Banswara. These women have not only changed their lives but also connected with other women of their village to change their lives as well.

Most of these women have been practicing farming for ages, but little did they know the nuances of farming that would improve resources and livelihood at the same time, it was after connecting with a programme named SIFS (Sustainable Integrated Farming System) implemented by Vaagdhara with the support of KKS Germany, that they have started practicing integrated farming that helped enhance their income and improve their livelihood.

One of the women farmers of ‘Saksham Samuh’, Paru Devi proudly says, “I was so ignorant earlier that when someone approached me and asked me regarding farming and livelihood, I would keep mum but now after sufficient training and capacity building through SIFS programme, I have managed to learn a lot of things which has boosted my confidence. I am associated with this programme since 2009, every month a group of 20 women meets to discuss and share new techniques and resources.” She adds, under the SIFS programme timely training and capacity building are done that helps improve food security and enhance income.

Giving an example of enhanced livelihood, Devi shared after acquiring knowledge of animal husbandry, she decided to get goats of the Sirohi breed, and currently, she has five of them, and she is getting 10 liters of milk daily, this is enough to fulfill her family needs and her dependency on market has zeroed down. Besides, she shared that she is a proud owner of a nutrition garden, which she developed by the 10-12 varieties of seeds provided by Banswara-based Vaagdhara civil society. After nurturing and taking care of the soil and seeds, now she has grown vegetables of her choice, and at least five varieties of fruits such as papaya, mulberry, mango, guava, and lemon, again she has managed to zero the dependency on the market, making her family self reliant.

So, Devi’s story is the biggest example of how SIFS techniques have started helping families to ensure their nutrition needs and at the same time reduce their dependence on the market.

A Family and Girl Child Fight With the Malnutrition

July 11, 2024 | By Vaagdhara