Training farmers to earn more The FMO-Hand in Hand project begun in 2008 has made a lot of progress. FMO is a Dutch development bank co-owned by the Dutch government and various banks, and through this exciting project it supports a training programme for farmers to improve skills and incomes. Overall, 4,000 dairy farmers and 4,000 fruit and vegetable cultivators will be helped to increase yields, develop more consumer-friendly products, and bypass middlemen to sell directly to the markets. Click here to read more » Linking natural resources to livelihood creation Hand in Hand is increasingly looking to see how concepts like natural resource management, which includes watershed management and organic farming can improve livelihoods in rural areas, where farming and animal husbandry are the primary occupations. Click here to read more » A stitch in time From a struggling housewife to a successful businesswoman who earns up to INR 15,000 a month and employs 10 other women in her tailoring unit, Gomathi's story is an inspiring one. There are thousands of suchstories to be found among the more than 445,000 women that Hand in Hand has mobilised into self-help groups so far. These are the women who prove that a little help can go a long way. Click here to read more » News in brief 50 VUP villages We now run over 50 Village Upliftment Programmes, where donors adopt one or more villages for integrated development.   New school in Vellore We launched our second residential bridge school in Vellore, an area where child labour in cigarette factories is common.   1,000 SHGs in Karnataka We now have over 1,000 self-help groups in Karnataka, and more than 30,000 SHGs overall.   Radiohjälpen’s grant Sweden’s Radiohjälpen has granted SEK 450,000 for a children’s project, making us their biggest beneficiary in Asia.   Environment Policy On World Environment Day, we adopted a policy to reduce, recycle and reuse material in all our offices. Click Now...     ...training farmers to earn more This innovative agrarian micro-entrepreneur training programme was launched in July 2008. Costing $1.4 million, it will run over two years in four districts of Tamil Nadu. The aim is not only to train these farmers but to also help them grow as entrepreneurs. They are taught about insurance against natural disasters, about markets for new products, about food processing to add value to their produce. Some farmers are selected for additional training that prepares them for microcredit, so that they can invest in business expansion. The FMO project is divided into three phases, each with 2,880 farmers and five training modules. Phase I is now complete and the fourth module for Phase II is running. By October, 5,760 farmers would have completed training, with about 800 farmers having received advanced entrepreneurial training. For vegetable farmers, training modules include soil testing, irrigation, seed quality, cultivation and harvesting methods, plus post-harvest techniques like food processing. Farmers are taught to convert excess crops into pickles or jams to increase sales. For dairy farmers, training includes selection of animal and breed, fodder management, health and veterinary practices, and clean milk production and processing techniques. The expectation from such training programmes runs high, and when results are seen in increased product prices or better markets, nobody is happier than Hand in Hand. Back to Top ˆ ..linking natural resources to livelihood creation As part of its integrated approach to development and enterprise creation, Hand in Hand has a strong environment programme. Under this, it takes on basic environmental reform such as solid waste management, awareness programmes, etc. In addition, Hand in Hand is increasingly looking to see how concepts like natural resource management, which includes watershed management and organic farming can improve livelihoods in rural areas, where farming and animal husbandry are the primary occupations. Our ongoing experiment with watershed management is exciting and deeply educative. In partnership with Nabard (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, India's apex development bank) , we started a 1,100-hectare watershed programme in the Arapedu watershed (in Kancheepuram district, Tamil Nadu) in 2006-07. Nabard sanctioned INR 5.2 million over five years for the project. The first phase has been completed successfully, and the second phase is in progress. Already, the effects are visible. In a recent study covering 100 of the 1,100 hectares under the project, significant improvements in well water levels and agriculture were observed. Nearly 15 hectares of barren land have been brought under cultivation and 27 hectares of arable land have moved from single to double cropping. "But there are many milestones yet to be achieved" says Amuta Sekaran, Project Director-Environment, Hand in Hand. In simple terms, a watershed is a geo-hydrological unit in which all water drains to a common point through a network of natural drainage lines or inland water bodies. Typical activities include field bunding, planting trees, de-silting ponds and tanks, clearing drainage channels and other such cost-efficient drought-proofing mechanisms. All these improve ground water levels, increase rainfall, improve fertility and thus sustain agricultural production in the long run. Watershed management is often seen as a framework to link resources, people and economic growth. It ensures collective action and equitable natural resource access and governance, and addresses livelihood problems. In India, where rain-fed areas constitute nearly 68 percent of the net arable land, watershed management is vital to improve productivity. In the meanwhile, given the paucity of large-scale funding, Hand in Hand has revised its strategy slightly. We now work on less fund-intensive, nano watersheds or Natural Resource Management (NRM) projects. Till now, we have identified 10 nano watersheds and work has begun in six. In time, as Sekar says, Hand in Hand can emerge as a pioneer in watershed development, especially in the use of technology, forward and backward linkages, and community participation. Back to Top ˆ ..a stitch in time Forty-year-old Gomathi was like any other housewife in her village until a couple of years ago. Her husband earned about INR 3,000 a month as a contract labourer. It was difficult to manage the family of five on that amount. Then, Gomathi met Hand in Hand coordinator Manjula two years ago, who introduced her into a self-help group. Gomathi found that life could be better, that if she was willing to work hard, there were people in this institution to support her. Hand in Hand trainers helped her not only with basic SHG training but with an extensive EDP training module. This and her obious talent in tailoring enabled her to apply and get an INR 140,000 loan, which enabled her to set up her own tailoring unit. Today, she employs 10 women at a salary of INR 3,000 a month. Her unit supplies finished goods to a top textile showroom in Chennai, the nearest big city. Gomathi herself makes between INR 10,000 and 15,000 a month. Happy that her business is doing so well, she has already managed to pay back INR 85,000 of her loan. Running the household is no longer a strain and she does not fear that her children may have to drop out of school. Once she has repaid the entire loan, Gomathi plans to go in for another loan so that she can double the present capacity of her unit. This can mean jobs to 20 more women in her village. Back to Top ˆ