Twenty vibrant women are doing fantastic transactions through their SHG at Mainsa, a village on the other side of Chilika Lake in Odisha. Most of the SHG’s engagements revolve around fishing, crab farming, shrimp farming, and leaf plate production. Two groups run garment stores and ration shops. One group has taken up livestock farming as an alternative livelihood option. Through this, they are marketing calves, milk, and manure (prepared from cow dung).

The geo-climatic conditions of Odisha make the entire State vulnerable to different disasters. The 480-kilometre coastline is frequently affected by cyclones. The State has faced one of the worst forms of disaster in the past, and the tragedy continues. People living near coastal areas are the most vulnerable to the impact of disasters. What makes the people of Odisha different is their resilience to disasters. No matter what, the people have proven time and again that they have the capacity to withstand any calamity.

Maa Kalija is one such woman in the SHG, running a leaf plate-making business. They buy leaves in bulk (one plate costs 0.75 rupees) and make new plates out of them. This process provides them with a profit of at least 45%. If 14 members contribute 1 hour a day, then they can prepare 1300–1500 plates and sell them for around 1.35 rupees per plate. They found it a woman-friendly task that does not take much time or require machinery. They share that it is one of the best economic activities that can be done at their own pace and in their own space. They believe that it is not impacted by any kind of weather change or disaster. Although they shared that during rainy seasons, the quality of leaves they receive is not good and fetches them less profit, The best part is that they do not have to worry about marketing; all the plates are consumed in the village itself during social gatherings and occasions. In 2022, they invested 20,000 rupees in green soft crab farming and successfully generated a profit of 50,000 rupees. Then investing around 40,000 rupees for the same helped them make a profit of 85,000 rupees. These invested amounts were loan amounts from Odisha Gram Bank (OGB), and through the support of the OGB Swarna Jayanti Scheme, they started a dry fish business recently.

Maa Mangala- B SHG started as an unorganised group in its initial days by depositing their monthly savings of 1,000 rupees into the individual bank account of one member. The Bank facilitated the formation of an SHG and supported the transaction in a systematic way. This group now owns a poultry farm in their village. They have set an example by generating a livelihood for a local person who stays on the poultry farm and looks after the chickens. They have also enabled the caretaker to vaccinate and deworm chicks.

Most of these groups have taken ponds on lease for fisheries, crab farming, and shrimp farming. With the help of the fishery department, the villagers have formed a society for the collection, storage, and marketing of all of it. All of it is sent to Balugaon Fish Godown through a dedicated boat of the society. They are using this channel and plugging themselves into the market chain to keep themselves safe from the ups and downs of the market.

Recently, Jagateswar SHG took a loan of 1,20,000 rupees from OGB and invested in infrastructural development for shrimp farming. In the first year itself, they successfully made 40,000 rupees as profit and distributed it among all the members. After gaining confidence, they took another loan of 3,00,000 rupees and invested in the same business.

These groups are not doing business in traditional ways but are bringing solutions to mitigate the issues and challenges. They have invested in a water pump to cater to the requirement of changing water in ponds. Also, they have not gone for low-cost Backyard poultry (BYP) models for poultry but established a proper poultry farm. Regularly, they are also conducting village cleanliness programmes and plantation drives collectively. One of the best things is that these women use hygienic practises when drying fish. They use nets and boxes for sun-drying fish. These dry fish are not just a livelihood but also something that can be useful during disasters for food.

The women shared that most of the money they make is utilised for their children’s education. Apart from that, they also spend money on the health and wellness of their family members. Some women have spent their earnings from this business on making pucca houses. They have invested some money in the making and repair of boats and nets. They have also shared that, due to the earnings from this business, they find it easy when they face challenges with their traditional livelihood. While boosting confidence in them, it is also providing financial security for tomorrow. In the disaster management team formed by AJSA under the Global Programme, 40% of the members are from these SHG groups. They are taking responsibility for early warning exercises and first aid during disasters.

When asked about disaster preparedness, these women seem to be well-equipped with the required knowledge. They have also prepared emergency kits for their family as a disaster preparedness action. With the help of earnings from these alternative livelihoods, they have arranged insurance for their families, and they are looking to insure their livestock.

These women’s SHGs have demonstrated outstanding examples by creating alternative livelihoods and generating livelihoods for others in the village. They are in a position to pay men to look after their activities. If you bring these women together, you can see them confronting each other about schemes and other things during the discussion. But it is interesting and good at the same time to learn that even after such high transactions of money through various businesses, they never had any clashes around money. Their confidence is surely going to take them to greater heights in the near future.

This cohesiveness again brings them closer to the disaster risk reduction programme, and their contribution to household preparedness is highly appreciated. They also engage in generating and maintaining greenery in their village by planting more trees to celebrate World Environment Day. Being an island village, the only women went to the Forest Department Office at Satapada and collected saplings and distributed them among themselves for plantation. 250 samplings were planted.

Lipsarani Jally, one of the SHG members, said, “Now even my husband respects me a lot and is happy about my active participation in village development work and supporting the house activities. Spend some of the profit money on modifying the roof of my house, as we are prone to cyclones. We developed confidence with the support of Anchalik Jana Seva Anusthan (AJSA) and Caritas India in risk reduction and household preparedness, which can provide us with some more support and training and guide us in building resilience among us. We are all confident that we can do much better work in risk reduction and disaster management than others. Our confidence is because of our struggle, training, and success.”