Fresh crispy cabbage, a bunch of green lettuce, vibrant red juicy tomatoes, perky orange carrots, a tangy sprig of green coriander, and many such locally grown vegetables are sold in the local market sourced from Dharmapur village in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh. So, if you want to witness nature’s bounty, you have to be early to visit the local market where farmers come to sell their surplus.

Several programmes have started with the aim of helping people gain income by producing more but the real success came by selling the surplus makes it worthwhile.

Caritas India FARM NE programme has empowered the smallholder farmers to produce more to secure not only their food but also sell the surplus to gain profit.

Niti Babu Chakma, a smallholder farmer from Dharmapur village earns Rs. 80,000 to Rs. 90,000 annually from his small patch of backyard garden. He practices seasonal multi-cropping and grows tomatoes, eggplants, squash, pumpkin, gourds, beans, cucumber, carrot, lettuce, mustard, cabbage, cauliflower, coriander, chilies, etc. and also fruits like Pineapple, Banana, passion fruit, etc.

Seva Kendra Arunachal East (SKAE), a Caritas India partner under the FARM NE has promoted small farmers to use sustainable agriculture practices to earn more income. The organisation has conducted several training programmes based on livelihood generation like promotion of nutritious backyard garden at family and school level, demonstration and promotion of seasonal and multi-cropping, knowledge and awareness building of community on food sovereignty. The team has also convinced the farmers that the new practice will increase their income and enhance their security.

Niti has adopted all the learning in his backyard which helped him to reduce the input cost in indigenous and organic farming. Now, most of the vegetables are grown in his backyard which has saved his expenditure on buying vegetables. The surplus fresh vegetables are sold in a local market to get additional income. This practice has not only ensured food security for the family but also enhanced nutritional security by increasing their food basket from 5 items to 9 items.

“In the crucial times when income is limited, I was looking for ways to cut expenses. The learnings from the training have helped me to expand my backyard garden with multiple crops at the same time.  It has helped me a lot, growing a garden and reducing the amount spent on groceries,” says Niti

Niti’s encouraging story engulfed the families in his own village as well as the neighbouring villages. Most of the low-income farming families in his village who were struggling to meet ends have adopted backyard gardens to produce their own food and that too organically.

Niti’s success model has been adopted by 20 other farming families. “It was Niti’s hard work in his 0.4 acre of land that inspired us to emulate him and put into practice such kind work that brings food security in the family”, said Mr. Biren Chakma, the Secretary of Group from the village community.

Niti is on a mission to empower himself and extend helping hands to his fellow community members by showing them the way. “I always try to motivate my people & want them to grow as well”, says Niti.