Building sustainable and community-led grassroots-level movements is one of the main components of Caritas India’s effort to improve food and nutrition security and end hunger. Individual farmers don’t find the desired results or lose the economic opportunities but as a collective, the achievements are far greater than expected. 

Caritas India has strengthened and capacitated the appropriate Community-Based Organisations (CBOs) to functionalise collective actions to address educational backwardness, agriculture backwardness, nutrition distress and irresponsive public health and nutrition systems. “Sanjivani” followed the people-led empowerment approach in transforming the Scheduled Tribe dominated communities of 23 villages in Ahmedabad, Baroda, Gandhinagar and Rajkot districts of Gujarat. 

The programme has truly become ‘Sanjivani’ (Hindi word denoting a medical boon that serves the life reviving function) for the people of Dediapada block of Narmada district in Gujarat. All eight villages are situated at the barren foothills of the remotest rural area. Due to the rainfed area, agriculture suffers a great deal forcing people to opt for daily labour to sustain their livelihood. Poverty, inadequate infrastructure, limited health care facilities and a low level of education gives birth the malnutrition especially among pregnant women, lactating mothers and young children.

Sanjivani has capacitated the project participants to develop and manage the nutrition kitchen gardens which is now providing them fresh vegetables for more than five to six months during the year. The project participants have directly established linkages with Government line departments such as Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Horticulture department and ICDS to avail their services and guidance. These departments also helped the impoverished people by training them on sustainable agriculture practices, Animal husbandry and horticulture to earn their livelihood.

KVK has selected 221 lead farmers, the majority of them women from the Sanjivani programme to give food crops and vegetable seeds worth Rs. 3,46,920/- for experimental basis. These seeds include-Gram, Paddy, Jowar, Green Gram and other types of pulses. These selected farmers have also been given Mango sapling of different varieties to include fruit plant in their land.

These selected farmers are frequently invited by KVK on different occasions like Farmers Day, Farmers Technology week, Organic farmers day celebration, KVK evaluation workshop, Mamta Day and Immunization day to share their knowledge and learning with other farming communities from the areas. These selected farmers have adopted organic farming and promoting native crop verities to improve the soil health and ecosystem. These farmers have also planted a good number of trees that have high nutritional value.

This year during the women farmers day celebration organized by KVK Dediapada, approximately 160 potential women farmers from different villages participated. Ramesh Bhai Vasava, the Animator of the Sanjivani programme was invited to share the programme’s community-led approach. Communities have taken charge of their situation and have learnt to tap resources from Government line departments.

Women participants were thrilled to hear the success stories. They pledged that “we would also approach KVK for training programme and start doing organic farming in our respective villages”.