Thoughts on the rural visit

Village kids watching our 6 SUV caravan drive by

September 9th 2010

A village house

Visiting the rural Jawhar, municipal area in Thane district in Maharashtra, may have been the most enlightening thing I’ve done in India thus far. In terms of career development and academic, it was a development nerd’s dream. After a bumbling 7 hour drive through that took us through the pothole ridden Indian highways, outskirts of Mumbai slums, and finally, through the GREEN mountains of the Western gats, we arrived thoroughly stuffed of Indian sweets and peanut butter and banana sandwiches. But as is the custom in India, it was 8:30 PM, meaning dinnertime! After an incredible meal prepared by a local women’s cooperative self-help group, I was a little upset we were forced to start the film Gandhi at 9:45 PM.  It was a required film for my Political Economy and Development class, which has speculated on what the Gandhian approach to developing modern India would look like. The feasibility of self-sufficient and home-grown villages for modern India may be doubtful, but through our visit to Jawhar, we got to look at how a local NGO is approaching development with both modern and traditional methods, in a way I found extremely inclusive in utilizing the skills of local people. We stayed with MITTA, Maharashtra Institute of Technology Transfer to Rural Areas, an organizational subsidiary of BAIF(Bharatiya Agro Industries Foundation) trusted disciple of Gandhi, Manibhai Desai, founded BAIF in 1967, initially by using artificial insemination in cows to increase local milk production.

Their mission reads:  to create opportunities of gainful self-employment for the rural families, especially disadvantaged sections, ensuring sustainable livelihood, enriched environment, improved quality of life and good human values. This is being achieved through development research, effective use of local resources, extension of appropriate technologies and upgradation of skills and capabilities with community participation.

How awesome does that sound, right? But they’ve actually achieved A LOT since 1967. BIAF proven its credibility, now receiving most of its funding from big companies like TATA and the government. BIAF has programs in more than 47,000 villages in the following states: Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttaranchal, Bihar, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Orissa and Jharkhand.

One of my favorite quotations from the weekend was: “Tribal people of the rural population are the real scientists”. The MITTRA representatives kept reiterating that not all technologies are necessary or even possible to bring in to the rural communities. They were vehemently against the use of GM seeds and instead emphasize a participatory choosing of seeds by the farmers themselves. They also brought up the importance of being autonomous from MNCs that control the distribution of GM seeds. Technical support is more what MITTRA aims to offer. They have introduced 15 varities of grain to diversify crops and also created community seed banks.

We stayed at the training center where they have sample crops and techniques to train local farmers in watershed development, floriculture, medicinal herb cultivation, weed extraction, biocomposting, and other kinds of sustainable technology. I was impressed to learn about BIAF’s other programs including community health initiatives, women’s empowerment self-help groups (SHG), and Shikshan MITTRA, a network of 16 ashram (residential) schools where the students learn how to create kitchen gardens, deworming, biodynamic compost and other kinds of agricultural training. They even work with landless laborers and start by giving them one acre and proper training to eventually own their own land.

showing off his worms

One farmer we met with started with his one acre and decided he wanted to grow cash crops like mango and cashews. Always pushing for sustainability, MITTRA encouraged him to continue with rice growing during monsoon season. He also grew jasmine, which yields over 10,000 Rs a kilo. Eventually, this farmer bought 5 more acres and now hires outside labor to tend to his crops. He does the main overseeing while his brother sells the produce in Mumbai markets.—hey division of labor! Women participate, especially in irrigating the saplings. He was beaming when he told us he made enough money to buy a motorcycle and to send his son to a good school.

However, I have to wonder about the future for this farmer. If his son decides to join the trend and migrate to urban jobs in the city, what will become of the farm? I asked the farmer through a translator what he thought, and he replied that if his son does not want to continue this farming way of life, he will hire more outside labor to sustain his business. Many Indians I’ve talked to have strong opinions about the future of this 70% agricultural society…government incentive programs exist, but the lure of the city seems to be draining youth interested in farming.

Me, Allegra, and Uttarrah with jasmine

My next post will continue commentary on the village visit and more BIAF-based projects. I am so excited to tell you about the community health center visit. EYEOPENING.