“When it does not rain enough, we have no food at home,”

said Prabha Devi, the chair of an Self-Help Group (SHG) we started in a remote rural location of Jharkhand.

The region had taken a massive hit during the second COVID-19 wave. A considerable number of women and their families in the rural areas took a massive hit because their livelihoods depended mostly on selling agricultural products and NTFP (Non-Timber Forest Produce) in different towns and cities. The men in the family lost their labour jobs. Families were heavily dependent on government schemes for rations and financial assistance.

During this time, we initiated a long-term support plan, especially for women entrepreneurs and farmers, wherein we gave seeds and raw materials to those who did not have the resources to buy them. We also promoted poultry farming, goat rearing, and lac cultivation as alternate sources of income.

As part of the programme, since Jharkhand is widely known for its lac production, we supported 12 SHG women to create a nursery of Semialata saplings, the host plant for lac cultivation. The 1300 sq feet nursery has 30000 saplings of Semialata. This species of tree was selected as it grows only up to a certain height that is easy to reach during harvest, hence taking a gender-neutral approach to the activity. After nurturing these saplings in the nursery for about 2 months, they will be distributed to the SHG women. The plants take a year to grow before they can host Lac.

This initiative will generate income in the long run for the 12 women and their families. Looking at their progress, we hope to inspire other members of the community too.

Highlighting how our interventions have helped her grow her income, Prabha Devi added, “My family was involved in lac production for decades. Yet, after attending Udyogini’s training sessions, I gained the technical knowledge on scientific cultivation to increase the harvest and, in turn, increase the profit”, says Prabha Devi.