WOMEN EMPOWERNMENT

Ajeevika Craft Centres (ACC) is End Poverty’s women’s livelihood project initiated in 2010 and is being implemented in Tijara block of Alwar district of Rajasthan, India .

Ajeevika Craft Center (ACC) creates alternate income opportunity for the poor and needy women who otherwise depend on farm income for their livelihood. Ajeevika Craft centres   set up at village level are  fully equipped with motorized machines, support kit and necessary furniture / fixture to train the rural women of Tijara Block to produce marketable products. 

The focus of the program is up-skilling and training beneficiaries in improving their cutting & stitching skill, product finishing skills, accessory production etc.Centre facilitators are trained to streamline operations of ACCs, product design & development.

Dedicated project team looks after product management, logistics, reduced rejection, quality improvement and minimization of losses. Top notch brands in textile and garments industry like STYLEM, UL Quality Assurance, and LEVIS donates raw materials to EP  for training as well as making products.

Products like different types of bags , pouches, cushion cover table runners, quilt etc. are being made by these women and marketed to earn extra income. Payment is made directly to the woman beneficiary on monthly basis. End Poverty has been selected  in 2017  to participate in a workshop organized by the Harvard South Asia Institute and TATA Trust on Rural Craft based Livelihoods and Capacity Building– Social Innovative Fund Program in Ahmedabad. Products got displayed at Dastkar Jaipur, Goa, Gurgaon, portals like Jabong.com under their social responsibility initiative

Pls vist Tijara craft wedsite : https://tijaracraft.com/   for handicraft products made by the women of Tijara .

Products include Home decor ,handmade bags , accessories, handmade stationary etc .

 

Achievements and future plans  :

ACC program has trained 320 women in stitching and tailoring and supported them to generate an additional income from the activity.

EP plans to organize and train 500 women and aggregate them under Producer company with a purpose to develop a viable vibrant organization of women which  helps women in generating  a regular stream of income around the year .

Story of  Papita sahayika of Nakhnaul Ajivika Craft Centre:

She says : “We are a farmers family but we own only 1 bigha of land which is not sufficient to take care of our family’s needs. We often engage as agricultural labour to sustain our family which is not available round the year. We are always in need of new sources of income. End Poverty provided us with the opportunity to earn. It trained us and provided us the equipment to run a stitching centre for 8-10 women artisans in our hamlet in village Nakhnaul. We have received and converted many work-orders. Now I use my extra time in stitching various orders which we receive with the help of End Poverty. I enjoy doing this work as this gives me extra income and opportunity to use my free time.”

 

SUSTAINABLE FARMING : 

The focus of the sustainable farming is to support farmers in farm productivity enhancement through scientific farming, farmers training, agriculture value chain development etc.

END POVERTY  is promoting horticulture farming under the brand name  "Plant a Tree for Life"   to improve the income of small farmers in a sustainable manner. Program  is implemented in Tijara block of Alwar district of Rajasthan, India . The horticulture farming is the best solution towards sustainable farming as it consumes less water, give more returns, need less labour, improve local environment and family nutrition.

680  farmers from Alwar district  of Rajasthan have been mobilized and supported in horticulture farming   such as  pit digging , tree plantation , bio pest control etc .

Farmers are supported in  all aspects of horticulture farming as per their requirement .Exposure visit to KVKs, Agriculture Summit, IARI, Trade Fair, Model Agri farm etc. are held regularly to showcase best practices, new technologies in agriculture in horticulture sector.

Achievements and furure plans :

EP has planted around 35350 fruit trees (like Guava, lemon, sweet lime, kinoo, goose berry, pomegranate, papaya, ber ) covering 680 farmers from 60 villages.

•              EP plans to reach a target of 1 lacs sapling in next 5 years .

•              End Poverty plans to form a Fruits and Vegetable Producer Company to support small and marginal famers in Tijara by  2019 with a purpose to enhance farm productivity , efficient value chain development and providing market linkage thus eliminating the petty traders who often exploit the farmers .

STORY of  Mr Jafrudeen, Horticuture Farmer              

Jafrudeen is a farmer from Shakhan ki dhani in Dholi Pahadi village of Tijara who has been associated with End Poverty since 2012.

He says :“I am very happy with the horticulture program since it needs less labour and expenditure and gives me more income because it helps me saves money. I have sold fruits worth Rs. 10,000 in 2016 and worth Rs 73500 in 2018. I sell the fruits in Gailpur, Tijara and Tapokara market which are nearby. Recently, I bought a new Motorcycle from horticulture income which will improve my mobility to explore new market for better price of my produce. I am so happy with the horticulture farming and want other to follow. I motivated 4 of my cousins to join the program. I want guidance and support to increase the shelf life of the fruits and sell the produce at better prices.”

DAIRY DEVELOPMENT :

Dairy farming is an extremely important economic activity  .But the dairy value chain is infested with petty middle men in absence of many organized player to procure the surplus milk, and farmers are exploited at every stage. Income from dairy farming is extremely important to sustain the family as land holding in the area is small and income from agriculture is not enough to feed the family.

EP has covered 5000 farmers from Alwar and Jaipur district of Rajasthan . EP is supporting the farmers  in  by providing training on modern dairy farming practices, and getting the best genetics to improve their animal breed and guide them about the balanced nutrition. 

Achievements and future plans :

- Over 5000 farmers from Japiur and Alwar  district of   Rajasthan  are covered under this program and supported through supply of high quality genetic material for breed improvement, animal nutrition and health services by committed team of Vetrinary doctors, AI technicians and trained pashu shakhi.

-High quality cattle feed dissemination activity  launched in  May 2019.

-Health Advisory services are provided to  farmers .

-Trainings are conducted on  ’Feed Management and Milk Production’ , modern dairy farm etc.

-EP has mobilized 64 Pashu sakhi’s who are traineed as barefoot doctors at village level to provide basic services to farmers at door step.

YOUTH EMPLOYMENT :

The 100 day, residential Gurukul is a livelihood development initiative launched in 2015 with an emphasis on extensive experiential learning.

The Gurukul model  has been designed and developed by our knowledge partner, Nudge Life Skills Foundation (NLF) with whom we implement the program end-to-end, including content development/customization, training delivery and fundraising via institutionalgrants. The program focuses on poverty alleviation by building strong 360-degree life skills, learning and economic foundation for poor in residential "Gurukuls", along with placement assistance. Reached out to youth in Bihar , UP , Odisha, Chattisharh , Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh and launched three new initiaties – BPO , Retail and Electrical .

EP has successfully trained and placed over 4000 students with an average salary of Rs 12,000 per month.