Independent earning through mushrooms

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Mrs. A. Shoba is a housewife in India, whose husband, Mr. Stephen, is a fish trader. It is a traditional fishing family. Any occupation other than marine related is alien to them. After the tsunami in 2004 the fishing industry collapsed and Mrs. Shoba decided to start her own business to increase the family income. She (and 32 other rural women) joined the skill development training imparted by Integrated Education and Development Society (IEDS) where she learned how to make her own living.

Mrs. Shoba was selected to participate in the programme on the basis of her membership in one of groups of the Integrated Education and Development Society at Arokiapuram. A IEDS is a member organisation of the Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW). Asked why she had opted for this training, she said that she had eaten mushroom curry in one of the hotels in Kanyakumari. She asked the hotel waiter from where the hotel management purchased the mushrooms and he said that they purchased it from the neighbouring state of Kerala. From then onwards she was trying to get an opportunity to learn the mushroom farming system so that she might be able to make her own earning without depending on her husband and to spend her time fruitfully. Further, she said that she was involved in various activities of her self help groups (local groups of women) and had opportunities to learn about the dangers involved in the extensive use of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. She wanted to produce some foodstuff without the use of hazardous chemicals and preservatives, so she joined the training.

First the participants of the project were taken for a visit to one of the mushroom farms at Government Agricultural College, Killikulam in Tuticorin district. Following the exposure, the trainer facilitated the participants to construct sheds in 9 strategic locations to ensure more practicability. Mrs. Shoba said that neither she nor her colleagues ever had witnessed such a training strategy. After training, she set up a production unit with a credit support of INR 5000/- from the project through her group. The World President of ACWW, Ms. Ursula Goh, also visited the unit during her monitoring visit in September 2009. It was quite encouraging, Mrs. Shoba said. She further added that she could get a credit facility of INR 5,000/- as working capital support through her group. First, she sold the harvested produce in her neighbourhoods and later IEDS was helping to market the product in hotels in Kanyakumari. 

After the tsunami in 2004, the fishing industry in this district started shrinking. Mrs. Shoba's husband, once a famous fish trader, could not continue his business as profitable as before. He then experimented many other businesses and failed to carry them out successfully due to lack of skill in activities other than marine related. Finally he gave up all other new ventures and switched over to his traditional business of fish trade in a small scale. Nevertheless, his income was so meagre that he could not earn enough to meet his family expenditure as plentifully as before. This situation has caused much worry in the mind of Mrs. Shoba. She then had the idea of starting a mushroom farming business to increase her family income. According to Mrs. Shoba, before implementation of the project funded by Agriterra, hotels in the tourist area of Kanyakumari  purchased the entire requirement of mushroom from Kerala. While transporting from Kerala, the product gets caught up in fragile eco system and it is a big challenge to get fresh mushroom. But now a portion of it is locally available.

Kerala is a federal state of the Indian Union. Any purchase from it involves payment of levy and transport. So, the hoteliers pay more for importing mushroom and they could not satisfy their customers with moderate price for the foodstuff. Now three major hotels purchase mushroom supplied by the member of Mrs. Shoba's group and the mushroom eaters, especially the vegetarians, are happy to get it regularly and for moderate rate. Moreover, many families in the neighbourhoods of the members also are blessed with this new foodstuff supplied by the participants of the project. So, a new food system is springing up around Kanyakumari, where a greater number of more environmentally and socially conscious, often middle class and lower middle class consumers are seeking greater control over their food. And a community supported agriculture is becoming widespread. This is an alternative farmer-consumer relationship, in which a group of consumers are already members of local groups of the producers.

Green and fresh mushroom supply provides opportunities for the participants of the project to reach consumers who are willing to pay a better price for their goods. For Mrs. Shoba and other participants of the project a fair trade marketing system is offering an exciting economic opportunity. However, success and sustainability in this complex trade related farming call for more inputs and regular supply of mushroom seeds. At the same time, this farming system requires very small quantity of freshwater. It is a big blessing as well as an opportunity. It is a big opportunity in the sense that it has changed the lifestyle of the participants of the project. They were once upon a time mere housewives looking after their household duties and child rearing. Now they have become budding entrepreneurs. They have now started earning and enhancing managerial abilities to deal with resource management, production and marketing aspects. These are the significant changes taken place among the participants of the project. 

The women grow also green and organic mushroom. This gains attention of the consumers as consumer awareness is increasing on issues like how far does food travel from farm to plate and how many other hazardous materials used for preserving and packing. Local consumers are happy with locally produced organic foodstuff.

The project has contributed much towards generating more employment opportunities for poor housewives, who were idling at home depending on the income of their spouses. Now they have started earning money. There is an availability of a rich, nutritious, organic and fresh food item to the local people and to the larger community that uses it in hotels. The excitement of creating a more ethical business model is exciting. The project has further contributed by way of providing a pro-poor agricultural service from pre-farming training to post harvest management and markets. Now the producers supply their harvests to three hotels identified by IEDS. More opportunities will be available once the producers get regular supply of seeds.

Out of the 33 women who joined the training, 24 are involved in farming activities and 3 are involved in marketing the produce. They sell about 50% of the products in the neighbourhood, the remaining is sold in hotels. However, there is more demand for mushroom in the area, so enough possibilities for expansion.