A budding entrepreneur

Thursday, July 8, 2010

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Mrs.Tatu Jala was a poor woman suffering with her family without proper food and basic necessities. Her family was involved in agricultural farming, but they used old methods of farming which did not yield good results. Hence she went getting money from the money lenders for the survival of her family. This has led to several problems in her family. Her hard earned small amount money in the farming was only enough to pay the interest to the money lenders. Due to lack of new skills in agricultural farming, her family was not able to produce better yields though she possessed fertile lands. In this scenario, the Daughters of Mary Immaculate sisters (DMI) organised the unorganised women into self help groups (local groups of women). Mrs. Tatu Jala became a member of the group in her locality. In the mean time, the Trust of DMI initiated a project to help the women to increase their income through collective farming. Tatu was one of the beneficiaries who learned new agriculture farming techniques, collective farming and marketing techniques.

She learned about the importance of using natural fertilizers, cultivating seasonal and rotational crops to maintain the fertility of the soils and to increase the products. She along with other women in her neighbourhood started cultivating different varieties of vegetables. New farming techniques enabled them to triple their crop yield, to produce a surplus to sell in the market for a reasonable price. She said, "Earlier the middlemen bought my produce for a pittance, today I am empowered to sell them on my own".

She started saving regularly and repaid all her debts. She was able to build a new house with hollow blocks and to feed and educate her children. She also involved in raising chickens. By selling the chickens and eggs, she earned additional income for her family. She proudly says "I have climbed the social ladder and it is through me that our family's income has increased and that our children's future has changed dramatically."

Source: Agriterra

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