Chetana Vikas

About Chetana Vikas (Consciousness Development) Started in 1978 by Mr.Ashok Bang in Wardha, Maharashtra Overall objective of holistic development of society, spans intervention in – Agriculture – Women’s Development – Child Education and Development Agriculture activities through AARC (Alternative Agriculture Resource Center)

AARC 20 Acres 4 soil types – Heavy Black Cotton, Medium and Low Fertility, Wasteland – mirroring soil types in region Propagation of Low External Input Sustainable Agriculture (LEISA) Dry Land Technology Demo Farm 2.5 acres Demonstrates dry land agriculture practices Collects indigenous seeds

Kiran’s observations CV is good at training village engineers Local watershed management initiatives have been effective Dry Land Demo farming “remarkable” - no watering, no pesticides, farm managed very stringently SHGs have helped in reducing dependency on moneylenders Villagers are able to sell produce in coordinated way

2008 Progress Watershed Development – Bunds constructed by 58 farmers over 345 acres in 11 villages Farmers’ Field Workshop – Experiences shared – 151 villagers 52 villagers have taken up Sustainable Agriculture on 144 acres 28 villagers have taken up Farming for Self-Reliance 10 women have set-up new businesses ‘Poorti’ – wholesale purchase of grocery and other consumables for distribution among SHG members

2009 Progress Watershed Development – Bunds constructed by 65 farmers over 409 acres in 9 villages Farmers’ Field Workshop – Experiences shared – 175 villagers 175 villagers have taken up Sustainable Agriculture 50 villagers have taken up Farming for Self-Reliance 17 women have set-up new businesses ‘Poorti’ – wholesale purchase of grocery and other consumables for distribution among SHG members

2008 proposal, same for 2009 Summary of budget ParticularsIndian Rupees Component – 1 : Sustainable Agriculture & Natural Resource Management 1,055,000 Component – 2 : Through already established Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) 665,000 Component – 3 : General Office & Administration 200,000 Total funds requested1,920,000

Verbatim Questions 1. How many SHGs? How many members? ~ 150 groups with about 20 ppl each. 2. Poorti fund should really come from farmer's own income. Cooperative enterprise 3. Participatory micro-planning is not clear. (Rs. 50,000) 4. How many people are paid by 1.75 lakh honorarium? Permanent employees, about 20 people are permanent with varying payments 5. How many SHGs actually tried to setup the agri (or Poorti?) business and how many succeeded. 6. Each component of the CV project can be compared with a project with some other NGO. This budget seems large. Can we compare CV's costs with the other projects in some other way. No. Agragamee, Revathi’s work and other organic farming work AID supports each have very different circumstances in the field and it cannot be compared directly. 7. Is there a profit motive in Poorti? No. The cooperative’s goal is to use economies of scale to procure goods at a cheaper rate for the village(s).

Site Visits Ravi, Aravinda and Kiran visited earlier this year. Visited villages on their own Questioned villagers on CV intervention programs Overall satisfied, Kiran to work long-term with CV Questioned the lack of success in utilizing government support Vishwajeet, AID SD and AID-wide coordinator for CV, visited earlier this year Witnessed Farmers’ Field Workshop, strong interest among farmers, visitors from other states too

Performance Indicators (internal) Indicator Number of Trainees through FFW (1 & 3) 2. Number of farmers who took to ‘Farming for Self- Reliance’ Number of farmers initiating soil and water conservation work (1 &3) 4. Number of who farmers took to Organic Farming 2450