Women farmers of Neemkhera village (Niwari district and block, Madhya Pradesh) gather near their ancient water tank built during the times of Chandel kings several centuries earlier. Most of them are very small farmers, owning one to three acres of land or even less, yet the work they have taken up is not small, it is big. This work is mostly related to strengthening sustainable farming and water conservation.As Girija Devi explains, these efforts started with getting together and holding regular meetings to discuss development problems and challenges. One of the first initiatives to emerge from these was to arrange for the removal of a part of the accumulated silt of several years from the main village tank. A voluntary organization SRIJAN helped with the heavier desilting work, taken up as a part of a wider effort BIWAL ( Bundelkhand Initiative for Water, Agriculture and Livelihoods), farmers made their own arrangements to carry the much in demand fertile silt to their fields. Women played an important part in ensuring that the entire work could proceed in a just and hassle-free way.
Read more at: Niwari’s Women Farmers Lead The Efforts For Sustainable Farming And Protection Of Environment| Countercurrents