In India, the Network works in over 2,800 villages across Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and has helped improve the quality of life for over 1.6 million people in these states.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In India, the Network works in over 2,800 villages across Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In April 2015 AKF started an organic cotton project in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh with the support of the C&A Foundation. Manga fills here his distributer with Panch Patti, a natural pest repellent made from five leaves found locally. Combined with cow dung, cow urine and water, the extract is left to ferment for 8-10 days and can then be sprayed on cotton plants as well as vegetables, herbs and pulses intercropped.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In April 2015 AKF started an organic cotton project in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh with the support …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In April 2015 AKF started an organic cotton project in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh with the support of the C&A Foundation. The project aims to improve the livelihoods and incomes of 7,000 tribal farmers living there through the promotion of organic cotton cultivation.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
In April 2015 AKF started an organic cotton project in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh with the support …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Vermi-composting is one of the agricultural enhancement techniques promoted by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Vermi-composting is one of the agricultural enhancement techniques promoted by the Aga Khan Rural Support …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
This page is also available inIndia | Agriculture and Food Security
In India, AKF’s Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) was established in 1983 to catalyse rural development. It supports marginalised communities’ economic development and environmental protection through community-based approaches to natural resource management (NRM) and village-level livelihood enhancement. We also facilitate wider learning and outreach at state and national levels, helping them to scale up successful approaches. The programme currently works in over 2,800 villages, directly benefiting almost 1.4 million people, in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
1.4 million
AKF’s support for marginalised rural communities benefits almost 1.4 million people
Agriculture and Natural Resources Management
Most of the communities in our programme areas are heavily reliant on agriculture. AKF improves households’ economic conditions by increasing productivity and diversity, and by strengthening connections to agricultural traders and processors. These interventions enable poor smallholders to sell more, higher quality produce at increased prices. This helps ensure food security, increases net incomes, helps with climate change mitigation and adaptation, and reduces risks for farmers.
Our programmes cover staple crops (rice, wheat and pulses), cash crops such as cotton, high-value horticulture and livestock. In each of these sub-sectors, we improve input supply through the introduction of new seed varieties/breeds and easy-to-make organic, low-cost fertilisers and pesticides. We also improve soil and water management. Currently, 19,000 hectares of land are under improved management.
In Gujarat, AKRSP has been working in drought-prone areas, some of which are also prone to coastal salination, for over 30 years. Some of the programme areas are extremely water-stressed, making water conservation and community-based irrigation approaches key to sustaining agricultural production. We set up farmer producer groups and help them negotiate growing and purchasing agreements with agro-input suppliers and processors.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which increases productivity by improving the management of soil, water, plants and nutrients, has been very successful. Yields have increased by up to 50 percent, allowing farmers to allocate more land to valuable cash crops such as cotton. Farmers have replicated SRI principles for other crops such as maize and wheat with significant improvements in productivity. In 2015, as part of our work to improve farmers’ livelihoods, AKF and AKRSP began a better cotton initiative with farmers in Gujarat as well as an organic cotton project in Madhya Pradesh.
The Self Help Group-run solar powered irrigation scheme in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India was set up in April 2016 with the support of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). The scheme is run by 12 SHG members.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Climate-smart Agriculture
We are addressing climate change and reducing carbon emissions from crop and livestock farming by piloting low-carbon agriculture practices, including solar-based irrigation systems, micro-irrigation devices, optimised fertiliser and water use and crop diversification.
In Gujarat, AKF and AKRSP are helping small farmers adopt water use efficiency measures through drip irrigation. We are working to help farmers access government subsidies for these technologies. In Madhya Pradesh, farmers are being supported as they move towards sustainable organic cotton farming and better markets.
Forestry is another means of improving the livelihoods of farming communities. AKRSP has been helping reignite the traditions of community protection of common lands, which have come under pressure due to lack of entitlements and population growth. Through farm forestry in southern Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, AKRSP has helped communities reduce drudgery for women and children, improve their local ecology and contribute to reforestation efforts.
Livestock
Livestock is an essential asset for the poorest households, with limited access to land or other productive assets. Our interventions focus on training to improve animal husbandry, increasing access to veterinary services and establishing links with local dairies.
Goat-rearing in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is helping families earn up to US$ 500 extra per year. A key component has been the promotion of women animal health workers called “pashu sakhis”, who provide affordable animal care in remote villages. Pashu sakhis are now being trained in Bihar, as part of a wider women’s empowerment programme that is building the capacity of women self-help group members to adopt modern veterinary practices with small ruminants, as well as become para-vets themselves. AKF is developing a cadre of 4,000 para-vets to reach 800,000 women goat rearers.
Nutrition
We strengthen agriculture-nutrition links through diversified cropping systems and through nutrition-sensitive farming practices. These lead to improved nutrition outcomes such as reduced rates of stunting and anaemia. Community-managed grain banks for vulnerable households complement these efforts.