Sustainable Agriculture and Diversified Livelihoods Project (SADL)

Small and marginal rainfed farmers and farm labors lead a life of dignity and gender equity by practicing agro ecological drought climate resilient farming system and diversifying their livelihoods.

Project Photos

The leadership role of women and socially disadvantaged members (SC/ST/Single women headed households) within the CBO structure is strengthened.

Time Period

April 2021 to March 2024

This Project is a continuation of earlier projects supported by Bread for the World. This phase has been designed based on the experiences and lessons learned from the previous projects.

Our Objectives

Small and marginal rainfed farmers and farm labour, particularly women, reduce their vulnerability to drought-climate variability and improved their livelihoods.

Goals

Small and marginal rainfed farmers and farm labors lead a life of dignity and gender equity by practicing agro ecological drought climate resilient farming system and diversifying their livelihoods.

Results of this Project

Farmers, particularly women, acquire capacities and participate actively in the CBOs and project processes
A cadre of Women Karyakathas is created to support, promote and implement agro ecological farming practices at village level	230 Women Karyakartas
Farmers participate and voice for gender equality, drought mitigation, livelihood diversification and relevant government policies / programs	15,000 Farmers (90% of women)
Farmers acquired awareness, technical and practical knowhow on drought climate resilient agro ecological farming practices promoted by AF	15,000 Farmers (90% women)

Institutions are strengthened
Functional discipline, financial management capacities and mutual cooperation have improved at village level	230 Grama SasyaMitra Groups
	800 SasyaMitra groups
	Rs 9.5 crores of savings amount is being revolving as credit at the group level

Drought Climate Resilient Farming Practices adopted:
Shift from mono crops to diversified food crops enhancing agro bio-diversity	12000 farmers (75% women) in 10,000 hectares of rainfed lands
Practicing of contingency/ relay cropping for enhancing income and fodder availability	15000 farmers (80% women) in 12000 hectares of rainfed lands
Use of low cost and user friendly equipment to reduce work burden for women	2000 women
Provision of protective irrigation to save the crops from moisture stress (drought)	3000 farmers in 1250 hectares (2500 women and 500 men)
Inputs for Natural Farming are available to farmers who practice natural farming	230 villages

Alternative Livelihoods for livelihood diversification for rural youth (men and women)
Rural youth acquired employable skills and linked to employment/self-employment	1600 youth
Women acquired employable skills and linked to employment/self-employment	500 Women
Women get financial and technical support to take up off-farm & non-farm livelihood activities for generating additional income	6000 Women

Main Intervention and Activities

Improve knowledge and skills of farmers and youth:
Organize farmers’ field schools for knowledge transfer on drought adaptive measures	230 Farmers Field Schools in 230 villages
Organize trainings to Karyakarthas (community animators) in CBO facilitation, drought adaptation measures and diversified livelihoods	48 Training Programs
Organize skill trainings to rural women on garment making, sanitary goods, millets snacks etc	25 Training Programs for Women
Organize trainings to rural youth on vocational trades like driving, cell phone mechanism, motor bike repairs, home appliances repairs etc	64 Training Programs
Sponsor training programs to rural youth for their skill up-gradation conducted by other training institutes	300 Youth

Community Based Organisations strengthened:
Total community based organizations facilitated · 900 Sasya Mitra Sangha (Friends of Farmers); · 220 Grama SasyaMitraSangha at Village level · 8 Mandal SasyaMitraSanghas at mandal level	1100 CBOs
No of households part of these CBOs	18000 members (90% women)
Community members and Leaders take part in participatory planning; monitoring and review of project activities	630 person days
FPOs get assistance in developing business development plan and access to capital to pursue their businesses	8 FPOs

Crop demonstrations organized on drought-climate resilient farming practices:
Protective Irrigation for rain-fed crops	1250 hectares
Contingency and relay crops in drought years	12000 Hectares
Crop Diversification with food crops in rain-fed farms	10000 Hectares
Women farmers get user friendly low cost farm equipment to for weeding and sowing operations	2000 women farmers

Amplifying the voice of farmers on issues related to drought and gender
Organising events like Combating Drought and desertification Day and International Womens Days at mandal or District level for sharing experiences on drought climate resilient farming technologies/practices and exposing them to CSOs and policy makers for their replication	30 Nos

The recommended Drought-Climate resilient diversified and multi-cropping models under rainfed conditions for Anantapur District soils and agro climate are:

Crop Model	Main crop	Inter crop	Mixed crops	Border crops & trap crops	Relay crop
1	Ground nut	Red gram (11:1)	Green gram, Cow pea, Field bean, Jowar, Sesame and vegetables (6-8 types)	Jowar, Bajra, cow pea, castor	Horse gram and Jowar
2	Foxtail Millet	Red gram (7:1)	Green gram, Cow pea, Field bean, Jowar, Sesame and vegetables (6-8 types)		Horse gram
3	Jowar	Red gram (7:1)	Green gram, Cow pea, Field bean, Jowar, Sesame and vegetables (6-8 types)		Horse gram
4	Bajra	Red gram (7:1)	Green gram, Cow pea, Field bean, Jowar, Sesame and vegetables (6-8 types)		Horse gram
5	Little Millet	Red gram (7:1)	Green gram, Cow pea, Field bean, Jowar, Sesame and vegetables (6-8 types)		Horse gram
6	Kodo Millet	Red gram (7:1)	Green gram, Cow pea, Field bean, Jowar, Sesame and vegetables (6-8 types)		Horse gram
7	Red gram	Castor (1:1)	Vegetables (6-8 types)
8	Green gram	Red gram (7:1)	Vegetables (6-8 types)	Jowar	Jowar
9	Bengal Gram	Coriander (7:1)	vegetables (6-8 types)	Jowar

These are mainly food crops consisting of millets, pulses, oil seeds and vegetables.

The recommended practices for mitigating drought in rainfed agriculture in Anantapur agro climate are:

Inter cropping / mixed cropping as against mono cropping
Sowing across the slope (contour sowing)
Crop Diversification with millets, pulses and oil seeds
Natural Farming practices to reduce usage of hazardous agro-chemicals
Multi-tree cropping models suitable for rainfed conditions
Contingency and relay crops
On-farm rain water harvesting and use for protective irrigation
Protective Irrigation during long dry spells to save crops from drought
Row water sowing when the timely sowing rains fail
Mulching for minimising moisture evaporation and enhancing soil fertility
Cycle seeder cum weeder for reducing the drudgery and cost saving

12. Seed multiplication and storage with 3 layer bags

The following are the Natural Farming protocols/practices promoted through SADL project:

Avoid the usage of genetically modified seeds, chemical pesticides and fertilizers
Apply Farm yard manure/ Sheep penning/ Green manuring before cultivation
Do Seed treatment with Beejamrutum or Beejaraksha before sowing
Sow Border crops and trap crops as recommended in crop models
Sow Mixed crops or Inter crops with pulses, millets and vegetables
Apply Jeevamrutham, Ghanajeevamrutam or type 2 JVM as per schedule
Adopt mechanical pest controls like Bird perches, White & Yellow boards, pheromone traps, delta traps, light trap etc
Use biological pest control methods like Neem oil spray and herbal pest repellents

9. Develop required Biomass on the bunds for fodder, mulch, wind break etc.

Outreach/ Target Group (No of Families):

S N	Category	Direct	Indirect	Total
1	Schedule Caste	8000	7000	15000
2	Schedule Tribe	2000	3000	5000
3	Other Backward Caste	13000	38000	51000
4	Others	2000	12000	14000
	Total	25000	60000	85000

S N	Category	Direct	Indirect	Total
1	Women Headed Families	1660	3260	4920
2	Families with Disabled Persons	1086	1862	2948
3	Others 1
4	Others 2
5	Total	2746	5122	7868

Outreach

Direct Beneficiaries

Rural households in 230 villages in 8 mandals in Anantapur district

Indirect Beneficiaries

Rural households in 230 project villages in addition to another 600000 rural households in the district (total of 660000 households) who will benefit from the extensive promotional work that AF does.

Geographical target area:

The project area covers 230 villages in the most drought-affected eight contiguous mandals/blocks of Anantapur district. The mandals are 1) Atmakur, 2) Kudair, 3) Kalyanadurg, 4) Beluguppa, 5) Kundurpi, 6) Settur, 7) Dharmavaram and 8) Rapthadu.