The program will help more than 50,000 people in 43 villages to feed and support themselves through sustainable agriculture training with an emphasis on opportunities for women.
The northern part of Karnataka state in southeastern India has some of the highest rates of poverty in the country. The city of Bangalore in the south is a technology hub, but low caste farmers in the north try to live on a dollar a day or less. Most people's survival depends on farming one to two acre plots of land that rely on scarce rainfall. Many resort to migratory labor. Some sell daughters into prostitution since girls are seen as an economic burden.
Environmentally friendly farming training is introduced groups that will become self sufficient after four to five years. The training will then be expanded to new groups for a greater impact.
The goal of the program is to introduce sustainable agriculture training that provides opportunities for both women and men.
This project has provided additional documentation in a Microsoft Word file (projdoc.doc).
