Blossom Trust is mobilising 1000 marginal and smallholder female farmers into 50 Farmers Interest Groups to start up an all-female, community-owned Farmers Producers Organisation, ultimately uplifting the livelihoods of resource-poor women and their communities in Tamil Nadu. This project will support internal savings to build women's economic capacity while providing training and skill-development on financial literacy and entrepreneurship, Climate-Smart Agriculture and gender advocacy.
Female farmers account for 60% of farmers in the Virudhunagar district, Tamil Nadu. Despite their substantial contribution to the local agri-sector, they earn as low as Rs. 75 per day, with a significant proportion being landless farmers, living on lower wages than their male counterparts, and lacking access to training opportunities and consequent social mobility. While the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the urgency of economic resilience, this project will affect 1000 women farmers.
We aim to uplift the social and economic capacity of 1000 female farmers organised in Farmers Interest Groups. By network-building, Blossom Trust has proven to strengthen the position of women in our community. We will promote internal savings among groups and provide entrepreneurial skill development and agriculture and gender advocacy training. The increased economic power and enhanced skills will enable women to start a collective enterprise, with corn and goats as primary commodities.
This project will collectivise efforts for the start-up and future operating of a Farmers Producers Organisation promoting gender recognition in agriculture while boosting women's social and financial capacity. Moreover, having goats as a commodity will address the consistent lack of land ownership among women farmers. The long-term impact will be the uplifting of women's condition from impoverished to agents of change, enhancing their livelihoods and ultimately driving community resilience.
