Page 29 - Reliance Foundation Annual Report 2022-23

26 Rural Transformation
To augment farm income, Reliance Foundation
supports alternative livelihoods which includes –
poultry, goat rearing, fisheries and cattle management.
Under this initiative, the following activities were
conducted:
• To improve cattle health and improve their
productivity, 30 veterinary camps organized in
project villages of Shahdol and Kotma
benefitting over 6,500 cattle from more than
1,000 households.
• Fisheries was promoted among 979 households
belonging to project villages from Shahdol and
Kotma with support for fish fingerlings and feed
for fish in 250+ water bodies.
• Additionally, towards enhancing off farm income
of over 1,200 households in Shahdol and Kotma,
1,5000+ poultry chicks were supported by
Reliance Foundation.
• For improving healthier growth of goats and
reducing mortality due to seasonal diseases,
deworming and vaccination was done for over
8,000 goats benefitting 1,505 goat rearers from
45 villages of Shahdol.
Reliance Foundation’s efforts are also being recognized
by the larger development ecosystem. Two farmers
from the Reliance Foundation project villages received
awards for best farmers under various categories by the
District Administration of Shahdol. Over 100 farmers
from Reliance Foundation project villages and field
cadres of Reliance Foundation benefitted by various
trainings/fairs organized by KVK and ATMA on Rabi
crop management, natural farming and organic
farming; farmers were also provided seeds and other
materials for demonstration purposes.
Reliance Foundation | Annual Report 2022-23 27
How Mahadevi Lokhande is changing Foundation provided regular advisories to around infestation. Nearly 60-70 were facing severe crop
the lives of women in Maharashtra’s 2,00,000 fishing communities in 2022-23. Since damage by September.
Parbhani district inception, it has reached out to over 4,20,000
The farmers in the school brought the issue to Reliance
fishing communities.
Mahadevi Narayan Lokhande, a 38-year-old Foundation through a WhatsApp query. Reliance
teacher-turned-Community Resource Person (CRP), Women bringing women to the Foundation organised a two-day programme with an
has helped establish more than 40 SHGs and 28 fore in farming agriculture expert for the farmers. The pest control
measures suggested by the expert, mainly guidance on
women-led enterprises in her village of Isad in
In 2022, Reliance Foundation started a Digital Farm application of pesticide, helped the farmers tackle the
Maharashtra’s Parbhani district. By motivating the
School in Boda, Balaghat district, Madhya Pradesh, to infestation at a reduced cost.
women, uniting them and educating them about help farmers there increase their returns from paddy
Additionally, many farmers including Nitu have claimed
income generating activities, she has made women cultivation. Nitu Nagpure, a woman farmer in the
that they harvested 18-18 quintal per acre while the
enterprises of Isad highly bankable. village, became instrumental in taking the group to yields of most other farmers reduced to 8-9 quintal per
other women farmers and making it an all-women
Since 2018, Mahadevi was trained in market and acre and attribute it to the advisories provided by
banking linkages and has received livelihoods skill Digital Farm School. Reliance Foundation.
training through Reliance Foundation. She has been The school began its operations at the time of paddy The women say that their collectivization and effort to
an active participant in meetings related to Gram sowing in June by making regular advisories available help the village save its crop has empowered them and
Panchayat Development Plans that has helped her to farmers. Despite providing timely information on compelled more of the village’s women to use phones.
front the agenda of women empowerment in her all aspects of farming, including crop protection, the They also believe that it will lead to more women
village. Reliance Foundation takes pride in being a part paddy crop in the village was faced with stem borer having a greater say in farm decision-making.
of the leadership journeys of women like Mahadevi and
is committed to fostering women’s leadership at levels.
Helping fisher folk weather storms
Ismail Ishabhai Patelia knows that ocean weather can
be fickle and timely information about it can prove
lifesaving. Therefore, this fisher from Hirakot Bandar
in Gujarat’s Somnath Gir district has been following
Reliance Foundation’s precise ocean weather advisories
for more than a year now. These advisories alert
fisherfolk to ocean weather conditions that threaten
lives and livelihoods.
In August 2022, Ismail escaped getting caught in rough
waters and returned to the shore safely, thanks to the
timely warning from Reliance Foundation. Since other
fisherfolk had not registered for the advisories then,
Ismail became an advocate keen to share the benefits
of the advisories in his community. Committed to
safeguarding lives and livelihoods, Reliance