Example Village:

We conducted a community-based research of this village in 2004, with the help of the local Youth Group. Our objective was to assess the available resources and find effective ways to improve their management. The main occupation here is farming, every citizen has a certain amount of land to cultivate; despite this farmers are still struggling to feed their families. There is a government run school, but children are only educated up to primary standard.

Water facilities in the village consist of a Government tap, which flows most of the day but has no proper storage facility. Children play in this water, buffaloes drink this water, insects infect this same water.

Building a hygienic water storage facility was shown to be the fastest and most effective way to improve the quality of life in this village. With the help of the villagers, volunteers will construct a water tank using bricks, sand and cement.

We also identified 5 areas in which resource management could be improved. These are: education, irrigation, crop cultivation and government norms and grants.

With the help of the Youth Group and the various forms of government aid that are available, we will organise educational workshops for local farmers, encouraging them to use sustainable farming techniques such as multi-cropped subsistence agriculture that will enable their improved economic independence. Farmers will also be made aware of the various forms of government aid that are available to them. As many farmers cannot read or write, they will be given assistance in applying for grants.

Irrigation is a big problem in this area, therefore volunteers will assist in conducting a feasibility study to assess the suitability of reintroducing traditional irrigation methods as an ecologically sustainable alternative to modern intensive farming techniques. Traditional irrigation methods improve water retention by saving Monsoon waters instead of allowing run off, which has been the practice since modern farming techniques such as the use of bore wells replaced the pond system, draining natural ground water reserves, causing soil degradation and ultimately desertification.

Background:

Problems which we are seeking to address are the high suicide rates of Indian farmers due to economic pressures brought on by the Free Trade policies of the west and the high subsidisation of western farming. We would like to support local Indian farmers who are struggling to survive under these pressures and encourage the growing of suitably alternative sustainable eco-friendly crops which are not affected by the global economic pressures.

According to official sources, 1,835 cotton farmers committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh between 2001 and 2006. This is largely due to pressures from the western subsidized agricultural market and WTO, (World Trade Organization). Falling cotton prices, crop failure and lack of bank loans culminate in crippling debts from which farmers are unable to escape.

We want to discourage conventional cotton farming which is the biggest consumer of dangerous pesticides to the environment and to the cotton workers (usually children, but also adults). Organic fair trade cotton is a growing market and is not exposed to the same pressures of the world market as conventional cotton.

We are developing projects with other organisations to encourage initiatives that protect local farmers to continue to run seed bank exchanges in exploited developing countries from WTO policies and patenting systems including " Trade Rights to Intellectual Property" agreements that support GM agriculture and threaten biodiversity and the survival of local seed exchanges for farmers in developing countries to protect food security in disadvantaged regions.