Alternative development through alternative livelihoods
|
COMMENTS 
The Delhi-based Development Alternative promotes vermicomposting and other sustainable livelihoods for disadvantaged groups.
Thirty-year-old Farida Banu from Karnataka is a classic example of what people can achieve if given the right opportunities. From saving a mere Rs 10 per month, she now saves Rs 500 per month, thanks to the Development Alternative's (DA) vermicomposting project.
Creating sustainable livelihoods through locally appropriate and environmentally sustainable methods is what the Delhi-based DA specialises in. Numerous DA projects in different villages of India are enabling the poor to survive on a daily basis.
Unschooled and from a poor family of agricultural labourers in Ganadulu village, Tumkur district, Karnataka, Farida was an agarbatti (incense) s! tick-maker, earning about Rs 25 a day. Hearing about the Development Alternative's (DA) vermicomposting project, she attended their training programme and set up a vermicompost unit in the backyard of her parents' home. Farida now regularly harvests 400 kgs of vermicompost every month, which she sells to other villages.
With her entire family involved in the project, monthly earnings from vermicomposting are around Rs.1,150. Other sources of income add Rs 1,850 to the family's kitty. Economic empowerment has earned Farida the respect of her parents.The family's lifestyle has changed. Today they can afford two square meals and live with dignity.
Technology and Action for Rural Advancement, TARAgram, is another of DA's ventures in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. It began with the setting up of a pilot handmade paper unit and today has metamorphosed into a model for creating livelihoods in villa! ges in the vicinity.
TARAgram trains people to set up micro-enterprises in vermicomposting, handmade paper units, manufacture of building materials and other home-based livelihood schemes, adapted to local needs and local resource bases. DA's pioneering micro-enterprises and techniques enable regeneration of resource bases.
Contact: Development Alternatives
B-32 Tara Crescent
Qutab Institutional Area
New Delhi 110 016, India
Tel: 91-11-696 7938/685 1158
Email:
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.