Improving the nutritional situation – supporting families through ecologically sustainable cultivation in Uttarakhand

Many people in Uttarakhand are affected by chronic malnutrition. Most of the state’s rural residents make their living from agriculture and animal husbandry, but the crops are barely sufficient for many families to survive as they are threatened by climate change. In addition to agricultural activity, people depend on day wage work. Unemployment in the region has risen and many men are migrating to other parts of the country. Thus, old people, women and children are the main inhabitants of the villages. The families who produce crops such as potatoes and apples are unable to market them because the infrastructure in many places is inadequate.

The aim of the project is to sustainably improve the situation of people at risk of nutrition, especially women and children, in three districts of Uttarakhand through ecologically sustainable cultivation and other components and to increase the income of the families.

Among other things, greenhouses are being built from local materials, seed banks are being set up, vermicompost pits are being built for natural fertilizer to replace the chemical fertilizer used previously, and rainwater tanks are being set up.

In addition, the poorest families receive goats for the sale of milk and for breeding to increase their income. 50% of the descendants of the first generation are passed on to other families in need. By setting up three processing units in the project region, the farmers should also learn how to preserve or refine food.

In the meantime, the nutritional situation of many of the children has improved slightly and the families were able to integrate two additional types of vegetables into their meals in order to avoid deficiency symptoms caused by an unbalanced diet.

Promoter:                 Terre Des Hommes

Project partners:     HESCO, AMAN and TPVS, Uttarakhand, India

Funding year:          2021

Project No.:             123-21 A

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