Homestead Farming Is Empowering Indigenous Women in Central India
Rows of brinjals, chillies, cowpeas, tomatoes and leafy greens shimmer in the morning sun in Kusum Devi’s lush backyard garden.
She lives in the small village of Chimkatola, perched in the hilly terrain of Mandla district, Madhya Pradesh, central India.
Kusum sprinkles a concoction made of cow dung, neem leaves and fermented jaggery (an unrefined cane sugar) over the rows of vegetables. She applies this natural pest repellent as well as bio-fertilisers on the crops every 15 days. “Earlier, we bought [these] from the market, but now, we make it all at home,” she tells Dialogue Earth.
Not long ago, this 10-decimal (400-square-metre) plot yielded little more than maize due to the region’s water stress, and offered meagre returns. Now, 35-year-old Kusum earns up to INR 1,200 (USD 14) per month selling her produce in the weekly market in Mandla town, after keeping some for her family’s consumption.