43 women farmers honoured for their work on 7 Livelihood models

Currently, the agriculture sector employs 80% of all economically active women in India; These include 33% agricultural labour force and 48% of self-employed farmers. In Uttar Pradesh 43 progressive women farmer entrepreneurs were honoured at the annual convention.

Around 400 women from 3 districts (Jhansi, Mahoba and Lalitpur) of Bundelkhand participated in Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium, Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, in which Chief Guest Anurag Sharma honoured 43 women farmers.

In the last two years, under the Samridhi project, supported by ActionAid Association and BASANT Women Farmer Producer Company, we have reached about 3000 marginlaised women in 40 villages of 3 districts.

The guest of this program, A. Arunachalam Director, Central Agroforestry Research institute said that we can further support BASANT Women FPO by giving a stall at our Research Center at Jhansi which will help you to sell your products.

After this, the Member of Parliament of Jhansi-Lalitpur Anurag Sharma said that the BASANT Women are doing wonderful work and I will support them completely. I will make sure they get the free counters in all the agriculture fairs held in Jhansi & Lalitpur. So that they can exhibit their organic and natural products and can strengthen their employment. The MP also talked about providing free training to women.

Executive Director ActionAid Association Sandeep Chachra congratulated the women as soon as he came on stage. He alerts them and also draws the attention of women to the current struggle in the market. Chachra ji told that be mentally prepared to fight with big companies in the market. Bundelkhand is an area of natural calamity, women need to do preparations to save their business from any kind of loss.

BASANT Women FPO has been established till now 1945 through 7 livelihood models under Samridhi Project. The main objective of this program is that through the Samridhi project, we want to strengthen the weaker section by increasing the income of both the small and marginal farmers and landless through promotion of sustainable and modern agriculture and progress in many livelihood opportunities and want to bring forward women entrepreneurs in Bundelkhand so that every person gets the right to live with dignity.

So that they can be empowered and can live their life in a better way and can give better education to their children. In the program, women presented their products by an exhibition of organic fertilizers, many types of foundation seeds, chicken eggs, organic vegetables etc. The women felt proud after getting the certificate in the program.

Savita of Jhansi said that earlier we were confined to the do household work, but today we have got a chance to do something different, which has given us new energy, as if till yesterday, which was a dream for us to do business but now I have the confidence to run Basant Women FPO and focus on connecting more women with employment by joining FPO.

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