December 2009 The system of Rice intensification (SRI) is an innovation approach to paddy cultivation that became popular in India and also in the rest of the rice growing parts of the world less than a decade ago. Over the past few years India has seen a steady decline in agriculture production which has resulted in lower food grain availability per capita.For a country like India where 23% of the gross cropped area falls under paddy cultivation SRI with its inherent advantages of lesser seed rates, less water requirement, and higher yields than the traditional crop holds great promise for smallholders. This film delves into the experiences of farmers in bihar and Jharkhand who have reaped the benefits of SRI and are now taking the movement to newer families.
MAHADHIVESHAN VOICES OF SOLIDARITY
November 2009 Every year in the month of March the Narmada Mahila Sangh(NMS) celebrates the Mahadhiveshan - there annual congregation. Narmada Mahila Sangh is a federation of over 600 Tribal and Dalit women SHGs in Betul and Hoshangabad district of Madhya Pradesh. Pradan initiated women’s SHGs in the area in 1997 around saving and credit and livelihoods. But Over the year Pradan realized that there were other issues related to rights and entitlements, gender equality and dignity, which were fundamental to their existence. Organised in 2002, the NMS has come a long way in helping their members strengthen their solidarity and assert their identity.
THE SILK ROUTE
September 2009 Tasar Sericulture provides livelihoods for over one lakh tribal poor families living in the remote forest-fringe villages. Dwellers of these village have been rearing tasar cocoons for generations. However they have always remained poor. Pradan Works with nearly 15000 families to help them earn dignified and sustainable livelihoods from Tasar sericulture. Organizing the families living in the remote village into rearer-groups, bringing in new technologies, building capacities of local youth in setting up decentralized seed production facilities, training women from Self Help Groups in yarn spinning and reeling.
LACQUERED DREAMS
December 2008 Lac rearing is one of the important livelihood options for thousands of poor tribal families living in the forest fringe areas in Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Orissa and Assam. Today, the gap between production and supply of Lac stands at 10,000 MT worldwide, which can result into creating livelihoods for as many as one lakh families. PRADAN is currently working with 2,500 lac rearer families in Jharkhand to provide the families with a robust source of income by stabilising the lac production in the region. This is being done in collaboration with mainstream agencies like Jharkhand State Co-operative Lac Marketing Federation and Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums.
LIGHTING UP THE HILLS
December 2007 Confined to the top of the hills amidst the dwindling forests in the Santhal Parganas, the Pahariyas are officially a Primitive Tribal Group. Suffering from poverty and disease, their numbers too are decreasing. Pradan has been implementing a special project with the Pahariyas, supported by the Ministry of Rural Development and the United Nations Development Programme, which has brought alive the hopes of thousand of Pahariyas living in Sundarpahari in Godda. This film was made possible with the financial support from United Nations Development Programme.
REVIVING HOPE
June 2007 Diminishing incomes from the farms have created urgent need to develop robust prototypes in the non-farm sector as livelihood options for the rural poor, especially the landless. Pradan’s poultry programme in tribal areas of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand has revived hopes for nearly three thousand small producers and has put them on a path to prosperity.This film was made possible with the financial support from Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.
GUARANTEED FUTURE
December 2006 The National Rural Employment Guarantee Act was passed by the Parliament in 2005, offering job opportunities to millions of the unemployed poor across the country in search of work. This film made on behalf of the Ministry of Rural Development, demonstrates how the techniques of integrated natural resource management, devised by Pradan, are a robust option for creating wage labour and simultaneously building livelihood assets for poor people around their farms.This film was made possible with the financial support from Ministry of Rural Development & United Nations Development Programme.
EARTH, WATER, LIFE
December 2005 The poor farmers of Bandudih struggled to eke out a meagre living from their land and water resources till Pradan intervened five years back to transform their lives through intergrated natural resource management (INRM). Based on a creative blend of indigenous and modern technologies the INRM approach to developing farming systems in rain- fed areas offers way forward to the millions of farmers languishing from rapidly falling farm productivity and resulting food insecurity.
REACHING OUT
October 2003 Established in 1983, Pradan is one of the premier non-governmental organisations in India working to promote sustainable livelihoods for some of the poorest communities in the country. Founded on the belief that well - educated youth must work in the villages to hasten social development, Pradan has been instrumental in attracting over a hundred professionals to dedicate themselves to stay on and work in the grassroots.
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