AKDN works in over 3,500 villages, serving over four million people in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
AKDN works in over 3,500 villages, serving over four million people in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Manga, a participant in AKF’s organic cotton project, fills his distributer with Panch Patti, a natural pest repellent made from five local leaves. Combined with cow dung, cow urine and water, the extract is left to ferment for 8-10 days and can then be sprayed on cotton plants as well as vegetables, herbs and pulses intercropped.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Manga, a participant in AKF’s organic cotton project, fills his distributer with Panch Patti, a natural pest …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
AKF’s organic cotton project, supported by the C&A Foundation, aimed to improve the livelihoods and incomes of 7,000 tribal farmers in the Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
AKF’s organic cotton project, supported by the C&A Foundation, aimed to improve the livelihoods and incomes …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Vermi-composting is one of the agricultural enhancement techniques promoted by the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Vermi-composting is one of the agricultural enhancement techniques promoted by the Aga Khan Rural Support …
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
This page is also available inIndia | Agriculture and Food Security
In India, AKF’s Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) was established in 1983 to catalyse rural development. It supports marginalised communities’ economic development and environmental protection through community-based approaches to natural resource management (NRM) and village-level livelihood enhancement. We also facilitate wider learning and outreach at state and national levels, helping them to scale up successful approaches. The programme currently works in over 3,500 villages, serving over four million people in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra.
360,000
AKF’s support for marginalised rural communities benefits over 360,000 people
Agriculture and Natural Resources Management
Most of the communities in our programme areas are heavily reliant on agriculture. AKF improves households’ economic conditions by increasing productivity and diversity, and by strengthening connections to agricultural traders and processors. These interventions enable poor smallholders to sell more, higher quality produce at increased prices. This helps ensure food security, increases net incomes, helps with climate change mitigation and adaptation, and reduces risks for farmers.
Our programmes cover staple crops (rice, wheat and pulses), cash crops such as cotton, high-value horticulture and livestock. In each of these sub-sectors, we improve input supply through the introduction of new seed varieties/breeds and easy-to-make organic, low-cost fertilisers and pesticides.
In Gujarat, AKRSP has been working in drought-prone areas, some of which are also prone to coastal salination, for over 30 years. Some of the programme areas are extremely water-stressed, making water conservation and community-based irrigation approaches key to sustaining agricultural production. We set up farmer producer groups and help them negotiate growing and purchasing agreements with agro-input suppliers and processors. AKRSP's water efficiency, water harvesting, and water conservation works have benefitted over 100,000 households.
The System of Rice Intensification (SRI), which increases productivity by improving the management of soil, water, plants and nutrients, has been very successful. Yields have increased by up to 50 percent, allowing farmers to allocate more land to valuable cash crops such as cotton, tomatoes, capsicum and strawberries. Farmers have replicated SRI principles for other crops such as maize and wheat with significant improvements in productivity.
The Self Help Group-run solar powered irrigation scheme in Muzaffarpur, Bihar, India was set up with the support of the Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP). The scheme is run by 12 SHG members.
AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer
Climate-smart Agriculture
We are addressing climate change and reducing carbon emissions from crop and livestock farming by piloting low-carbon agriculture practices, including solar-based irrigation systems, micro-irrigation devices, optimised fertiliser and water use and crop diversification. AKRSP is helping over 200,000 farmers to transition towards regenerative agriculture practices.
In Gujarat, AKF and AKRSP are helping small farmers adopt water use efficiency measures through drip irrigation. We are working to help farmers access government subsidies for these technologies. In Madhya Pradesh, farmers are being supported as they move towards sustainable organic cotton farming and better markets.
Forestry is another means of improving the livelihoods of farming communities. AKRSP has been helping reignite the traditions of community protection of common lands, which have come under pressure due to lack of entitlements and population growth. Through farm forestry in southern Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, AKRSP has helped communities reduce drudgery for women and children, improve their local ecology and contribute to reforestation efforts.
Training pashu sakhis offers a stable livelihood for the women and strengthens goat farming as an income opportunity for their communities.
AKF / Mansi Midha
Livestock
Livestock is an essential asset for the poorest households, with limited access to land or other productive assets. Our interventions focus on training to improve animal husbandry, increasing access to veterinary services and establishing links with local dairies.
Goat-rearing in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh is helping families earn up to $500 extra per year. A key component has been the promotion of women animal health workers called “pashu sakhis”, who provide affordable animal care in remote villages. Pashu sakhis are now being trained in Bihar, as part of a wider women’s empowerment programme that is building the capacity of women self-help group members to adopt modern veterinary practices with small ruminants, as well as become para-vets themselves. AKF is developing a cadre of 4,000 para-vets to reach 800,000 women goat rearers.
Nutrition
We strengthen agriculture-nutrition links through diversified cropping systems and through nutrition-sensitive farming practices. These lead to improved nutrition outcomes such as reduced rates of stunting and anaemia. Community-managed grain banks for vulnerable households complement these efforts.