Eight years ago, Vidya Chavan’s husband went for a walk, and never returned. Broken by years of unproductive agriculture, made worse due to unpredictable weather patterns, he decided to end his life, leaving the responsibilities of running the five member household to his wife. Determined to provide for her three daughters, she started rebuilding her life.
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Anuj Mundu, 40, says he went around the whole country searching for money, only to find the ‘paise wale ped’ (money making trees) at home. A resident of Rumutkel village, a hamlet of 144 households in the hilly, remote interiors of Jharkhand’s Khunti district, Mundu, who until some years ago, was forced to migrate to cities to find work, has been cultivating lac, a high-value non-timber forest product, on ber and kusum trees the last five years.
Bireng Soy’s journey began with early marriage and motherhood at 16, forcing her to leave school. With three children to care for and limited land for farming, life grew increasingly challenging. Her husband’s alcoholism worsened their financial strain, leaving Soy as the sole provider. Joining a self-help group led her to WOTR, where she became a community worker promoting sustainable agriculture. Since 2019, she’s been a Krishi Wasundhara Sevika, guiding farming communities towards organic farming through the Axis Bank Foundation’s Sustainable Livelihoods Programme.