In pursuit of its mission for the creation of sustainable livelihoods, Development Alternatives has concentrated its efforts in Bundelkhand – comprising 14 districts of the states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh in Central India. The Bundelkhand region is a microcosm of the Indian rural economy.

Bundelkhand, a region once rich in natural resources, was famous for its innovative water management practices. Unfortunately, in the last century, unsustainable resource utilization has led to a drastic change of scene. Indiscriminate felling of forests and disappearance of pasture lands led to the loss in top soil, decrease in soil fertility and depletion of ground water. Today, Bundelkhand is one of the poorest and most backward regions of India.

To reverse the continuing downward spiral of resources, Development Alternatives initiated micro-level interventions in Bundelkhand. These were interventions that had a direct and positive impact in terms of creating livelihoods and rebuilding the economic assets. Development Alternatives provided an enlarged basket of options in sustainable livelihoods, shelter, asset building, energy technologies and energy usage.

Women empowerment through
micro-enterprise development at TARAgram

The effort was to create assets for the region to enable itself to regenerate sustainable production systems that closed the loop of material and energy flows were designed. Technology based livelihoods, wherein new skills are created, were introduced. A broad spectrum of options for affordable products was integrated with the local market. The supply chain and delivery systems were strengthened.

To demonstrate the economic viability of sustainable production systems, the idea of a technology village - TARAgram - was born.

TARAgram serves as a model to bring together social, environmental and technological knowledge to generate sustainable livelihoods through technology based decentralized production and supply of much needed goods and services.

TARAgram is situated on 10 acres of once barren land leased to Development Alternatives by the government of Madhya Pradesh in July 1995. The challenges have been many. The land was degraded. Existing roots had to be rejuvenated, soil erosion had to be checked, ground water had to be recharged with check-dams and villagers had to be trained in sustainable practices, apart from being taught new skills. All programs and activities designed for the region had to have their knowledge resources grounded here. Demonstration of sustainable resource regeneration and utilization was necessary, thus TARAgram itself had to be a microcosm of the "new Sustainable Bundelkhand".

At the present day, TARAgram serves as a nodal technology resource center for the region. It houses in its premises, amongst others, a rural building center, a 100KW power station that produces electricity from bio-mass, a 100 ton capacity paper plant that uses local bio-mass and cotton waste to produce premium quality paper and a small checkdam that provides flowing water throughout the year, recharges the ground water and raises the ground water table in the neighbouring areas of TARAgram.

In Bundelkhand, Development Alternatives initially focussed on the regeneration of natural resources through modern scientific practices and native genius. The strategy was the resurrection of wastelands. Sodic land was reclaimed by the use of nitrogen fixing plants such as Dhaincha (Sasbenea bispinosa). Regeneration of water was achieved through small engineered water harvesting structures like check-dams. Natural regeneration of biomass resources was made possible by root stock rejuvenation. Degraded land and forests soon turned into vast expanses of green cover.

The first area of operation was Datia, Madhya Pradesh. In this region, 240 acres of barren hilly areas, devoid of any vegetation were adopted for greening purposes. The effort here was to test the process of natural regeneration. Rain water was trapped in-situ. Staggered trenches and gully plugs were made and biotic interference organized. The result was a massive regeneration of local trees, shrubs and grasses.

Introduction of such appropriate measures helped in training the local people in land and water management practices.

At TARAgram, similar activities have been carried out to assure water supply through the year to support its various activities, and make it a sustainable entity. Therefore, focus has been on designing the site for sustainable water management. This was done through rejuvenation of the existing root-stock, soil erosion prevention, and recharging of the groundwater. A check-dam has been constructed on a stream that borders the site. The reservoir thus created retained water throughout the year. The water level in the open wells has risen providing regular and uninterrupted water supply for TARAgram operations.

TARAgram is linked to a large number of decentralized enterprises in the region such as the vertical shaft brick kilns and a large number of building material and rural energy micro-enterprises. TARAgram provides the technical backup to support the supply side initiatives of these enterprises while also maintaining and developing forward linkages with local, regional and national markets.

With the advent of micro-credit facilities, TARAgram is on the verge of becoming a single window for rural technology and livelihood solutions in this region.

Technology design has been aimed at developing off-farm livelihoods for mass application. Those technologies have been selected that lead to fulfilment of basic needs. The accent is on technologies packaged for micro-enterprise based promotion and creation of rural livelihoods in large numbers.

The first enterprise in TARAgram was a handmade paper unit that began its operations in April 1996. This unit currently employs about 70 people, most of them women, who previously had no source of income. Its raw materials include cotton rags from urban markets and textile mills, used paper and local bio-mass. This enterprise produces 180 tons of premium quality paper per annum, meets local needs and taps regional, national and even international markets.

In order to support the energy requirements of the paper unit, a bio-mass based gasifier was set up. This power plant meets the entire energy requirements of TARAgram, including the paper unit. With efficient systems of waste heat recovery, waste water recycling and treatment, the paper unit – gasifier combination defines a totally self-reliant enterprise for this rural region.

In parallel, a large number of technologies based on production and supply of sustainable building materials were introduced. These have been packaged for promotion through decentralized rural micro-enterprises. Technical guidance and supports are provided by the Rural Building Center – TARA Gramin Nirman Kendra located at TARAgram, while onward market development and delivery supports are made available by a core team of marketing professionals committed to improving the local economies of the region.

Shelter technologies were followed by energy based enterprises supporting the biomass gasifier plant – these are basically decentralized biomass collection and supply units. Handicraft based group enterprises for the production of paper products and local bio-mass based fibre products are also now established and functioning. Many more enterprises based on rural energy products and services, food processing and non-timber forest produce are on the anvil.

The quality of habitat in any region is a mirror of its state of development. One of the tasks that TARAgram took on was to influence a transformation in the quality of rural shelter through the introduction of affordable and environment-friendly sustainable building options.

TARAgram

The location
The backward region of Bundelkhand.

The focus
People and nature

The stakeholders
Direct partners – 29 villages around TARAgram and 100 others in the vicinity

Inputs
Local resources including traditional skills and local manpower.

The medium of transformation
Technology

The guiding theme
Rural Transformation leading from "Regeneration to Sustainable Utilization".

Introduction of construction technologies appropriate to the region such as stabilized compressed earth blocks, micro-concrete roofing ferrocement, bricks from the vertical shaft brick kilns and concrete blocks were first initiated in the buildings of TARAgram itself.

This set in place the foundations of the rural building centre – TARA Grameen Nirman Kendra (TGNK). The center, operational since 1996, is the local node for the supply of appropriate building products and services. It provides guidance to the local population in their building projects. Its own projects and programs demonstrate improved building practices for the region. The Building Center runs regular training programs for upgrading the skills of masons and artisans, thus building up the capacity within the region.

While functioning as an enterprise itself, TGNK provides consultancy and know-how to help set decentralized units as enterprises. TGNK is now linked to a wide network of artisans from the region. Some of them have formed a guild—The Vikas Samiti, and take independent charge of design, construction quality and cost-control of small building projects.

TARA Gramin Nirman Kendra first set out to demonstrate the use of appropriate building technologies in housing at village Azadpura inhabited by the indigenous Sahariya tribe. With the success achieved here, the technologies have now moved far and wide in the region and also influence the construction sector in the urban and peri-urban areas of Bundelkhand, impacting local shelter quality and building practices.

TARA Grameen Nirman Kendra now provides total habitat solutions for the region including rural water supply, sanitation and infrastructure facilities.

Most villages in the country are not connected to the grid and hence are least favourable to the siting of industries. Rural livelihood enterprises need an assured supply of electricity, preferably not from the grid.

To ensure an uninterrupted supply of electricity to TARAgram, a biomass based gasification unit was set up. This power plant runs on a renewable fuel - Ipomea, a weed which grows prolifically in Bundelkhand. This plant produces 100 kilowatts of electricity every day. All the units (like the handmade paper unit) at TARAgram are utilising this electricity.

Small scale household and community level biogas plants, based on cattle dung, were tested at TARAgram. These supply cooking energy for the TARAgram kitchens. They have been replicated in large numbers in the surrounding villages where cattle populations are significant.

Smokeless cooking stoves were first introduced at the village Azadpura through the housing program. These are also finding increased usage in the region as more and more women are realizing the benefits of cooking in a smoke-free environment. Local masons have been trained in the manufacture of these simple domestic energy devices.

Further inroads have been made in the field of rural energy. A machine of one ton capacity for making briquettes has been installed at TARAgram. Charcoal briquettes are produced after pyrolysis of Lantana, a local weed. Commercial success of this technology has yet again proved that small scale enterprises in rural areas can be successful if they meet the needs and paying capacities of local populations.

Development Alternatives works for the economic empowerment of women. The stakeholders in the new initiative are predominantly women. Women with a zeal to inspire change. Right from the beginning, the women at TARAgram have been encouraged to be equal partners. They have been trained along with men in all fields and today, every enterprise in TARAgram has women in leading roles.

Women working at TARAgram allocate a small portion of their earnings into a self-help savings scheme, the TARA Gullak. Today, most of them have bank accounts.

To further improve the economic status of local women, skill based training has been imparted on value addition to paper and fibre based products. The women are encouraged to start self-managed units. These women have formed a co-operative society The ‘Sahariya Sangram’, an enterprise run by the women of Azadpura.

It soon became evident that when women move out of their homes to become bread-earners, their children are forced to take over household chores. The response was the TARAgram Balwadi, a creche that looks after and facilitates basic educational and nutritional needs of the children of TARAgram in a joyful environment while their parents are working. Children of school-going age join the Balwadi after school hours.

TARAgram is resolutely moving ahead in its mission to set in place institutions and processes in Bundelkhand that will facilitate large numbers of livelihoods based on efficient use and management of local resources.

Introduction of diversity in livelihoods, efficient resource use, and optimum energy use has been critical in defining the path of sustainability in this region. This initiative has proved that with varied livelihood options and diversity in technology, there is sufficient distribution to ensure that no single resource is overstressed. This diversity also mitigates the risk of collapse, resulting from the failure of a single element.

With the introduction of TARAhaat, the rural information portal, TARAgram is truly set on its way towards empowering the people of Bundelkhand in improving the quality of life. And, while there is a long way for Bundelkhand to achieve sustainable development, TARAgram has set in motion processes and laid foundations for appropriate development practices for this region.

TARAgram today is a version of what Mahatma Gandhi envisioned as a self-sustaining village society – meeting local needs with the local resource base in a decentralised manner. q