Sustainable Livelihood

Through its livelihood-based interventions, AJSA also aims to-

• Facilitate processes for enhancing the capacity of natural and human resources to enable livelihood security
• Promote appropriate & ecologically conducive mechanisms for increasing food production to promote household-level food security.

AJSA’s history is steeped in a commitment to promoting livelihood security, particularly during times when various parts of India were grappling with economic distress and hunger. With many families having little or no land, a stable source of income was hard to come by, and sadly, many succumbed to starvation. Recognizing the urgent need for collective action, AJSA focused on two crucial aspects – promoting sustainable livelihoods and fostering entrepreneurship development. AJSA’s efforts have been nothing short of transformative, bringing about positive change in communities once plagued by poverty and hunger. AJSA’s legacy is a testament to the power of determination and collective action to make a difference in the lives of those in need.

Livelihood diversification linked with increased incomes and savings are critical for reducing the vulnerability of rural communities, especially in times of disaster. In the non-farm livelihoods sector, AJSA’s efforts are focused on the promotion of self-help groups, skill building, community enterprise in the processing of agricultural and minor forest products and technological application for livelihood promotion.

AJSA works towards the promotion of women groups and federations by empowering them through the integration of various self-income generation programs and leadership building programs to fortify and cater the needs of rural women to make them self-reliant. To build up these processes, AJSA has been promoting women led SHGs, cooperative societies, Agriculture Producer Companies etc. The members of these groups were trained and as a result of that they are able to run fair price shops, collection and marketing of NTFPs, linking with banks, developing micro-enterprises and also internal money lending like a loan. During the last few years, the SHGs and the cooperative society have successfully raised their own funds, without any outside funding support other than the bank.

With more than 3 decades of experience strengthening livelihoods and reducing poverty in rural communities, AJSA understands the challenges farmers face and recognises their huge untapped potential. Our agriculture programmes tackle these challenges holistically by catalysing and creating access to quality inputs and finance, developing entrepreneurs to widen services, promoting effective farming techniques and proven technology, and facilitating the development of pro-poor agriculture markets.

Through various locally led adaptation and mitigation measures, AJSA strives to improve the resilience of farmers while reducing their vulnerability to short-term threats. Our initiatives to improve productivity go hand in hand with our focus on sustainable intensification.

AJSA programme elevates farmers and their families out of hunger and poverty into secure, sustainable livelihoods.

AJSA enables farmers to get more from the land they already own using Climate Resilient and Improved Agriculture Practices & Ecological Farming, climate-resilient seed varieties and innovative techniques. This reduces total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kilogram of food produced and prevents the expansion of production areas into forest areas, further reducing GHG emissions. AJSA also helps communities to become involved in decisions affecting their living environments and promotes fair and sustainable methods of using and managing land and water.

We believe that real and lasting change begins at the grassroots