“After my divorce, I moved back home. With a house of 12 people, I was teased for contributing nothing to the household.

"Once upon a time, I used to lease this field out to another farmer, as I just felt there was no money to be earned in rice. I concentrated my efforts on vegetables and goat/cow rearing to keep food on the table. But after learning about the System of Rice Intensification, I changed my mind. I thought – let me try my hand at this and see if I can make it work.

“We used to grow maize on our land but life was hard and it just never delivered the returns. I learnt about poly-house cultivation and took a chance – building a 4000 sq.mt. house complete with drip irrigation and solar pump. Everyone thought I was mad – me just a housewife and with no experience in farming.

“I was very passionate about trying my hand at growing vegetables, but could not convince my husband to let me try it. I secretly attended a training course by Ambuja Foundation and with their guidance and support, I found a way to get through to my husband. He finally gave me 10 katha (7,200 sq ft) of land to cultivate on my own.

“When I joined as principal of Zilla Parishad School in Pimpalgaon in 2013, children from the community were mostly going to faraway schools for education. Teachers were even waiting to get their transfer orders and shift to other schools.

“I used live an ordinary life – catching a few fish from the shores of my village. But one day I came across a relative of mine, who was returning from a big fishing expedition. He was a contractor for a boat owner and told me stories of catching hauls in a single trip worth 1lakh.

"My heart used to weep seeing my husband struggling to earn a decent income from his crop. And it wasn’t just him. The local moneylenders and middlemen were making farmers’ lives in our village miserable. I wanted to help, but how? I had never even stepped out of the house ever before!

The women of Bhadrapali mean business. Once restricted to their homes, today every woman in the community is an SHG member, and earns their own income. This ‘women’s movement’ has caused a wave of change, with the women transforming the community into a ‘Model Village’. Juggling a multitude of tasks, these women are a force to be reckoned with!

In 1987 child marriage was rife in rural West Bengal. But when Basanti Chakraborty heard about the impending marriage of a 15-year-old girl in her village, she took matters into her own hands. Objecting vehemently to the families involved, she spent hours trying to convince them otherwise.

Many development organization has mark their success on the number of projects and programs they implement. However, we believe that the true success and contribution of our organization is promoting sustainable development that can more effectively be measured by taking a look at our efforts in strengthening local organisations. After all, improving ‘community ownership’ is both a means and an end in the process of development.

Never in her wildest dreams did housewife Renu Thakur imagine where cows would take her in life! From Nauni village in Darlaghat all the way to the offices of the Ministry of Finance, Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in the Himachal Pradesh State Government, Renu has been on a wild ride. Renu was one of the 30 founding members of the women only Amrit Dhara Dairy Milk Cooperative, which has grown from strength to strength - swelling to 300 members today.

The art of kitchen gardening is transforming the lives, incomes and health of families across rural India. Promoted as part of Ambuja Foundation’s health programme, this intervention played a crucial role in feeding families and generating incomes during the pandemic - at a time when supplies were restricted during lockdown and going to busy markets, a risk.