OUR WORK
Empowering & Inclusive
RAGIHALLI BAKERY
Most rural women balancing their role as caregiver and homemaker are compelled to work not by passion but for necessity for food, shelter and survival. At the same time invaluable time spent by these women in caregiving, home making and family's agricultural activities go unacknowledged and looked upon as mundane, purposeless chores. Ragihalli is an unique venture based in the Ecologically Sensitive Zone of Bhannerghata National Forest and an all women run Bakery which not only provides livelihood to the women working there but also seeks to elevate the work of local women to a platform of recognition and dignity. The women are passionate about the local grains, and have come together for one another to step beyond sustenance to nourish the larger society with safe food baked with love and pride.
FARMER FIELD SCHOOLS
This is a group based learning process that aims to build farmers' capacity to analyze their production system, identify problem, test possible solutions, and eventually encourage the participants to adopt the practices most suitable to their farming systems. One participant's plot is selected as model field and training is given to other participants to implement on their respective plots. 16 Doddi Trust along with Samvada- Baduku College has worked in a pilot to hand hold the transition of around 40 farmers from chemical to organic farming
COMMUNITY SEED BANK
Community seed bank play an important role in preserving agricultural bio diversity and empowering local communities. Villages in Ragihalli would boast of atleast a 100 varieties of Ragi alone, a few decades ago. Many of those native varieties are lost now. Through this initaitive, 16 Doddi Trust aims to collect, conserve and distribute seeds of traditional crop varieties that may be at a risk of being lost thus ensuring food security and resilience. The women farmers and other community members foster knowledge sharing about seed saving techniques and maintain a decentralised way of seed distribution. This protects crop diversity and support community food sovereignty.
KAI THOTA
Typically, most rural families keep their own kitchen gardens to grow seasonal vegetables, greens, herbs, and some fruits. These gardens are the inspiraton for terraces or home gardens in urban spaces. The Kai thota initative is an exploration to connect the rural community to the urban buyers by sharing common kitchen gardens modelled as a community-supported agriculture (CSA) project.
