Income through agriculture for Tamil Nadu Families

Pandemic has been brutal in destroying the world order as we knew it. It had particularly brought the lives of the marginalized sections to a crashing halt. As more and more small and marginal farmers are pushed into the informal sector workforce, women are in a particularly difficult space given the gender wage gap that exists in India. Pappa's case was no different. 

"The rains had destroyed my crops and I was out of cash to buy even the bare necessities for the house. My husband and I couldn't even find work in the Trichy city as laborers at construction sites due to COVID", says Pappa staring into vacant space as she sits beside her husband Raman recollecting the difficult times. Tiruchirappalli, a tier II city of India has considerable small and marginal farmers in the periurban space and post-pandemic economic recovery has been slow owing to climate change-induced torrential rains.  " VOICE Trust believed in us and helped me out by giving me money to buy groceries and a pair of chicken and rooster. This was a lifesaver for us/" she says heaving a sigh of relief. 

Backyard poultry farming is one of the easiest and low-cost methods that are taught to beneficiaries by the Voice Trust team to ensure that they get basic income and assured nutrition. Mustering all her courage Pappa had started out with the monetary assistance received. Now she sits at her verandah surrounded by 27 little hatchlings peeping around her and dreams of starting a poultry business using country chicken in the future. She is a stranger to the modern fancy world of entrepreneurship. But she says, " I want to learn more about country chickens, bank accounts,  and I know VOICE Trust will help me with the knowledge". And that's how we knew she had decided to embrace the path of entrepreneurship and we couldn't be happier.