The document summarizes a presentation given by Yogesh Jadhav on the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women in India. The Institute has trained over 8,500 rural and tribal women in agroecological practices over 32 years, empowering them and improving their communities. Trainees learn organic farming, biodiversity management, and solar technologies. Impacts include increased literacy, confidence, and financial self-reliance through new skills and rural enterprises. The Institute's programs support several UN Sustainable Development Goals, such as poverty reduction, food security, health, gender equality, clean energy, sustainable agriculture, and ecosystems protection. The presentation calls for scaling up the Institute's model training programs.

1. Agroecology and women’s empowerment:
transforming the life of rural communities
4 April 2018
Presented by:
Yogesh Jadhav
Barli Development Institute for Rural Women, (Indore, INDIA)
ydjadhav@gmail.com , 00919827557489 , www.barli.org
2nd FAO International Symposium on Agroecology
3-5 April 2018

2. Discussion questions:
1. What were the key impacts of the initiative in contributing to the SDGs?
2. Why did the initiative work? What were the enabling factors? What were
the constraints?
3. What are the next steps for the initiative?

3. How can we catalyse the SDGs through synergising
agroecological principles with women’s empowerment ?

4. Contents:
• Rise above stereotypes by building bridges: Agroecological principles, SDGs and
women’s empowerment
• Need for integrating agroecological elements in India’s developmental paradigm
• Barli Development Institute for Rural Women (BDIRW): empowering rural and
tribal women since past 32 years
• About the Institute
• Training and empowerment programs
• Impacts
• Recognitions
• The 9 SDGs and the Institute’s training programs
• The need for scaling-up the Institute’s training programs

5. Rise above stereotypes by building bridges:
Agroecological principles, SDGs and women’s empowerment
Gender equality is neither just an emotional issue, nor just another
subject for feminist activism !…
Rather, it is:
• A global human resource management concern (affecting 50% of humanity)
• A necessary prerequisite for optimally achieving the SDGs
• A highly neglected/overlooked social justice paradigm which needs immediate
attention
• And a viable means for the development of collective wisdom and evolution of
humanity
Thus it encompasses almost all the Agroecological elements and the SDGs !(in
addition to human and social values)

6. Need for integrating agroecological elements in India’s
developmental paradigm
• Growing demand and preference for chemical-free, organic and ‘healthy’
products
• Deterioration and Depletion of natural resources due to over-use of pesticides
• Shrinking forests due to deforestation and rapid urbanisation
• Population explosion
• Rising social inequality due to urban materialism and migration
• Pollution and environmental concerns
• Health concerns of GMOs and inorganically grown foods
• Displacement and migration of rural communities due to vagaries of rainfall
patterns, droughts, and floods due to unpredictable climate change

7. Barli Development Institute for Rural Women
- empowering rural and tribal women since past 32 years
• Remaining patches of biodiversity rich lands –
the tribal areas in India (especially central
Indian tropical forests of Madhya Pradesh
state (MP)
Tribal and rural women:
• Primary users of forests (are also the
custodians and direct users of indigenous
knowledge)
• The impacts on agroecological elements due
to climate change and environmental
degradation are first sensed by the rural and
tribal women
• Hence the need to empower and train the
women in sustainable agroecological practices
The need for training rural and tribal women in managing agro-biodiversity and
ensure rural ecosystem sustainability:

8. Barli Development Institute for Rural Women (BDIRW)
• BDIRW has been involved with implementation of agroecological practices and impart its trainings to
tribal and rural women-farmers in India since past 32 years
• Institute conducts free residential training program of 6-months twice a year ; currently training its
114th batch (with 260 women-farmers trained per year)
• Has trained more than 8500 rural and tribal women who came from more than 850 villages in India;
• Provides an enabling environment for farmers (women farmers and their families) in achieving SDGs.

9. Agroecology elements and Institute’s training programs
Some of the agro-ecological practices learnt by the
women-trainees at the Institute are given below:
• Composting: use of leaf litter for making farm-yard
manure
• Biological control of weeds through crop rotation, inter-
cropping, and hand-weeding
• Bio-dynamic control of insects and pests through using
herbal and locally available plant materials (e.g. 5 leaf
extract)
• Managing soil fertility through reuse and recycling of
treated septic waste-water
• Shelter-belts and windbreaks for conserving soil
moisture
• Use of selective agri-horticulture techniques for on-
farm conservation of biodiversity
• Cultivation of medicinal plants and fruiting trees as
safety nets

10. Since 25 years, trainees have been planting trees in campus during Raksha bandhan
festival (sacred festival for siblings: brothers and sisters) ; wherein women plant
saplings in memory of their brothers and tie a sacred thread to it (Rakhi)
They pledge to take care of the saplings till it becomes a tree
Blending indigenous traditions with agroecology

11. Barli Development Institute for Rural Women (BDIRW) contd…
The 6-month training Curriculum includes (among other subjects):
• Hands-on training in organic farming, biodynamic-agriculture, indigenous
methods of weed and pest control utilising the agroecological elements
• Use of solar technologies for food processing (including cooking, food
drying, power generation, among others),
• Cultivation and use of medicinal plants for rural health
• Imparting literacy (Hindi) through innovative rapid learning, peer tutoring
and other participatory interventions
• Vocational training (stitching and tailoring) for sustainable livelihoods
• Community development through self-involvement in service activities
after going back home

12. Barli’s green campus: agroecology in practice

13. Impacts of training programs on women-trainees
• Creative learning techniques and pedagogy results in rapid learning -100 % become literate
• Inter-personal skills training- boosts self-confidence, enhances informed decision-making as
regards managing their agricultural activities in their villages
• Health curriculum training helps in achieving holistic rural health (maternal and natal care)
• Hands-on training in agroecological practices results in better management of rural farmlands
• Solar food processing training – assists in conserving the rural environment and forests
• Vocational training (stitching and tailoring) – makes women self-reliant and self-confident
• Majority of pass-outs start their own small-scale rural enterprise and become financially self-
reliant
• Most of these women take up or restart their formal studies after going home
• All the trainees assist in improving the village communities and their rural landscapes through
knowledge sharing, imparting health knowledge to other women, educating the men-folk in
agro-ecological practices, organise village-level campaigns for tree plantation, and cleanliness
drives, among others.

14. Recognitions and awards
• UNEP’s Global 500 Roll of Honour (in 1992)
• Gold Award certification by GuideStar India for organisational best practices
(transparency and accountability) (2016)

15. Recognitions contd…
• OBE conferred by HM the Queen Elizabeth II in 2008
• Padma Shree by Government of India 2015
• Numerous state and regional awards for services to empowerment of
rural and tribal women conferred by civic bodies, and including Rotary
and Lions club

16. Women’s empowerment interventions at BDIRW and
achievement of the SDGs
• SDG Goal no 1 & 8: By learning vocational skills
the women are able to come out of the poverty
loop by shifting from their migratory and labour
intensive vocations (i.e. of farm labourers) to
obtain a gainful and stable employment in their
villages (viz: in Aanganwadis i.e. local creches, &
as Aasha karyakarta i.e. rural health workers &
teachers in primary schools). They get
empowered to start their own rural enterprise
and become self-employed (like stitching-
tailoring boutique, a grocery shop, telephone
booth). This contributes to the SDG Goal no: 1
(i.e. End poverty in all its forms everywhere); and
Goal no. 8 (i.e Promote sustained, inclusive and
sustainable economic growth, full and productive
employment and decent work for all)

17. Women’s empowerment interventions at BDIRW and
achievement of the SDGs
• SDG Goal no 2: Through use of advanced
food preservation and processing
techniques (including solar drying,
heating, among others) the Institute
trains the women in preservation of farm
products including seasonal vegetables,
fruits and other food items, thus
ensuring food security in rural areas, and
contributing towards achieving the SDG
Goal no: 2 (viz: End hunger, achieve food
security and improved nutrition, and
promote sustainable agriculture)

18. Women’s empowerment interventions at BDIRW and
achievement of the SDGs
• SDG Goal no 3 & 6: The training curriculum on Health (published by MacMillan India)
covers hands-on knowledge on ensuring balanced health-care of rural communities
(including children and women) by covering personal and social health issues (like
sanitation, immunization, vaccination, prevention and cure of both infectious and
contagious diseases, first-aid, women’s health, use of herbal cures, among others) thus
contributing towards achieving both the SDGs viz: Goal no: 3 (viz: Ensure healthy life and
promote wellbeing for all at all ages); and Goal no: 6 (viz. Ensure availability and
sustainable management of water and sanitation for all).

19. Women’s empowerment interventions at BDIRW and
achievement of the SDGs
• SDG Goal no 5: The rural women undergo
the Institute’s full-time residential training
courses (of six months’ duration, twice a
year) which builds their self-confidence. The
integrated training pedagogy involving peer-
to-peer tutoring, experiential learning
approaches and the hands-on training in
vocational skills empowers the rural and
tribal women to acknowledging their self-
worth, thus contributing towards
achievement of SDGs Goal no. 5 (viz:
Achieve Gender equality and Empower all
women and girls).

20. Women’s empowerment interventions at BDIRW and
achievement of the SDGs
• SDG Goal no 7: The Institute’s campus is
powered by solar electricity and the
trainees are trained in the use and
maintenance of these installations. They
also get hands-on knowledge and
training in use and maintenance of solar
concentrating technologies (viz: solar
cookers, heating devices and solar
dryers) and are encouraged to start using
these technologies when they go back to
their village homes; thus contributing
towards the SDG Goal no 7 (viz: Ensure
Access to Affordable, Reliable,
Sustainable and Modern Energy for All)

21. Since past 20 years the trainees’ kitchen
at Barli Development Institute has been
cooking all food for 130 persons using
large Scheffler solar cookers, 3 meals per
day for approximately 300 days per year.
SDG7 contd….

22. Village level impacts:
Use of solar cooking in income generation by rural women’s groups in their villages

23. Solar cookers in the villages:
>It is gender friendly : the men want to cook on it.
>Small children don’t get burns.
>Saves the toil as women no longer need to visit forests to gather firewood.
>Prevents crimes like rapes and molestation which take place while women visit
forests for collecting woodfuel
>Useful for cooking cattle food

24. Women’s empowerment interventions at BDIRW and
achievement of the SDGs
• SDG Goal no 12 and 15: The women are
also provided hands-on training in eco-
agriculture and use of sustainable
agriculture techniques using organic
methods and processes, thus contributing
to the two SDGs viz: Goal no. 12 (viz:
Ensure sustainable consumption and
production patterns); and Goal no. 15
(viz: Protect, restore and promote
sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems,
sustainably manage forests, combat
desertification, and halt and reverse land
degradation and halt biodiversity loss).

25. Our partners and supporters
Since 1985, we have successfully partnered with renowned developmental
organisations, grant-making agencies and liaised with national and international
donors including Swedish-SIDA, NGO networks (viz: Forum-Syd), women's
organisations from institutions like Harvard University, USA (viz: Circle of Women),
and other 501(c)(3) charity foundations along with projects and activities funded
by embassies based in India, national NGOs, and governmental agencies (like
CAPART), among others.

26. Need for scaling up …
• Barli Development Institute for Rural Women is the only Institute in India which
has attained a niche in the rural women’s empowerment domain using holistic
approaches, and has substantial experience of 32 years in training and
development of rural and tribal women as agents of social and environmental
change
• Its robust training curricula and pedagogical methodologies have been organically
(indigenously) developed, evolved and tested since past 32 years
With financial support from donor agencies and technical assistance from
research institutions the Institute proposes to enhance its training facilities and
infrastructure in its 6-acre campus (for increasing the intake and improving
training facilities for rural women)
The Institute could become a nodal center of Excellence in Asia-Pacific for
training, incubation and dissemination of agro-ecological practices among rural
communities in India and the Asia-Pacific

27. Please Visit
http://www.barli.org
Though this web site still under development,
already there is access to more than 70 pages of
information including downloadable information
including online versions of the Institutes
newsletter Barli Ki Duniya

28. Thank You
Barli Development Institute for Rural Women
180 Bhamori, New Dewas Road, Indore MP India
Web Site http://www.barli.org
Email ydjadhav@gmail.com; barli01@gmail.com
Telephone 0091 731 2554066 , 9827557489