Sustainable Agriculture
A series of meetings were held with the community to understand the dynamics and to come up with an intervention. The result was to start with what they know. It was found that all of them knew agriculture, as they have worked as coolies since their childhood. They had learnt how to prepare the land, tend it, till it, sow and harvest a variety of crops. They were all working in nearby farms that were dependent on rain. Annually they would work for three to five months. When the season dried out a few would have some work while the others went on to work in building construction sites.
The idea was to provide safe and sustainable jobs based on agriculture. Inbavanam, a five-acre land was purchased for this purpose. The aim was to set up a community-based farming collective. A fifth of the profits will have to be shared with Inbavanam. The four families entered into a contract with Inbavanam. The contract consists of 12 points that were evolved in consultation with them. Additional training will be given on areas of organic farming, financial literacy, marketing and other relevant areas. Summary evaluations will be held to monitor the performance of each family on the farm. Each year the land will be rotated along with the leadership of the collective. A set of self-defined rules and regulations are laid out to govern the collective. In order to achieve this, the land has been tended. The rocks have been taken out, to make cultivable terraces, a bore well has been dug, a fence has been erected and the drip subsidy has been approved by the horticultural department. Inbavanam got electricity connection and 7.5 Hp motor was installed for the irrigation purpose of Inbavanam.
As an experiment four plots were handed over to four families to do organic farming to make it as one of their sustainable income sources. A fifth of the profits will have to be shared with Inbavanam. The four families have entered into a contract with Inbavanam. As the agriculture stories go, the first two crops were not a huge success. Currently the plots are under soil replenishment process. A successful cultivation of bananas proved to be a small progress .
Livelihood
The Inbavanam farm helps the people to get employment for their livelihood. Since most the people in the community work as land less agriculture labourers, Inbavanam provides land for the for organic agriculture on one year contract basis. Inbavanam provides all farmrelated support to get some income generation from the farm. The farmers are also motivated to involve in animal husbandry generate additional income.
Access To Justice
Inbavanam acts as a bridge between the Government and the community.It helps the community people to access all the forms of government support. It helps the community people to get their Community certificates, Aadhar card, Ration Card, Pan card and all the other required government documents. Inbavanam informs people about all Government schemes to empower them. Active volunteers have helped in securing several key civil legal documents to the community.