Global Vikas Trust is a not-for-profit organization into nation-building projects with a mission to Transform India in the fields of Agriculture, healthcare, participatory governance and the environment.
One of our renowned projects is the Global Parli movement known for Increasing farmer Incomes. The project, started by former IAC & AAP member Mayank Gandhi, aims to deliver a replicable model of 360-degree development. This mission simultaneously addresses the key challenges facing social and economic development, including water security, agriculture, education, sanitation, leadership and community capacity building.
Vision:
Transforming India using a Replicable Model of Rural Rejuvenation.
Mission:
Multiplying farmer incomes and elevating their living standards.
History
It was the summer of 2016 Mayank Gandhi quit confrontational politics. However, the fire to change the country continued to burn within. Politics could not be the only way to impact the lives of people for the better. During this period, reports of a severe drought in the Marathwada region of Maharashtra emerged.
The situation was desperate, and it was in this crisis that the first seeds of Global Parli were sown.
Beed district had among the highest suicide rates in the country and was the worst drought-affected district in all of Marathwada. Within Beed, Parli taluka (106 villages) had just 1.72% irrigated area as opposed to a 40% Indian
average.
The average monthly income of a family was around Rs 3500, and “people were living because they were not dead.” There was depression and a feeling of hopelessness. Dams were close to 0% storage and drinking water was scarce. Suicides and deaths due to malnutrition were a common occurrence. Most
importantly, there were differences, strife, and inequality among the people – with politics and the caste system being the major reasons.
Mayank Gandhi decided to work with a cluster of 15 villages in Parli in spite of not knowing the local language. As an emergency relief measure, water through
tankers was supplied to 38 villages every day for two months. An average of 5 lakh rupees was spent each week on water supply.
Although the water supply was adequate to bring temporary relief to the local community, it was not a viable long-term solution. A concrete and sustainable
measure had to be implemented to improve the lives of the people. Moreover, a multi-pronged approach was required to not only address the water woes, but
also the socio-economic issues plaguing the region.
A deliberately and intelligently crafted rural development model had to be created - one that could understand the various nuances and layers of rural India,
identify the gaps and shortcomings, and implement small interventions that would overcome the gaps.
It was decided to create this model called Global Parli with 15 villages in Parli. After the success of this model, the same would be replicated, scaled up, and
institutionalized across the country.
The working strategy for the transformation of Parli, and eventually the villages of India, had three phases:
1. Changing the mindset of the people – replace hopelessness with motivation and action.
2. Make villages drought-proof by water harvesting and then transform lives by increasing social harmony and increasing incomes multiple times.
3. Take this model and replicate, scale-up and institutionalize with the help of policymakers.
3 major gaps were identified:
At the beginning of the project, we identified 3 major gaps which needed to be fixed.
First was the quality of saplings, second was capacity building of farmers and lastly, there was a primary need for cluster identification, which is necessary for cluster marketing.
2016 - Global Parli supplied 1.54 crore litre of water.
2017 - Global Parli initiated 360-degree development including reforms in education
via e-learning, healthcare, sports, capacity building, clean energy, going towards less
cash etc
2018 - Global Parli created a water capacity of 222 crore litre. This included deepening
and widening of Paapnashi river - 70 km long, creating 162 farm ponds, 64 dams, 606
watersheds etc. Saved 880 Cr Rupees on water tankers
2019 - Global Parli planted 1.2 million fruit trees in Marathwada, Maharashtra
2020 - Global Parli planted 2 million fruit trees in Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh with a focus on forward linkages, replication and institutionalization.
Plan 2021
1. Plant 70 lakh fruit trees in Marathwada & Palghar in Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh.
2. Ensure processes, systems and monitoring mechanisms. This includes a fool- proof monitoring process with various checks that monitor the entire process of
plantation. This is in line with our goals to ensure minimum mortality.
3. Ensuring appropriate marketing of produce to corporates, e-commerce, exports, food processing industries so as to increase the farmers income.
4. Creating a program for micro-entrepreneur so that they can set-up sorting, grading, packaging, cold-storages, ware-housing etc.
5. Establishing Farmer Produce Organizations, which will help the farmers to increase their incomes, improve crop productivity and induce technological
penetration in the remotest of places.
6. Establish a portal that uses satellite data to monitor changes on the farms. This includes real-time information updates on weather, rainfall and other
meteorological parameters.
7. Enable a next-generation tech platform based on block-chain & using smart contacts for onboarding the entire value chain from farm-input to export of fruits.
Success stories
Sandeep Gitte
On 4th Feb 2019, Sandeep Gitte from Nandagaul, under our One Million Fruit Trees campaign planted 2.5 acres of Papaya (2400 plants). On 6th Mar, he planted an intercropping of watermelon in 1.5 acres. His cost of production for watermelon is Rs. 35,000. His first production (10 tonnes) - 2nd May was bought by a wholesale trader who came from Aurangabad @ Rs.11.50 per kg. The second production was expected (5 tonnes) on 14th May and the third and last (2.5 tonnes) on 20th May. Total income - Rs 2,01,250 for 1.5 acres of intercrop. For farmers, who have been earning Rs 10,000 to 20,000 per acre - this is a BIG jump, that too in just three months and from the sale of an intercrop. Income from the sale of Papaya will be additional.
Gitte maharaj
Yashwant Gitte, a farmer, hailing from a remote village in Parli Taluka in Beed, Maharashtra, earned a measly income of ₹17,000 per annum by cultivating Rabi and Kharif crops. Gitte was debt-laden and found it difficult to sustain himself and his family. To get over his debts, he even doubled as a daily wage labourer in Mumbai. But it was still not enough for him to get out of his poor financial situation. He felt desolate with no solution in sight and returned to his village Waka.
He was driven to despair and decided to die by suicide to end his misery once and for all. Such is the fate of many farmers in drought-prone areas in Maharashtra. Gitte heard of farmers earning a decent amount of money by cultivating fruit trees. He learnt about Global Parli and how they had been impacting farmers in the region. Gitte had often contemplated switching to horticulture to increase his income through farming. But due to lack of knowledge and no capital insight, venturing into a new area seemed impossible for him. After Gitte came in contact with the members of the Global Parli, he learnt various new techniques related to farming that resulted in high yields. He availed financial assistance and crop insurance from Global Parli and took a plunge into custard apple cultivation.
Today, he is a successful custard apple grower, armed with adequate knowledge, appropriate training and connections with the end customers through Global Parli. Presently, he earns around ₹3-4 lakh per acre, a 20-fold increase from what he earned before. Some of the farmers who have benefitted from the schemes of Global Parli Foundation. Enthused by his own success, he has motivated other farmers in his own village to switch to horticulture and is a guiding force for them. Gitte is one of those farmers whose life has completely changed after coming in contact with the Global Parli Foundation.
