| AGRICULTURE
WATCH's
agriculture technician and the liaison
people support the villages by providing
training and initial support for agricultural
projects. The project health staff and
liaison people introduce new or improved
ways of preparing and cooking vegetables,
how to make supplementary food for their
babies, etc,. If women need help in trying
out one of these new activities, they
usually turn to WATCH for assistance.
The
agriculture technician helps any of the
groups who request help. Most groups chose
to get into income generation activities.
The groups have been raising angora rabbits
and pigs, cross-breeding chickens, establishing
communal vegetable gardens, growing mushrooms
and peanuts, making compost manure, improving
soil quality by using lime, planting fruit
saplings, engaging in seasonal trade of
fruits and vegetables and exchanging seeds
and technology with other women's groups
from different areas. All of these activities
have directly added to the health and
incomes of the women and their families.
Improving
traditional organic agriculture is another
activity, which has been quite successful.
Almost all the community groups are trained
in compost-making, liquid manure and green
manure. They have been encouraged to plant
vegetables and crops which are suitable
for green manure. Usually, WATCH helps
farmers when they take risks like planting
trial crops, sometimes by renting out
land for them, even the farmer's own land
for these innovations. This helps build
confidence and skills.
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