Working with rural communities to build resilient livelihoods, healthier lives and thriving landscapes.

When one income becomes two

Shitalben Sanatbhai Desani, 35 · Panchvada village, Jasdan taluka, Rajkot district

Before

The household ran on one income — her husband's, from diamond craftsmanship. Stretching it across household costs and two children's schooling was getting harder every year.

The barrier

Working outside the home was not realistically available to her — chores and a young child made sure of that. Not "no jobs", but no jobs she could physically take.

SSKK's role

Shitalben came into contact with SSKK through digital literacy and nutrition training. Guided by the team, she was given the chance to serve as a taluka-level Krishi Sakhi promoting natural farming practices, and supplied with raw materials and tools for home-based imitation jewellery work.

What it means

The number matters less than its shape. A homemaker with no personal income became a woman with a leadership role in her taluka and a trade of her own, without leaving the house that was the constraint in the first place.

When one crop is no longer enough

Damjibhai Lakhabhai Thummar, farmer · Juna Rajpipla, Kotda Sangani taluka, Rajkot district

Before

One crop, one harvest, one income — 12.5 vighas of groundnut alone, like most farmers around him.

The barrier

An irregular monsoon or a failed crop does not just reduce the year's income. It removes it.

SSKK's role

SSKK gave him 2 kg of pigeon pea seed, plus training on spacing and low-cost management, to intercrop it alongside groundnut on 2 acres — a crop he had never grown before.

What it means

"The rain damaged one crop, but the other crop became our financial safety net." Damjibhai's own conclusion: never depend on a single crop again — plan it right, and one field can pay you twice.

When a skill becomes an income

Payalben Hamirbhai Malvi · Dhokadva village, Amreli district

Before

No skill-based training existed locally. Women who wanted to earn had no route to a trade, and no reason to expect one.

The barrier

Not the curriculum or the equipment — the barrier was time, and permission. Convincing families that a few hours a week for a woman herself was reasonable turned out to be the hardest part of the whole effort.

SSKK's role

Trained through a beauty-parlour course, she went door-to-door through community meetings with Manaliben and launched her own classes with forty women.

What it means

"The skills only count once another woman is earning from them." Dhokadva now has multiple working parlours instead of forty certificates.

When a village chooses to restore its land

Derdi Kumbhaji village, Rajkot district

Before

Two hectares of Forest Department land near the village that nobody was using.

The barrier

Water — a plantation in Saurashtra is easy to start in the monsoon and easy to lose by April. That is what usually kills these schemes.

SSKK's role

A local farmer volunteered water from his own supply. On that basis, SSKK, the Gujarat Forest Department and the village leadership put in a drip-irrigation network across the full two hectares.

What it means

Not yet a forest — the trees are four feet tall. What it proves is the arrangement: unused land, a willing village, a partnering department, and irrigation that survives the first summer. That combination is repeatable.