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The International Day of Rural Women this year celebrates women in agriculture.
The Share & Care Foundation — with your support — has long been involved in lifting women out of poverty, and agriculture is at the heart of many of our Women Empowerment projects. In fact, Padma Devi was able to transform her entire community, and it all started at one of her regular self-help group meetings. It was there that she was first introduced to PRADAN, which, with our support, helps educate farmers in rural villages on sustainable farming practices.
Water came, and the fields began to grow. Everything has changed now. I want every woman to feel proud looking at her own field.
—Padma Devi
Padma and her family live in a village in Bokaro district, Jharkhand. During a chance encounter with PRADAN at one of her regular self-help group meetings, she discovered the possibility of year-round farming instead of relying solely on the monsoon season. They introduced her to solar lift irrigation — a system that uses solar-powered pumps to draw water from rivers and other natural sources.
She absorbed everything she could, and upon returning home, eagerly shared her newfound knowledge with friends and family about how 15-20 acres of barren land could be transformed through this system. Word spread, and soon the entire community had rallied around the idea.
Her persistence removed their doubts and built trust, and thanks to her hard work, they formed the Shiv Savitri Solar Committee and now meet regularly to plan crop cycles, discuss market linkages, and maintain the system. There are now many prosperous farms, and Padma is growing radishes, tomatoes, potatoes, mustard, cabbage, rice, wheat … and her income! That first year, she earned 2.5 lakh, which had previously been beyond her wildest dreams.
Padma’s journey shows how rural women, when given information, space to act, and timely support, can drive real change. With our backing, Padma became an example of how collective efforts can solve local problems like water scarcity and low farm productivity.
Please visit our website if you’d like to hear more of Padma’s story.
Won’t You Join Us?
Please join us in celebrating the International Day of Rural Women with a gift to help us continue creating opportunities for the marginalized.
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