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20 March 2003
An answer to migration
A deepened well has completely changed the life of one family in Dahod Area Development Programme (ADP).
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Biogas units use a mix of water and manure.
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All his life, 53-year-old Manu Bhura Damor has lived in the same village in Dahod District. He and his family of eight own just over one hectare of land. Heavily dependent on monsoon rains for irrigation, the family could only grow one crop a year.
For six months of each year, Manu was forced to look for work as a road construction labourer in one of the many cities in Gujarat State. He and his family would migrate there, but they would always return to their village in time for the next planting season.
Conditions in the city are not hospitable for migrants like Manu. Families live on the pavements, without shelter from the elements, and women and children are not spared from the hard work. There is no school, no clean water, and all this for a monthly income of approximately NZ$45.
“It was a dog’s life,” says Manu. “I did not enjoy family life.”
World Vision began working in Manu’s village in 1995 through the Dahod Area Development Programme. The ADP helped Manu to deepen his existing well by almost five metres, provided irrigation pipes worth NZ$765 and trained him in improved agricultural techniques.
The deepened well now provides sufficient water for Manu to get three crops a year. He is growing vegetables and a cash crop that provides him with an annual income of $575. He has been able to buy a water pump from his savings and his family has clean drinking water. The women no longer have to walk two to five kilometres in search of water.
Dahod ADP persuaded Manu’s wife and five other women in the village to purchase cows and start a milking co-operative. The women saved for eight months and bought six cows worth $1800. They sell the milk to a dairy factory. The co-operative has been so successful that 19 more women joined.
Manu’s family was the first in his village to adopt the biogas technology World Vision introduced into Dahod ADP. Water and cow manure is mixed in a purpose-built storage tank. Methane gas is extracted from the slurry and used for cooking and lighting. The residual waste is used as farm fertiliser.
“It saves my family the drudgery of fetching firewood. We no longer suffer from sore eyes, coughing and a painful chest caused by the smoke of wood fires. The biogas plant produces manure for my fields, which saves money spent on fertilisers from the market. I am proud to be a biogas owner,” says Manu, a sparkle in his eyes.
Manu no longer has to migrate to the city. He stays in the village, takes care of his crops and animals, and enjoys life with his family. His children attend school and their health has improved.
Twenty-six other families in Manu’s village have also been helped to get water, agricultural training and assistance with the dairy co-operative. The migration rate has dropped from 80 percent to 35 percent in just over seven years.
And it all started with deepening a well. Water has changed the history of the village and become the answer to the question of migration.
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Dahod project profile
DAHOD STORY ARCHIVE
2007
A man with a vision
Snippets
Milking time
Counting down
2006
Country life
Snippets
Shining
Avian influenza
What a difference
2005
Snippets
2004
Snippets
Reluctant farmer
2003
Snippets
Signs of ownership
An answer to migration
View country profile Show India on map
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Dumaria: Snippets
Gajapati: Snippets
Girideep: Good news from India
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Mumbai West: Working woman
Ratlam: Snippets
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