When a Single Path Diverges: Learning from Trickle Up’s Livelihoood Program
When a Single Path Diverges: Learning from Trickle Up’s Livelihoood Program
Authors : Jo Sanson and Jui Gupta
“We’ve started using the river’s water for agriculture. The river has been there forever but we didn’t use it for our fields. Our Field Worker didn’t give us the river, but he did give us the knowledge to use it for cultivation.”
– Saro Mandi
For women like Saro Mandi, who lives in Cholagora, Purulia, West Bengal, change came in small but meaningful increments. Her tiny plot of land once provided paddy for the family for 3 months; now with better irrigation she also grows a vegetable crop to sell for cash. A cash crop means she can invest in livestock to grow her asset base and save weekly. Weekly savings meetings bring her together with others from her self-help group (SHG) —Cholagora Licher Sarna—ultrapoor women like Saro who are now making big changes in their community.
Incremental and meaningful change is the key to success in Trickle Up’s Ultrapoor Program, which works with 3,250 ultrapoor women to build a sustainable livelihood base, knowledge and skills, and connection to community allies and services. Of the eight hundred participants who started with the program in 2009, most exhibited significant improvements in their lives upon completion. However, not all participants performed well, and understanding the reasons for variation in performance is critical for improving the design and implementation of programs that are aimed at the ultrapoor.
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