Lighting up villages with solar power and doing other challenging things: Kudumbashree Adivasi women’s group of Edamalakudi – Kerala

The adivasi women of Edamalakudi, Kerala’s remotest panchayat, have formed a headload workers’ group, helped light up their villages with solar power, and practice group farming in wild elephant territory. All are Muthavan tribals. Almost all are members of Kerala’s extraordinary anti-poverty and gender justice movement – Kudumbashree. They are also neighbours of Chinnathambi, the keeper of the Wilderness Library. pic: Madhuraj, Mathrubhumi Weekly […]
When the village panchayat acted – partly under their prodding – to try and reach solar power to all, these women took on the task. They picked up and brought the panels, each weighing up to 9 kilograms, across hostile, hilly, up-and-down terrain between Pettimudi and here. On foot. There is no other way to reach Edamalakudi, Kerala’s first tribal panchayat, in Idukki district. They had formed a ‘Chumattu koottam” (headload workers group), riling local male porters who had enjoyed a monopoly over such work. […]
But the Kudumbashree or ‘CDS’ groups of Edamalakudi do far more challenging things. They practice ‘group farming’ in small plots. They are focused on food crops and, in those, on organic farming. They also practice shifting cultivation. “No, we use no chemical fertiliser.” Also “We have not cut any trees.” […]
A shorter version of this story was carried by BBC News (Online) in English and in Hindi. A Malayalam version ran first, in the Mathrubhumi Weekly

Source: Solar panels & solidarity | P. Sainath
Address : http://psainath.org/solar-panels-solidarity/
Date Visited: Mon Jun 16 2014 20:22:10 GMT+0200 (CEST)

Hungry elephant on the rampage
Photo courtesy Davidson Sargunam >>

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