Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Livelihoods

 Flow-chart of Incense Stick making.

Great entrepreneurial opportunities in Low cost housing and Rural transport sector.

 My fav pic of a coconut entrepreneur from Gudiyattam village, Vellore. 

Collection of Babool pods by the women SHGs for producing cattle feed.
Do watch the following links to get an essence of
"CATTLE METTLE" Venture-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FznVq6LDddg
http://www.isb.edu/iDiya/Winners.aspx
http://www.isb.edu/iDiya/Image/Cattlemettle.pdf 

Aloe Vera juice production.
I purchased it at as low as 40 rupees per Ltr. while in market, it is available for as high as 250 rupees per Ltr.

Biodiversity Conservation

The Brotherhood ;)

Rabari caste in Rajasthan is known for its goat and camel rearing.

A treat to watch J

The number of camels is on a downfall in Rajasthan. Reason being Climate Change and decrease in the number of open grazing lands.

An abode in the nature’s lap.

Number of Indigenous cattle breeds is decreasing  in Rajasthan due to excessive cross breeding with high milch cattle breeds.

Agriculture and Forestry

Nursery development could be good option for women SHGs to generate additional income.

Lemon Grass :D Are you a tea addict??? Trust me, put some lemon grass along with tea leaves when you try it next time…it’s awesome J

A unique custom to worship and spread holy color on plants and to take a pledge to not to cut or use any till they grow into big trees..specifically in case of Bamboo plantations.

A bamboo plantation. 

Herbal Gulal (Color). The best alternate to the harmful chemical colors for HOLI festival. Help publicize the product and the initiative of the rural SHG that manufacture such environment friendly products.

Oops. I forgot the name of this plant seeds. May be of Katkaranj tree but these were rock solid ;)

From a farmer training session.

Water Conservation & Management

I am sure you would fall ill if you drink this water but in reality, there are many villages like the one in picture where the people are solely dependent on such water resources for their drinking purposes. Low cost water purifies and RO systems are alien terms to such places. The villagers do follow some conventional water purification techniques but do you think it is enough??

Story of a village in Udaipur District.

Anicuts, small water harvesting masonry dam constructed across a stream to hold sufficient water and submerge the upstream area during the rainy season. Lots of money has been allocated to the construction of such structures in past but we need to adopt more accurate techniques to hold surface water and recharge the underground water tables.

Numerous wells have been dug throughout the arid and semi arid areas that have led to a rapid decrease in the underground water tables. 

A masterpiece created under the effect of running water on rocky hills. A sacred place known for diverse life forms living in its vicinity.

Mehsara EDC, Bassi Range, Chittorgarh District.

Seasonal River or a seasonal highway for rural transport??