Message from Chairperson
Mirai Chatterjee
Chairperson
As SEWA Cooperative Federation enters its thirty-third year, we reflect on a period full of learning, growth, change, and innovation. Two of our member cooperatives of women farmers – the Tapi District Megha Adivasi Mahila Agriculture Producers’ Cooperative and the Kheda Women’s Fruit and Vegetables Cooperative – beg an their journey towa rds digitisation through the E-Kheti programme, working closely with experienced partners like IT for Change, Digital Green, and others. They now use WhatsApp to track what farmers are growing and have co – created an app to strengthen their businesses. This journey has been rich in learning for both the cooperatives and for us at the Federation, as we watched our sisters become tech-savvy and harness technology to grow their enterprises.
As many of our member cooperatives reported the effects of climate change, we equipped ourselves this year with knowledge and skills for both mitigation and adaptation. We organised several workshops with a new partner – CSTEP – and updated ourselves on the latest science behind the changes we are experiencing: longer periods of heat, rising wet bulb temperatures, and unseasonal rainfall that damages crops and reduces productivity. A study on the impact of heat stress on home based workers, such as the artisan members of the Abodana Cooperative, deepened our understanding of what our sisters endure and highlighted creative, practical solutions. In addition, by assisting farmers in six villages to access loans and technical support for biogas, we saw the potential to protect our planet while also providing clean cooking gas and slurry for use as organic fertilizer.
