Grassroots Women’s Approach to Capacity Building

Abstract

Malatiben Chaudhari is a female farmer in Gujarat, India who has struggled with her life in a challenging rural environment and disenfranchised community. In the face of these constraints, she has built and improved indigenous capacity to create efficient and profitable livestock enterprises, and supported sustainable development in her community and beyond. Through her innovations, Malatiben has successfully transformed the economic activities of an agriculturally depressed region in the Mehasana district of Gujarat. Over the years, she has successfully built a thriving farm and livestock enterprise. Malatiben Chaudhri's narrative summary presented here highlights two aspects of indigenous knowledge: understanding by local community members of specific needs and their ability to find unique and sustainable solutions to seasonal and long-term problems; and the ability of grassroots women to overcome constraints and build capacity within their communities and regions.