The Issues

Schumacher Centre focuses on several development issues in rural India – but livelihood is paramount.  

We see livelihood as an integrated system enabling people to have a secure and sustainable living. The system is based on access to education, health, hygiene, rights, risk reduction, housing, clothing, skills, means of production, and information; social acceptance and inclusion.

Schumacher Centre draws from E. F. Schumacher’s three-step approach to generating livelihood:

• Mapping existing skills and resources of the people
• Building on resources and their skills through Appropriate Technology (AT)
• Helping them generate disposable income – beyond their consumption, which can be used for other developmental needs like health, education, etc.

Livelihood

India’s rural dwellers need to earn a sustainable living. The drift of millions of villagers to urban areas (slums) happens when livelihood means such as farming, forest produce and livestock no longer provide a secure future.

But village India proves itself to be very rich in livelihood opportunities when its resources are protected. Indian villages have resources such as clean water, clean skies and fresh food on their doorstep – benefits that are often denied to city dwellers both rich and poor.
 
Schumacher Centre works to combat all the factors that undermine traditional rural livelihoods. Our organization also successfully trains villagers in sustainable, suitable and environmentally friendly livelihoods.

Climate change

The rising temperatures witnessed in man-made climate change are hitting the rural poor the hardest. Increasing levels of crop failure and perishing rivers are some of the reasons behind the loss of livelihoods mentioned above.  
 
The threat of climate change upon India’s future is immense – but the picture needs not be entirely doom and gloom. Within our villages there are age-old lessons for living clean, sustainable lifestyles that are in harmony with nature. They have much to teach those of us living in urban environments. We also have a little that we can teach them – Schumacher Centre field project work helps villagers to develop in sustainable ways that do not degrade the environment.
 
Schumacher Centre is constantly committed to increasing awareness of climate change and how the issue relates to rural India.

Forestry

India’s rural population has suffered from the dramatic rate of change witnessed in the forests. The lifestyles of the country’s richest have created a huge demand for timber. Millions of indigenous people (tribals) and other rural dwellers who depend upon the forests have been displaced thanks to deforestation – like the trees, they have themselves been uprooted. This process has been described as “internal colonialism.”
 
Schumacher Centre has educated farmers on the need for and benefits from growing trees on their degraded non-agricultural lands. When farmers grow and maintain trees, they contribute to the increase in forest cover and at the same time carbon is absorbed in measurable amounts. This process is beneficial to the environment. Farmers can earn carbon credits, which can be traded on the international market and earn substantial incomes from the sale of forest produce. Both the farmers and the forests are therefore given a future.  
 
Schumacher Centre carries out extensive research and project work on forest dwellers and forest conservation issues.

Women’s rights

Women suffer more from extreme poverty than men in rural India. This is not only due to the demands of family life but cumulative discrimination against them. Dalit women have been traditionally excluded from prosperous work. Women depend on men for money and often have no voice in village decision making. They can also face systematic violence and abuse. 
 
Schumacher Centre is working to empower rural women. A number of our field projects focus specifically on women – they are, perhaps the nation’s greatest untapped resource. These projects allow women to acquire skills, confidence and influence in their home village. We also lobby the Indian government to give greater attention to the needs of marginalized women.

Water, health and sanitation

Without clean water comes dehydration and disease. Water is the primary requirement for existence. If this basic need is met, good health and sanitation can follow.
 
For example, clean water provision also means a greater number of clean toilets. The lack of this is a common reason for rural parents refusing to send their daughters to school. Thus issues of water and sanitation link to wider social issues.
 
Schumacher Centre also encourages ‘rainwater harvesting’ within villages, which sees the rejuvenation of ponds and building of wells to ensure occasional rainwater provides a long-term source for drinking and cleaning. More than 70 per cent of India’s rainwater still flows out to sea, so catching and storing monsoon water close to houses, schools and village reservoirs is vital work.

Shelter

Inadequate shelter can be a major cause of discomfort, suffering and humiliation for families in rural India. All too often, villagers are invited to solve their problems with ‘modern’ housing – meaning they are sold expensive, unsuitable and polluting building materials. This robs villagers of their own potential livelihoods as builders and places them at the bottom of the commercial ‘food chain’.
 
In regions of south of India such as Tamil Nadu, badly made concrete structures are threatening to render homes made from traditional materials obsolete. This is despite poorly made concrete buildings being hot compared to those constructed with local branches, earth and rock.
 
We teach building techniques that allow villagers to construct their own homes using affordable and locally-derived materials.  Schumacher Centre has also put together ‘self help groups’ for artisans who wish to maintain their skills.

Governance and local democracy

Grassroots democracy and grassroots civil organization are vital for any nation. But experts claim that 50 per cent of Indians remain excluded from local level democratic governance. Rural women and Dalits can be dissuaded and even threatened if they express an interest in politics. Further to this, the government has only limited success in reaching out to village India. The democratic vacuum has been exploited by insurgents and other groups.
 
But despite these problems, rural India is alive with political activism and political passion. Schumacher Centre works to equip rural Indians with the necessary knowledge and resources for giving themselves a political voice. We have seen villagers constantly demonstrate themselves as effective administrators – after they are given support to start their local democratic institutions.
 
Our director, Dr. DK Giri, has two doctorates in development and governance. Our chairman Professor TK Oommen (who received the Padma Bhusan) and our board members Dr. Meera Mitra and Dr. Sarla Gopyan are also leading experts in governance.

Literacy and education

Education is a precious but scant resource in much of rural India, with women suffering from much higher rates of illiteracy than men. This disparity is due largely to entrenched social attitudes. An education is viewed by many as a waste of time and money for young girls, as they will soon be married. Those that do receive an education often find that it doesn’t continue beyond primary school level.  
 
Nevertheless, attitudes can slowly be changed and new pathways to education can be opened. Schumacher Centre has undertaken successful field projects and research initiatives into health education and trade education. We have also sponsored the education of orphaned children in Tamil Nadu.

Energy

The battle to contain climate change means rural India must grasp renewable energy sources. Rural Indians need the ability to cook, heat their homes, light their villages and power their tools in a way that does not leave them dependent on over-priced fuels or electricity. The energy issue also links closely with forestry. Forest degradation has meant less firewood for villagers.
 
Schumacher Centre supports the use renewable energy such as hydro-power, solar power, bio-gas, bio-diesels, and other innovative and clean energy sources. Enslaving more of our rural poor to fossil fuels can only damage India.