IKALLAVALASA, India – It’s always been a struggle for the women of Kodikallavalasa village, in Andhra Pradesh, to make enough money to feed their family. In the past, they would spend all day in the forests collecting firewood, which often didn’t bring in enough money to buy food.
But over the past year, their fortunes have changed. After spending a week training with the Tata Trusts and Jaljeevika, they learned how to farm fish on a local reservoir. Traditionally, this was seen as men’s work, but the women have been so successful with the new techniques they’ve been taught, and those they’ve developed themselves, that they have overtaken the men and are making more money than ever before.
Some of the men have now quit the industry altogether to make a living elsewhere, while the women go from strength to strength as fish farmers. They’ve even won awards for their entrepreneurship.