The Nalanda Model of Filling Grow Bags and Coupled Line Paradigm for Rural Development
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25175/jrd/2024/v43/i3/173349Keywords:
Coupled Urban-Rural Development Paradigm, Nalanda Model, Rooftop Farming.Abstract
We propose a down-to-earth, pragmatic paradigm for rural women empowerment. It is woven around cow dung cakes, an almost quotidian part of the lives of rural women in India, and its use for rooftop farming by their urban counterparts. The urban-rural link explicated here bestows value on the seemingly inconsequential cow dung cakes and beholds the promise of livelihood and empowerment of rural women. It provides health, economic and aesthetic benefits to urban women. Vertically stacked cow dung cakes in grow bags filled with a sand-dung mixture - the Nalanda model of filling grow bags - make good potting material for rooftop farming. Cow dung cakes prepared by rural women can be channelised through women collectives to the struggling urban women who, in turn, will sell filled grow bags to opulent urban customers. This paradigm takes advantage of the social capital by coupling the marginalised women from the rural and urban areas, thus empowering them. Successfully implemented, the Nalanda model will chip into national emission commitments. We intend to connect the dots and carry forward the successful attributes of the Nalanda model .
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