Seeds of Confidence: How Sunita Transformed Her Hillside Farm

In the terraced slopes of Tehri Garhwal, smallholder farmer Sunita is growing more than organic brassicas—she is harvesting independence and leading 120 women into cooperative prosperity.

Perched high upon the mist-covered foothills of Uttarakhand, Sunita Devi used to struggle with erratic rainfall and exploitative middlemen who paid meager sums for her hand-tilled harvest. "There were seasons when the transport cost was more than what the mandi offered us," she recalls.

Through our Sustainable Livelihood Initiative, Sunita joined a newly formed Women Farmer Producer Cooperative. Equipped with drip-irrigation kits, pest-resistant heirloom seeds, and training in polyhouse cultivation, her yield doubled within two planting cycles.

"When a woman earns her own dignified income, the whole village stands taller. Today, all my three daughters attend secondary school without pause."

Today, Sunita serves as the elected Director of the Garhwal Organic Collective, overseeing direct distribution agreements with ethical retail networks across Dehradun and Delhi.