Concord Trust 'Cow Bank'
Providing women with a sustainable income.Tamil Nadu, India.
Aim: To make sustainable reductions in poverty amongst Dalit ("untouchable") women.
Background: The Concord Trust works in an impoverished part of Tamil Nadu. With few employment opportunities and very limited land resources of their own, beneficiaries all depend on seasonal agricultural labour to survive, which makes for a very precarious existence. If people are to lift themselves out of extreme poverty, they need to find new sources of income.
The Programme: The programme centres on the provision of cows to the beneficiaries. The women are assisted to buy specially selected milk cows paid for with a Tzedek grant. The Concord Trust then arranges training in animal husbandry and insurance for the cow so that if it succumbs to illness, all the hard work of raising the animal won’t be in vain.
The milk produced by the cows provides an additional income that makes an enormous difference to the lives of the families benefiting. When the cow has its first female calf, this is passed onto another woman and the process is started again.
The beneficiaries contribute to the project by building a cow shed.
Partners: Director Surendra Kumar recently founded the Concord Trust and has extensive experience and training in this field. He is 100% committed to eradicating poverty in the district that he was born in. Previous donors to Concord include Signpost International, based in Dundee .
Outcome: 10 cows are provided for 10 women. When these cows have calves, the numbers of beneficiaries will continue to increase over time.
Evaluation: Because Concord is a new organisation Tzedek decided to give the grant in small tranches, depending on initial success. The Director of Tzedek visited the project in January 2009 and reported excellent progress.
Progress: In their first six month evaluation, Concord reports that all 5 initial cows have had calves. One was female and has been passed on to another family, four were male and will be used for pulling ploughs or will be sold for income. Daily income has increased by $1/day through selling milk.
Funds Required: £2600 in two grant installments of £1300
We are still seeking funds for this project: make a donation.
