A mango tree of ideas, disparities and burgeoning solutions

India truly is a laboratory for non-governmental initiatives that all seem to be filling a necessary gap in services where government resources fall short.  Today was our first day of classes in the field and we were introduced to three organizations who are all attempting to attack the multifaceted issues of poverty in their own distinct way. Each organization had differing funding structures and missions, but also seem to be competing for the same non-profit dollars.

I was particularly impressed by Under the Mango Tree, UTMT, who trains rural farmers to put bee boxes on their farms to increase pollination and sell the honey produced.  It’s such a simple idea to increase revenue generation and improve product yields all at the same time.  It is a hybrid organization with a social entrepreneurial and non-profit framework.  Vijaya Pastala the founder explained how she named the organization Under the Mango Tree because her initial meetings were under mango trees where ideas were generated. 

UTMT engages local partners who have already established farmers’ cooperatives to disseminate awareness of and utilizing the indigenous Indian bee, Apis cerana indica to produce honey and increase crop pollination—both income generation initiatives.  Indigenous bees are best because they are less susceptible to diseases and adverse weather conditions than non-native species.  This is particularly brilliant in a time where farmers are often pressured to produce crops at a faster rate—the Apis cerana indica takes about one year to start producing sufficient honey.  In fact, because they use indigenous bees, the farmers do not have to use antibiotics to sustain the hives as is the case with non-indigenous bees.  Therefore the honey produced by the farmers working with UTMT is antibiotic free.  The non-profit arm of the organization trains farmers throughout their first year of participation to ensure success.  This small, young organization (since 2009) has experienced 70 percent retention among farmers who are seeing a positive return on investment.   I was encouraged by the multilayered approach to training, dissemination and community support utilized by Under the Mango Tree and look forward to charting their sustainable success. 

The second organization offered a creative means to developing and empowering innovative solutions. Be Fund produces financial support to rural community members who apply with a creative solution to an identified problem.  Unlike Under the Mango Tree, Be Fund is supported by private philanthropic dollars and provides up to $10,000 to qualified community members—who has 3 years to repay the loan. The program offers support services to empower the entrepreneur to succeed.  Their projects included a woman who started a community health center in a shantytown, a gentleman who developed a plastic recycling program in his rural village and a man who bought a truck to transport village produce to local markets.  Be Fund also provides a training program for young people to develop their creative entrepreneurial skills.  

While the last two organizations approached development from the ground, the final organization approached social issue surrounding education by attempting to improve the efficiency of the non-profit education sector.  ATMA offers business management support to partnering organizations. They attempt to increase resource training among the non-profits in Mumbai.

These three organizations offer three distinct approaches to tackling some of the social issues in India.  Throughout the entire presentation, I wondered why the Indian NGO sector is so large and why the government sector falls short of providing such services.  It is the same question I would ask in the US or anywhere with large income and social disparities. 

This became particularly apparent later in the day when we ran into four street children—one an emaciated baby being held by a boy who appeared to be no older than 6 or 7 years old accompanied by two young girls—all clearly suffering from malnutrition and likely on their own.  I still can’t comprehend why in 2012 such disparities continue to persist. And while I am encouraged to see the non-profit sector step-up and fill the gap, there is so much work to do…and miles to go before we sleep.